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©ailf^l'i £3 £\ ^ ¥ 



THE 



POETS AND POETRY 



OF 



AMERICA, 



TO THE MIDDLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



BY RUFUS WILMOT GRISWOLD. 



HERE THE FREE SPIRIT OF MANKIND AT LENGTH 
THROWS ITS LAST FETTERS OFF J AND WHO SHALL PLACE 
A LIMIT TO THE GIANT'S UNCHAINED STRENGTH? 

BRYANT. 



ERE LONG, THINE EVERY STREAM 9H4LI 
LAND OF THE MANY WATERS! 



A TONGUE, 
HOFFMAN. 



THIS BE THE POET'S PRAISE, 
THAT HE HATH EVER BEEN OF LIBERTY 
THE STEADIEST FRIEND ; OF JUSTICE AND OF TRUTH 
FIRMEST OF ALL SUPPORTERS; OF HIGH THOUGHTS, 
AND ALL THE BEAUTY OF THE INNER WORLD, 
CREATOR. AMERICAN PROSPECTS-m3 



TENTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
CAREY AND HART, CHESNUT STREET. 

1850. 






ENTERED, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1842, BY CAREY <$• HART, IN THE OFFICE OF THE 
CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



33 



STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. 



TRINTED BT T. K. AND V. G. COLLINS. 



V 



TO 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON, 



THE ELDEST OF THE LIVING POETS OF AMERICA, 



AND THE 



MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF HER PAINTERS, 



Qtys tDark 



IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



iii 



PREFACE TO THE TENTH EDITION. 



By the publication of "The Female Poets oe America," this survey 
of American Poetry was divided into two parts. From " The Poets and 
Poetry of America" are omitted all reviewals of our female poets, and 
their places are supplied with notices of other authors. The entire volume 
is also revised, re-arranged, and in other respects much improved. 

This work was in the first place too hastily prepared. There was difficulty 
in procuring materials, and in deciding, where so many had some sort of 
claim to the title, whom to regard as Poets. There had been published in 
this country about five hundred volumes of rhythmical compositions of various 
kinds and degrees of merit, nearly all of which I read with more or less 
attention. From the mass I chose about one fifth, as containing writings not 
unworthy of notice in such a survey of this part of our literature as I pro- 
posed to make. I have been censured, perhaps justly, for the wide range of 
my selections. But I did not consider all the contents of the volume genuine 
Poetry. I aimed merely to show what had been accomplished toward a 
Poetical Literature in the first half century of our national existence. With 
much of the first order of excellence I accepted more that was comparatively 
poor. But I believe I admitted nothing inferior to passages in the most 
celebrated foreign works of like character. I have also been condemned for 
omissions. But on this score I have no regrets. I can think of no name 
not included in the first edition which I would now admit without better 
credentials than were before me when that edition was printed. 

The fact that nine large editions of "The Poets and Poetry of Ame- 
rica " have been sold in seven years from its first publication, is a gratifying 
evidence of the interest felt in American letters. 

New York, October 1, 1849. 

a2 v 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



This book is designed to exhibit the progress and condition of Poetry in 
the United States. It contains selections from a large number of authors, all of 
whom have lived in the brief period which has elapsed since the establishment 
of the national government. Considering the youth of the country, and the many 
circumstances which have had a tendency to retard the advancement of letters 
here, it speaks well for the past and present, and cheeringly for the future. 

Although America has produced many eminent scholars and writers, we 
have yet but the beginning of a National Literature. Edwards and Marsh, 
in metaphysics ; Dwight, Emmons, Alexander, Stuart, Bush, Williams, 
Robinson, Norton, Hodge and Barnes, in Theology ; Hamilton, Madison, 
Webster and Calhoun, in Politics ; Story, Kent and Wheaton, in Ju- 
risprudence ; Prescott and Bancroft, in History ; Brown, Cooper, Irving, 
Kennedy, Bird, Ware, Hoffman and Hawthorne, in Romantic Fiction ; 
Bryant, Dana, Halleck, Longfellow, Whittier, and others whose names 
are in this volume, in Poetry ; and Audubon, Channing, Everett, Emerson, 
Brownson, Verplanck, and many more, in the various departments of Lite- 
rature, have written for the coming ages. But too few of them, it must be 
confessed, are free from that vassalage of opinion and style which is produced 
by a constant study of the Literature of the country from which we inherit 
our language, our tastes, and our manners. 

It is said that the principles of our heroic age are beginning to be re- 
garded with indifference ; that patriotism is decaying ; that the affections 
of the people are passing from the simplicity of a democracy to the gilded 
shows of an aristocracy. If it is so, it is because our opinions and feelings 
are controlled by foreigners, ignorant of our condition and necessities, and 
hostile to our government and institutions. And it will continue to be the case 
until, by an honest and judicious system of Reciprocal Copyright, such 
protection is given to the native author as will enable our best writers to de- 
vote more attention to letters, which, not less than wealth, add to a nation's 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



happiness and greatness ; and should receive as much of the fostering care 
of government as is extended to the agriculturist or manufacturer. 

There is nothing in our country to prevent the successful cultivation of 
literature and the arts, provided the government places our own authors 
upon an equality with their foreign rivals, by making it possible to publish 
their works at the same prices. A National Literature is not necessarily 
confined to local subjects ; but if it were, we have no lack of themes for 
romance, poetry, or any other sort of writing, even though the new relations 
which man sustains to his fellows in these commonwealths did not exist. 
The perilous adventures of the Northmen ; the noble heroism of Columbus ; 
the rise and fall of the Peruvian and Mexican empires ; the colonization of 
New-England by the Puritans ; the witchcraft delusion ; the persecution of 
the Quakers and Baptists ; the rise and fall of the French dominion in the 
Canadas ; the overthrow of the great confederacy of the Five Nations ; the 
settlement of New- York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, by people of 
the most varied and picturesque characters; the beautiful and poetical my- 
thology of the aborigines ; and that revolution, resulting in our independence 
and equal liberty, which forms a barrier between the traditionary past and the 
familiar present: all abound with themes for imaginative literature. Turning 
from these subjects to those of a descriptive character, we have a variety not less 
extensive and interesting. The chains of mountains which bind the continent ; 
the inland seas between Itasca and the ocean ; caverns, in which whole nations 
might be hidden ; the rivers, cataracts, and sea-like prairies ; and all the 
varieties of land, lake, river, sea and sky, between the gulfs of Mexico and 
Hudson, are full of them. 

The elements of power in all sublime sights and heavenly harmonies 
should live in the poet's song. The sense of beauty, next to the miraculous 
divine suasion, is the means through which the human character is purified 
and elevated. The creation of beauty, the manifestation of the real by the 
ideal, in " words that move in metrical array," is the office of the poet. 

This volume embraces specimens from a great number of authors ; and 
though it may not contain all the names which deserve admission, the judi- 
cious critic will be more likely to censure me for the wide range of my 
selections than for any omissions. In regard to the number of poems I have 
given from particular writers, it is proper to state that considerations uncon- 
nected with any estimates of their comparative merit have in some cases 
guided me. The collected works of several poets have been frequently 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



printed and are generally familiar, while the works of others, little less deserving 
of consideration, are comparatively unknown. 

There is in all the republic scarcely a native inhabitant of Saxon origin who 
cannot read and write. Every house has its book closet and every town its 
public library. The universal prevalence of intelligence, and that self-respect 
and confidence arising from political and social equality, have caused a great 
increase of writers. Owing, however, to the absence of a just system of copy- 
right, the rewards of literary exertion are so precarious that but a small number 
give their exclusive attention to literature. A high degree of excellence, espe- 
cially in poetry, is attained only by constant and quiet study and cultivation. 
Our poets have generally written with too little preparation, and too hastily, to 
win enduring reputations. 

In selecting the specimens in the work, I have regarded humorous and 
other rhythmical compositions, not without merit in their way, as poetry, though 
they possess few of its true elements. It is so common to mistake the form for 
the divine essence, that I should have been compelled to omit the names of 
many who are popularly known as poets, had I been governed by a more 
strict definition. 

Philadelphia, March, 1842. 



CONTENTS 



PREFACE TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION page 5 

GENERAL PREFACE 6 

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 17 

PHILIP FRENEAU 31 

The Dying Indian 32 

The Indian Burying-Ground 32 

To the Memory of the Americans who fell at Eutaw 33 

To an Old Man 33 

Columbus to Ferdinand 34 

The Wild Honeysuckle 54 

Human Frailty 3: ' 

The Prospect of Peace :; -> 

To a Night-Fly, approaching a Candle -05 

JOHN TRUMBULL 3 ^' 

Ode to Sleep 3 ~ 

The Country Clown, from "The Progress of Durness" 39 

The Fop, from the same 3 ^ 

Character of McFingal, from " McFingal" 40 

Extreme Humanity, from the same 41 

The Decayed Coquette 42 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT 4i 

An Indian Temple ^ 

England and America - —.45 

The Social Visit 45 

The Country Pastor 46 

The Country Schoolmaster 47 

The Battle of Ai, from " The Conquest of Canaan" 47 

The Lamentation of Selima, from the same 48 

Prediction to Joshua relative to America, from the same 48 

Evening after a Battle, from the same 40 

Columbia 49 



DAVID HUMPHREYS 5" 

On the Prospect of Peace 51 

Western Emigration 51 

American Winter 51 

Revolutionary Soldiers — -51 

JOEL BARLOW 52 

The Hasty Pudding 54 

Burning of the New-England Villages, from " The Co!umbiad"..57 

To Freedom, from the same 58 

Morgan and Tell, from the same 58 

The Zones of America, from the same 58 

RICHARD ALSOP 59 

From a Monody on the Death of Washington 59 

ST. JOHN HONEYWOOD 60 

Crimes and Punishments 60 

A Radical Song of 1786 62 

Reflections on seeing a Bull slarn in the Country 62 

Impromptu on an Order to kill the Dogs in Albany 62 

WILLIAM CL1FFTON 63 

Epistle to William Gifford, Esq 63 

Mary will smile 64 

ROBERT TREAT PAINE 65 

Adams and Liberty 6G 

Extract from a " Monody on the Death of Sir John Moore" 67 

WILLIAM MUNFORD 68 

Extracts from the "Iliad" 69 



JAMES KIRKE PAULDING 

Ode to Jamestown 

Passage down the Ohio, from " The Backwoodsman' 



...70 
-.71 

Evening 71 

Crossing the Alleghanies 72 

The Old Man's Carousal 72 

WASHINGTON ALLSTON ....73 

The Paint-King. _ '....74 

The Sylphs of the Seasons 76 

America to Great Britain.- .' 80 

The Spanish Maid 80 

On Greenough's Group of the Angel and Child 81 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON, (Co.nt-.m-ed.) 

Sonnets f*ge 81 

On a Fallirg Group in the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo. 81 
On Rernbrant: occasioued by his Picture of Jacob's Drecm..8I 
On the Pictures, by Rubens, in the Luxembourg Gallery... 8X 

To my venerable Friend Benjamin West 81 

On seeing the Picture of jEolus, by Peligrino Tibaldi 82 

On the Death of Samuel Taylor Coleridge 82 

The Tuscan Maid 82 

Rosalie 82 

LEVI FRISBIE 83 

A Castle in the Air 83 

SAMUEL WOODWORTH 84 

The Bucket 84 

The Needle 84 

JOHN P1ERPONT 85 

Passing Away 86 

Ode for the Charle3town Centennial Celebration 87 

My Child 87 

Ode for the Massachusetts Mechanics' Charitable Association. ..88 

Her Chosen Spot 83 

The Pilgrim Fathers 89 

Plymouth Dedication Hymn S9 

The Exile at Rest 89 

Jerusalem - 90 

The Power of Music, from " Airs of Palestine" 91 

Obsequies of Spurzheim 91 

Hymn for the Dedication of the Seaman's Bethel, in Boston — 92 

The Sparkling Bowl 92 

Ode for the Fourth of July 92 

ANDREWS NORTON 93 

To , on the Death of a Young Friend 93 

Line3 written after the Death of Charles Eliot 93 

A Summer Shower 94 

Hymn 94 

To Mrs. , on her Departure for Europe 94 

Hymn for the Dedication of a Church 95 

Fortitude 95 

The Close of the Year 95 

To Mrs. , just after her Marriage 96 

Funeral Hymn 96 

A Winter Morning 96 

RICHARD H. DANA 97 

The Buccaneer 93 

The Ocean, from "Factitious Life" 106 

Daybreak 106 

Extract from " The Husband and Wife's Grave" 107 

The Little Beach-Bird 107 

The Moss supplicateth for the Poet 108 

Washington Allston 108 

RICHARD HENRY WILDE 109 

Ode to Ease 1 10 

Solomon and the Genius HI 

A Farewell to America U2 

Napoleon's Grave H 3 

"My Life is like the Summer Rose" 113 

Lord Byron 1 13 

To the Mocking Bird U 3 

JAMES A. HILLHOUSE U 4 

The Judgment H 6 

Hadad's Description of the City of Jerusalem 122 

Untold Love, from " Demetria" i22 

Scene from " Hadad" 123 

Arthur's Soliloquy, from " Percy's Masque" I 24 

CHARLES SPRAGUE i25 

Curiosity 126 

Shakspeare Ode 132 

The Brothers 133 

Art, an Ode l34 

"Look on this Picture" 134 



10 



CONTENTS. 



CHARLES SPRAGUE, (Continubd.) 

Centennial Ode paob 135 

Lines to a Young Mother 139 

"1 see thee still" 139 

Lines on the Death of M. S. C HO 

The Family Meeting 140 

The Winged Worshippers HI 

Dedication Hymn HI 

To my Cigar HI 

HENRY WARE, JR 142 

To the Ursa Major 142 

Seasons of Prayer 143 

The Vision of Liberty 144 

CARLOS WILCOX 145 

Spring in New England, from " The Age of Benevolence" Ho 

A Summer Noon, from the same 147 

September, from the same 147 

Sunset in September, from the same 148 

Summer Evening Lightning, from the same 148 

The Castle of Imagination, from " The Religion of Taste" 149 

Rousseau and Cowper, from the same— 150 

The Cure of Melancholy, from the same 150 

Sights and Sounds of the Night 151 

Live for Eternity 151 

JOHN NEAL 152 

Invocation to the Deity, from the Conquest of Peru 153 

A Cavalcade at Sunset, from " The Battle of Niagara" 153 

Approach of Evening, from the same 153 

Movements of Troops at Night, from the same - 154 

An Indian Apollo, from the same 154 

Morning after a Battle, from the same 155 

Music of the Night, from the same 155 

Night, from the same.. 156 

Ontario, from the same....-...,. 156 

Trees, from the same , 156 

Invasion of the Settler, from the same 156 

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 157 

The Prairies 159 

Thanatopsis - 160 

Forest Hymn 160 

Hymn to the North Star. 161 

The Antiquity of Freedom 162 

The Return of Youth 162 

The Winds 163 

"Oh Mother of a Mighty Race!" 163 

Song of Marion's Men 164 

To the Past 164 

The Hunter of the Prairies 165 

After a Tempest 165 

The Rivulet. 166 

June :.... - 166 

To the Evening Wind - ...167 

Lines on Revisiting the Country 167 

The Old Man's Counsel 168 

An Evening Reverie, from an unfinished Poem 168 

Hymn of the City 169 

To a Waterfowl 169 

The Battle Field 170 

The Death of the Flowers 170 

The Future Life - — - 171 

To the Fringed Gentian 171 

" O fairest of the rural Maids" 171 

The Maiden's Sorrow 171 

JAMES. GATES PERCIVAL 172 

Conclusion of the " Dream of a Day" 173 

The Poet, a Sonnet 174 

Night, a Sonnet 174 

Choriambic Melody -- ...174 

Sappho 174 

The Festive Evening 174 

The Sun, from "Prometheus" 175 

Consumption..... •. 176 

To the Eagle 177 

Prevalence of Poetry 178 

Clouds 179 

Morning among the Hills 179 

The Deserted Wife 180 

The Coral Grove - 181 

Decline of the Imagination 181 

Genius Slumbering 181 

Genius Waking 181 

New England 182 

May 183 

To Seneca Lake 183 

The Last Days of Autumn 1S3 

The Flight of Time 183 

"It is great for our Country to die" 184 



h 



JAMES GATES PERCIVAL, (Cohtisubd.) 

Extract from " Prometheus" paob 184 

Home 184 

JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE 185 

The Culprit Fay 186 

Bronx 191 

The American Flag 192 

To Sarah 192 

FITZ-GREENE HALLECK 193 

To a Rose, brought from near Alloway Kirk, Ayrshire, 1822. ..194 

Red Jacket, Chief of the Tuscaroras 195 

Connecticut ...196 

Alnwick Castle 197 

Magdalen 198 

Twilight 198 

Marco Bozzaris 199 

SAMUEL GR1SWOLD GOODRICH 200 

Birthnight of the Humming Birds 200 

The River 201 

The Leaf 202 

Lake Superior 202 

The Spoitive Sylphs 203 

ISAAC CLASON 203 

Napoleon, etc., from the seventeenth Canto of Don Juan 203 

All is Vanity, from the eighteenth Canto of Don Juan 204 

HN G. C. BRAINARD 205 

Jerusalem 206 

Connecticut River 207 

Lines on the Death of Mr. Woodward.. 208 

On a late Loss , ......209 

Sonnet to the Sea-Serpent 209 

The Fall of Niagara 209 

On the Death of a Friend 209 

Epithalamium 209 

To the Dead 210 

The Deep 210 

Mr. Merry's Lament for "Long Tom" 210 

Indian Summer - 210 

" The dead Leaves strew the Forest- Walk" ....211 

The Storm of War 211 

The Guerilla 211 

The Sea-Bird's Song , 212 

To the Daughter of a Friend 212 

Salmon River... 212 

ROBERT C. SANDS ...213 

Proem to " Yamoyden" ...217 

Dream of the Princess Papantzin 218 

Monody on the Death of Samuel Patch 221 

Evening, from " Yamoyden" - 223 

Weehawken ~ 223 

The Green Isle of Lovers 224 

The Dead of 1832 — 224 

Parting — 225 

Conclusion of " Yamoyden"...— 225 

Invocation - — 226 

Good-Night 226 

From a Monody on J. W. Eastburn — . ...„ 226 

To the Manitto of Dreams— 227 

WILLIAM B. O. PEABODY. 328 

Hymn of Nature 228 

To William 228 

Monadnock 229 

The Winter Night 230 

Death 230 

Autumn Evening — - 230 

GEORGE WASHINGTON DOANE - ....231 

Onavery old Wedding-Ring 231 

The Voice of Rama .— - 231 

That Silent Moon - 232 

Thermopylae... ....—.. 232 

The Waters ofMarah 232 

"What is that, Mother ?" 233 

A Cherub 233 

Lines by the Lake-Side 233 

The Christian's Death —~ 233 

GRENVILLE MELLEN - 234 

English Scenery - 235 

Mount Washington ~ 235 

The Bugle 235 

On seeing an Eagle pass near me in Autumn Twilight 236 

The True Glory of America 236 

GEORGE HILL 237 

Extract from " The Ruins of Athens" 237 

The Mountain-Girl 238 

The Might of Greece, from " The Ruins of Athens 238 



CONTENTS. 



11 



GEORGE HILL, (Coniinded.) 

The Fall of the Oak paob 239 

Sonnets to Liberty, A Young Mother, and Spring 239 

Nobility 239 

JAMES G. BROOKS 240 

Greece— 1832 240 

To the Dying Year 241 

To the Autumn Leaf. 242 

The Last Song 242 

Joy and Sorrow 242 

GEORGE P. MORRIS 243 

The West 244 

"Land-Ho!" 244 

The Chieftain's Daughter 244 

Near the Lake 244 

"When other Friends are round thee" 245 

" Woodman, spare that Tree !" 245 

" Where Hudson's Wave o'er silvery Sands" 245 

The Pastor's Daughter 245 

ALBERT G. GREENE 246 

The Baron's Last Banquet 246 

To the Weathercock on our Steeple 247 

Adelheid 247 

Old Grimes 248 

"Oh, think not that the Bosom's Light" 248 

GEORGE W. BETHUNE 249 

To my Mother 249 

Night Study 2*9 

Lines written on seeing Thorwaldsen's Ea3- Relief representing 

Night 250 

To my Wife 250 

WILLIAM LEGGETT 251 

A Sacred Melody .'.*. 252 

Love and Friendship 252 

" 1 trust the Frown thy Features wear" 252 

Life's Guiding Star.. 252 

To Elmira 252 

EDWARD C. PINKNEY 253 

Italy -l 254 

The Indian's Bride 254 

" We break the Glass whose sacred Wine" 255 

A Health 255 

The Voyager's Song., 25(i 

A Picture Song 256 

The Old Tree 257 

To , 257 

Elysium 257 

To H 258 

Serenade 258 

The Widow's Song 258 

"I need not name thy thrilling Name" 258 

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 259 

Each in All 26a 

" Good-bye, proud World 1" 259 

To the Humble Bee 260 

The Rhodora 260 

The Snow-Storm 260 

The Sphinx 261 

The Problem 262 

The Fore-Runners 202 

The Poet : + 263 

Dirge 265 

To Rhea 204 

To Eva 264 

The Amulet 264 

" Thine Eyes still shined" 264 

SUMNER LINCOLN FAIRFIELD 205 

Destruction of Pompeii, from " The Last Night of Pompeii". .206 

Visions of Romance 2o7 

An Evening Song of Piedmont 267 

RUFUS DAWES 268 

Lancaster 26S 

Anne Boleyn 271 

Sunrise, from Mount Washington 271 

Spirit of Beauty 272 

Love Unchangeable 272 

Extract from " Geraldine" 272 

EDMUND D. GRIFFIN 273 

Lines written on leaving Italy 273 

Description of Love, by Venus— 274 

Emblems 274 

To a Lady 274 

H. BRIGHT 275 

The Vision of Death 275 

He wedded again 276 

"Should Sorrow o'er thy Brow" 276 



GEORGE D. PRENTICE page 277 

The Closing Year 277 

Lines to a Lady 277 

The Dead Mariner 278 

Sabbath Evening 279 

To a Lady 279 

Lines written at my Mother's Grave 279 

WALTER COLTON 280 

The Sailor 2S0 

My First Love, and my Last 250 

WILLIAM CROSWELL 281 

The Synagogue 281 

The Clouds 2R1 

The Ordinal 282 

Christmas Eve 282 

The Death of Stephen 2S2 

The Christmas Offering 282 

WILLIAM PITT PALMER 283 

Light 283 

Lines to a Chrysalis 284 

The Home Valentine 284 

CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN 2*5 

Moonlight on the Hudson .^287 

The Forest Cemetery 288 

The Bob-O-Linkum 289 

The Remonstrance 289 

Primeval Woods 289 

Rio Bravo, a Mexican Lament 290 

Love's Memories 290 

Rosalie Claie 291 

"Think of Me, Dearest" 291 

"We parted in Sadness" 291 

The Origin of Mint Juleps 291 

Le Faineant 292 

To an Autumn Rose 292 

Sympathy 292 

A Portrait 292 

Indian Summer, 1823 293 

Town Repinings 293 

To a Lady Blushing 293 

The Farewell 293 

" I will love her no more — 'tis a Waste of the Heart 293 

"They are Mockery all" 294 

Melody 294 

Morning Hymn 294 

The Western Hunter to his Mistress 29< 

Thy Name 294 

The Myrtle and Steel 295 

Epitaph upon a Dog 295 

Anacreontic 295 

A Hunter's Matin * 295 

Sparkling and Bright 296 

"Why seek her Heart to understand?" 296 

"Ask me not why I should love her" :mh 

" She loves, but 'tis not me she loves" 296 

"I know I share thy Smiles with Many" 290 

Love and Politics 297 

What is Solitude? 297 

J. O. ROCKWELL 298 

The Sum of Life 299 

To Ann 299 

The Lost at Sea 299 

The Death-Bed of Beauty 300 

To the Ice-Mountain 300 

The Prisoner for Debt 300 

To a Wave 300 

N. P. WILLIS 301 

Melanie 302 

The Confessional 305 

Lines on Leaving Europe 306 

Spring 307 

T<> Ermengarde - 307 

Hagar in the Wilderness - 30s 

Thoughts while making a Grave for a first Child, born dead 309 

The Belfry Pigeon 309 

April 310 

The Annoyer 310 

To a Face beloved 310 

EDWARD SANDFORD 311 

Address to Black Hawk 311 j 

To a Musquito 312 | 

THOMAS WARD 313 j 

Musingson Rivers 313 j 

To the Magnolia 311 

To an Infant in Heaven 3J4 



12 



COIN TENTS. 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW pace 315 

N uremberg 316 

The Arsenal at Springfield 317 

The Skeleton in Armour 317 

A Psalm of Life 319 

The Light of Stars 319 

Kmlymion 319 

Footsteps of Angels 3'20 

The Beleaguered City 320 

It is not always May 320 

Midnight Mass for the Dying Year 321 

The Village Blacksmith 321 

Excelsior 322 

The Rainy Day 322 

Maidenhood - 322 

WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS 323 

The Slain Eagle 325 

The Brooklet 326 

The Shaded Water 326 

To the Breeze 327 

The Lost Pleiad 327 

The Edge of the Swamp 328 

Changes of Home 32S 

GEORGE LUNT 329 

Autumn Musings 329 

Jew ish Battle-Song 330 

" Pass on, relentless World" 330 

Hampton Beach 331 

Pilgrim Song 331 

The Lyre and Sword 331 

JOHN H. BRYANT 332 

The New-England Pilgrim's Funeral 332 

A Recollection 333 

My Native Village 333 

The Indian Summer 334 

The Blind Restored to Sight : 334 

Two Sonnets 334 

JONATHAN LAWRENCE 335 

Thoughts of a Student 335 

Sea-Song 336 

Look Aloft .- 336 

To May 336 

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 337 

The Ballad of Cassandra Southwick 338 

New England 340 

To John Pierpont 340 

Palestine 341 

Pent ucket 341 

Lines on the Death of S. Oliver Torrey, of Boston 342 

Randolph of Roanoke 343 

The Prisoner for Debt 344 

The Merrimack. 344 

Gone 3 ^ 5 

Lines written in the Book of a Friend 346 

Democracy 347 

The Cypress-Tree of Ceylon 348 

The Worship of Nature 348 

The Funeral-Tree of the Sokokis 349 

Raphael 350 

Memories . 350 

To a Friend on her Return from Europe 351 

The Reformer 352 

My Soul and 1 353 

To a Fiiend on the Death of his Sister 354 

WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER ...355 

Conservatism 355 

The Invalid 355 

The Early Lost 356 

Fifty Years Ago 356 

Truth and Freedom 356 

August 357 

Spring Verses '• 357 

May • 358 

Our Early Days. 358 

The Labourer - —359 

The Mothers of the West 359 

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 360 

On lending a Punch-Bowl 361 

Lexington 362 

A Song of other Days 362 

The Cambridge Churchyard 363 

An Evening Thought 364 

La Grisette 364 

The Treadmill-Song 364 

Departed Days SK 

The Dilemma 365 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, [Conrtxvn.) 

The Star and the Water-Lily page 365 

The Music-Grinders 366 

The Philosopher to his Love 366 

L'Inconnue 367 

The Last Reader 367 

The Last Leaf 367 

Old Ironsidas 368 

" Strange! that one lightly-whispered tone" 368 

The Steamboat 368 

ALBERT PIKE 369 

Hymns to the Gods 370 

To Neptune 370 

To Apollo 370 

To Venus 371 

To Diana 372 

To Mercury 372 

To Bacchus 373 

To Somnus 374 

To Ceres 374 

To the Planet Jupiter 375 

To the Mocking-Bird 377 

To Spring 37S 

Lines written on the Rocky Mountains 378 

WILLIS GAYLORD CLARK 379 

A Lament 380 

Memory 3S0 

Song of May 381 

Death of the First-Born 381 

Summer 382 

The Early Dead 382 

The Signs of God 382 

Euthanasia 383 

An Invitation 383 

The Burial-Place 383 

A Contrast 384 

The Faded One 384 

A Remembrance 384 

PARK BENJAMIN 385 

Gold 3S6 

Upon seeing a Portrait of a Lady 366 

The Stormy Petrel 386 

The Nautilus 386 

To one Beloved 387 

The Tired Hunter 388 

The Departed ..388 

I am not old 388 

The Dove's Errand 389 

" How cheery are the Mariners 1 ." 389 

Lines spoken by a Blind Boy ....390 

T he Elysian Isle 390 

Sonnets 391 

RALPH HOYT 392 

Old 392 

New 393 

Sale 395 

Snow 395 

Extract from the Chaunt of Life 396 

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE^ 397 

Hymn and Prayer 397 

The Poet 397 

Jacob's Well 398 

The Violet 398 

To a Bunch of Flowers 398 

JAMES ALDRICH 399 

Morn at Sea 399 

A Death-Bed 399 

My Mother's Grave 399 

A Spring-Day Walk 400 

To one far away 400 

Beatrice : 400 

" Underneath this Maible cold" 400 

The D reaming Girl 400 

WILLIAM H. C. HOSMER 401 

A Forest Scene, from "Yonnondio" 401 

Woods by Moonlight, from the same 401 

A Mock Indian Fight, from the same 401 

An Indian March, from the same 402 

On a Ruin, from the same 402 

The Errand o( Wan-nut-hay, 402 

A Floridian Scene 402 

ISAAC M'LELLAN, JR 403 

New England's Dead 4 °3 

The Death of Napoleon 403 

The Notes of the Birds 404 



CONTENTS. 



13 



JONES VERY page 405 

To the Painted Columbine 405 

Lines to a Withered Leaf seen on a Poet's Table 405 

The Heart 405 

Sonnets 406 

ALFRED B. STREET 408 

The Gray Forest-Eagle 409 

Fowling 410 

A Forest Walk 411 

Winter 41-2 

The Settler 412 

An American Forest in Spring 413 

The Lost Hunter 413 

GEORGE W. CUTTER 415 

The Song of Steam 415 

The Seng of Lightning 416 

On the Death of General Worth 416 

EDGAR ALLAN POE 417 

The City in the Sea 418 

Annabel Lee 418 

Ulalume: a Ballad 419 

To Zante 419 

To 420 

Dream-Land 420 

Lenore 421 

Israfel 421 

For Annie 422 

To one in Paradise 42-2 

The Raven 423 

The Conqueror Worm 424 

The Haunted Palace 425 

The Sleeper 425 

WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH 426 

Elegiac Stanzas 426 

"Let there be Light!" 427 

June 427 

Spring 428 

Requiem 428 

Stanzas written on visiting my Birth-place 428 

To H. A. B 429 

To 429 

" Believe not the slander, my dearest Katrine!" 430 

Sonnets 430 

LOUIS LEGRAND NOBLE 431 

The Cripple-Boy 431 

To a Swan flying at Midnight in the Vale of the Huron 432 

HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN 133 

The Holy Land 434 

To an EIrn 434 

Mary 435 

" You call us inconstant" 435 

Greenough's Washington 435 

Alone once more 436 

Sonnets 436 

Luna: an Ode 437 

Tasso to Leonora 437 

The Law of. Beauty, from " The Spirit of Poetry" 437 

Columbus, from the same 438 

Florence, from the same 438 

Poetry Immortal, from the same 438 

HENRY B. HIRST 439 

The Last Tilt 440 

Berenice 440 

Tne Lost Pleiad 441 

No More 441 

Astarte 441 



C. P. CRASOH. 



.442 



The Music of the Spheres 442 

The Blind Seer 442 I 

The Hours 443 ' 

'.' Thought is deeper than all Speech." 443 

My Thoughts „ 443 

Beauty 444 

On hearing Triumphant Music 444 

WILLIAM JEWETT PABODIE 445 

" Go forth into the Fields" 445 

To the Autumn Forest 445 

On the Death of a Friend 446 

Our Country 446 

"I bear thy Voice, O Spring!" 446 

" I stood beside the Grave of him" 



446 

CORNELIUS MATHEWS 447 

The Journalist 447 

The Citizen - 447 



CORNELIUS MATHEWS, (Continued.) 

The Reformer pace 44S 

The Masses.. 448 

The Mechanic 44S 

JEDIDIAH HUNTINGTON 449 

Sonnets suggested by the Coronation of Queen Victoria 449 

On Reading Bryant's Poem of" The Winds" 449 

To Emmeline: a Threnodia 450 

JOHN G. SAXE 451 

The Proud Miss MacEride: a Legend of Gotham 451 

Fashion, from " Progress" 454 

" The Press," from the same 454 

" Association," from the same 454 

Bereavement 454 

PHILIP P. COOKE 455 

Emily: Proem to the " FroLssart Ballads" 455 

Life in the Autumn Woods 457 

Florence Vane 458 

EPES SARGENT 459 

Records of a Summer Voyage to Cuba 459 

The Days that are Past 461 

The Martyr of the Arena 461 

Summer in the Heart 462 

The Fugitive from Love 462 

The Night-Scorm at Sea *. 462 

THOMAS W. PARSONS 463 

The Shadow of the Obelisk 463 

Hudson River 464 

Elegy in a New-England Churchyard 465 

"Ave Maria!" 465 

The Burial of a Friend 465 

On a Bust of Dante 466 

On a Magdalen, by Guido 466 

WILLIAM W. LORD 467 

Keats 467 

To my Sister 467 

The Brook 468 

A Rime 468 

GEORGE W. DEWEY 4G9 

The Rustic Shrine 469 

Blind Louise 469 

A Memory 469 

A Blighted May 470 

To an Old Acquaintance 470 

The Shady Side 470 

ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE 471 

Manhood 472 

Old Churches — 472 

The Heart's Song , 473 

The Chimes of England 473 

March - 473 

JAMES T. FIELDS _ 474 

On a Pair of Antlers, brought from Germany 474 

Ballad of the Tempest 474 

A Valentine 475 

On a Book of Sea-Mosses, sent to an eminent English Poet 475 

Glory, from "The Post of Honour" 475 

True Honour, from the same... 475 

Webster, from the same 475 

The Memory of a Friend, from the same 476 

Sleighing-Song 476 

Fair Wind 476 

Dirge for a Young Girl 476 

Last Wishes of a Child 476 

A Bridal Melody 476 

WILLIAM WALLACE 477 

Rest 477 

Wordsworth 478 

The Mounds of America 480 

Greenwood Cemetery 4S1 

Hymn to the Hudson River 451 

Chant of a Soul 482 

The Gods of Old: an Ode 483 

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 4S5 

To the Dandelion 4S6 

To the Memory of Thomas Hood 486 

Sonnets 487 

The Poet 4S8 

Extract from " A Legend of Brittany" 489 

The Syrens 489 

An Incident in a Railroad Car 490 

The Heritage 491 

The Future 4 ^ 

B 



14 



CONTENTS. 



/ 

J. M. LEGARE pioe -193 

Thanatokallos 493 

Maize in Tassel 494 

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ 495 

The Alchemist's Daugliter 496 

Tlie Realm of Dreams 499 

The Brickmaker 501 

The Stranger on the Sill 602 

" Bring me the Juice of the Honey Fruit" 50-2 

The Deserted Road 502 

GEORGE H. BOKER 503 

The Song of the Earth 504 

The Spirit of Poesy 507 

WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER 509 

The New Argonauts 509 

The Incognita of Raphael 510 

Uhland 510 

BAYARD TAYLOR 511 

A Requiem in the North 512 

El Canalo 513 

The Bison-Track 513 

Ode to Shelley 514 

Ariel in the Cloven Pine 514 

The Continents 515 

The Fight of Paso del Mar 516 

Kubleh: a Story of the Assyrian Desert 516 

CHARLES G. EASTMAN 518 

" The Farmer satin his Easy Chair" 518 

Mill May 518 

" Her Grave is by her Mother's" 518 

R. H. STODDARD 519 

Leonatus: a Leaf from " Cymbeline" 519 

Arcadian Hymn to Flora 521 

The Two Brides 522 

VARIOUS AUTHORS 525 

Dirge of Alaric, the Visigoth.— Edward Everett 525 

To a bereaved Mother. — John Quincy Adams 526 

To the Fringilla Melodia.— Henry Pickering 526 

Joshua commanding the Sun and Moon to stand still. — John B. 

Van Schaick 527 

The Boat-Horn.— William O. Butler 527 

To a Shower.— James William Miller 528 

To an Infant.— William B. Walter 528 

To Pneuma. — James Wallis Easthurn 529 

Little Red Riding Hood— James N. Barker 629 



VARIOUS AUTHORS, (Continecd.) 

The Song of the Prairie.— J. K. Mitchell paob 531 

Geehale: an Indian Lament.— Henry Rowe Schoolcraft 531 

The Twenty Thousand Children of the Sabbath Schools in New 
York celebrating together the Fourth of July, 1839.— William 

B. Tappan 532 

To the Ship-of the-Line Pennsylvania.— William B. Tappan...™ 

Spring is coming.— James Nack 632 

The Lover-Student.— Benjamin D. Window 633 

Anacreontic— Alexander H. Bogart ..._....» 533 

A Good-Night to Connecticut.— Hugh Peters 534 

'T is said that Absence conquers Love.— Frederick W. Thomas.. 634 

The Blind Boy.— Francis L. Hawks 535 

" Who has robbed the Ocean-Cave?"— John Shaw 535 

Emblems.— Richard Coe, Jr „ 635 

The Whippoorwill.— Robert Montgomery Bird 536 

The Mother perishing in a Snow-Storm.— Seba Smith 636 

Wedded Love's First Home.— James Hall 536 

The Mocking-Bird— Alfred B. Meek 537 

The Father's Death.— Henry R. Jackson 637 

The Philosophy of Whist.— Charles West Thompson 538 

To the River Ogeechee.— Robert M. Charlton 538 

The Burial of the Withlacochee.— Horatio Hale 538 

Agriculture. — Charles W. Everest 539 

" Minstrel, sing that Song again." — Charles W. Everest 539 

ToS. T. P.— George. W. Patten 539 

Lines on passing the Grave of my Sister.— Micah P. Flint 540 

The Free Mind.— William Lloyd Garrison 510 

The Armies of the Eve. — Otway Curry 540 

Ben Bolt. — Thomas Dunn English 541 

Poor Tom.— Matthew C. Field 541 

To my Shadow.— Matthew C. Field 541 

Lake Erie. — Ephraim Peabody... 542 

The Backwoodsman.— Ephraim Peabody.... 542 

On a Friend. — John M. Harney 542 

The Bird of the Bastile.— B. B. Thatcher 543 

The Arched Stream.— W. E. Channing 543 

The Birth of Thunder.— W. J. Snelling 544 

To my Wife. — Lindley Murray.. 545 

Faded Hours. — John Rudolph Sutermeister 545 

" Give me the Old." — Anonymous 546 

The Sleeping Wife.— Tlwmas Mackellar 546 

The Hymns my Mother sung. — Thomas Mackellar 546 

The Love that lasts. — George B. Cheever 547 

Speak gently. — David Bales 547 

The Silent Girl. — Samuel Gilman ; ....547 

My Native Land.— Theodore S. Fay 648 

From a Father to his Children.— Clement C. Moore 549 

The Star-Spangled Banner.— Francis S. Key 5-19 

Hail, Columbia [—Joseph Hopkinson 550 



POETS AND POETRY OF AMERICA. 



%ntxoMtt\on. 

FROM THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS TO THE REVOLUTION. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



The earliest specimens of poetry which I 
have presented in the body of this work are 
from the writings of Philip Freneau, one of 
those worthies who with both lyre and sword 
aided in the achievement of the independence 
of the United States. Before his time but 
little poetry was written in this country, al- 
though from the landing of the pilgrims at 
Plymouth there was at no period a lack of can- 
didates for the poetic laurel. Many of the 
early colonists were men of erudition, deeply 
versed in scholastic theology, and familiar 
with the best ancient literature; but they 
possessed neither the taste, the fancy, nor 
the feeling of the poet, and their elaborate 
metrical compositions are forgotten by all 
save the antiquary, and by him are regarded 
as among the least valuable of the relics of 
the first era of civilization in America. 

It is unreasonable to compare the quaint and 
grotesque absurdities of Folger, Mather, and 
Wigglesworth with the productions of the 
first cultivators of the art in older nations ; for 
literature — mental development — had here, in 
truth, no infancy. The great works of Chau- 
cer, Spenser, Shakspeare, and Milton were 
as accessible in their time as now, and the 
living harmonies of Dryden and Pope were 
borne on every breeze that then fanned the 
cheek of an Englishman. The bar to pro- 
gress was that spirit of bigotry — at length bro- 
ken down by the stronger spirit of freedom — 
which prevented the cultivation of elegant 
learning, and regarded as the fruits of profane 
desire the poet's glowing utterance, strong 
feeling, delicate fancy, and brilliant imagina- 
tion. Our fathers were like the labourers of 
an architect; they planted deep and strong in 
religious virtue and useful science the founda- 
tions of an edifice, not dreaming how great and 
magnificent it was to be. They did well their 
part ; it was not meet for them to fashion the 
capitals and adorn the arches of the temple. 

The first poem composed in this country was 
a description of New England, in Latin, by 
the Reverend William Morrell, who came to 
Plymouth Colony in 1623, and returned to 
London in the following year. It has been 
reprinted, with an English translation made 
by tne author, in the collections of the Massa- 
3 



chusetts Historical Society. The first verses 
by a colonist were written about the year 1630. 
The name of the author has been lost : 

New England's annoyances, you that would know them, 
Pray ponder these verses which briefly do show them. 

The place where we live is a wilderness wood, 
Where grass is much wanting that 's fruitful and good : 
Our mountains and hills and our valleys below 
Being commonly cover'd with ice and with snow : 
And when the northwest wind with violence blows, 
Then every man pulls his cap over his nose : 
But if any's so hardy and will it withstand, 
He forfeits a finger, a foot, or a hand. 

But when the spring opens, we then take the hoe, 
And make the ground ready to plant and to sow ; 
Our corn being planted and seed being sown, 
The worms destroy much before it is grown ; 
And when it is growing some spoil there is made 
By birds and by squirrels that pluck up the blade ; 
And when it is come to full corn in the ear, 
It is often destroy'd by raccoon and by deer. 

And now do our garments begin to grow thin, 
And wool is much wanted to card and to spin ; 
If we can get a garment to cover without, 
Our other in-garments are clout upon clout : 
Our clothes we brought with us are apt to be torn, 
They need to be clouted soon after they 're worn ; 
But clouting our garments they hinder us nothing, 
Clouts double are warmer than single whole clothing. 

If fresh meat be wanting, to fill up our dish, 

We have carrots and pumpkins and turnips and fish : 

And is there a mind for a delicate dish, 

We repair to the clam banks, and there we catch fish. 

Instead of pottage and puddings and custards and pies, 

Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies ; 

We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon ; 

If it was not for pumpkins we should be undone. 

If barley be wanting to make into malt, 
We must be contented and think it no fault ; 
For we can make liquor to sweeten our lips 
Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut tree chips. 

Now while some are going let others be coming, 
For while liquor 's boiling it must have a scumming ; 
But I will not blame them, for birds of a feather, 
By seeking their fellows, are flocking together. 
But you whom the Lord intends hither to bring, 
Forsake not the honey for fear of the sting; 
But bring both a quiet and contented mind, 
And all needful blessings you surely will find. 

The first book published in British America 
was " The Psalms in Metre, faithfully Trans- 
lated, for the Use, Edification, and Comfort 
of the Saints, in Public and Private, especially 
in New England," printed at Cambridge, in 
1640. The version was made by Thomas 
Welde, of Roxbury, Richard Mather, of 
Dorchester, and John Eliot, the famous apos- 
tle to the Indians. The translators seem 
b 2 xvii 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



to have been aware that it possessed but little 
poetical merit. "If," say they, in their pre- 
face, " the verses are not always so smooth 
and elegant as some may desire and expect, 
let them consider that God's altar needs not 
our polishings ; for we have respected ra- 
ther a plain translation, than to smooth our 
verses with the sweetness of any paraphrase, 
and so have attended to conscience rather than 
elegance, and fidelity rather than poetry, in 
translating Hebrew words into English lan- 
guage, and David's poetry into English me- 
tre." Cotton Mather laments the inele- 
gance of the version, but declares that the He- 
brew was most exactly rendered. After a 
second edition had been printed, President 
Dunster,* of Harvard College, assisted by 
Mr. Richard Lyon, a tutor at Cambridge, at- 
tempted to improve it, and in their advertise- 
ment to the godly reader they state that they 
« had special eye both to the gravity of the 
phrase of sacred writ and sweetness of the 
verse." Dunster's edition was reprinted 
twenty-three times in America, and several 
times in Scotland and England, where it was 
long used in the dissenting congregations. 
The following specimen is from the second 
edition : 

PSALM CXXXVII. 

The rivers on of Babilon, 

There when wee did sit downe, 
Yea. even then, wee mourned when 

Wee remembered Sion. 
Our harp Wee did hang it amid, 

Upon the willow tree, 
Because there they that us away 

Led in captivitee 
Requir'd of us a song, and thus 

Askt mirth us waste who laid, 
Sing us among a Sion's song, 

Unto us then they said. 
The Lord's song sing can wee, being 

In stranger's land? then let 
Lose her skill my right hand if I 

Jerusalem forget. 
Let cleave my tongue my pallate on 

If mind thee doe not I, 
If chiefe joyes o're I prize not more 

Jerusalem my joy. 
Remember, Loud, Edom's sons' word, 

Unto the ground, said they, 
It rase, it rase, when as it was 

Jerusalem her day. 

■ 
Blest shall he be that payeth thee, 

Daughter of Babilon, 
Who must be waste, that which thou hast 

Rewarded us upon. 
O happie hee shall surely bee 

That taketh up, that eke 
Thy little ones against the stones 

Doth into pieces breake. 

Mrs. Anne Bradstreet, « the mirror of her 

* Thomas Dunster was the first president of Harvard 
College, and was inaugurated on the twenty-seventh of 



age, and glory of her sex," as she is styled 
by John Norton, of excellent memory, came 
to America with her husband, Simon Brad- 
street, governor of the colony, in 1630, when 
she was but sixteen years of age. She was a 
daughter of Governor Dudley, a miserly, 
though a "valorous and discreet gentleman," 
for whom Governor Belcher wrote the fol- 
lowing epitaph : 

"Here lies Thomas Dudlev, that trusty old stud — 
A bargain 's a bargain, and must be made good." 

Mrs. Bradstreet's verses were printed at 
Cambridge, in 1640. The volume was enti- 
tled, " Several Poems, compiled with great 
variety of wit and learning, full of delight; 
wherein especially is contained a compleat 
discourse and description of the four Elements, 
Constitutions, Ages of Man, and Seasons of the 
Year, together with an exact Epitome of the 
Three First Monarchies, viz : the Assyrian, 
Persian, Grecian ; and Roman Commonwealth, 
from the beginning, to the end of the last 
King ; with divers other Pleasant and Serious 
Poems." Norton declares her poetry so fine 
that, were Maro to hear it, he would condemn 
his own works to the fire ; and in a poetical 
description of her character says — 

Her breast was a brave pallace, a broad street, 
Where all heroic, ample thoughts did meet, 
Where nature such a tenement had tane 
That other souls to hers dwelt in a lane. 

The author of the " Magnalia" speaks of 
her poems as a " monument for her memory 
beyond the stateliest marble ;" and John 
Rogers, one of the presidents of Harvard 
College, in some verses addressed to her, 
says — 

Your only hand those poesies did compose : 
Your head the source, whence all those springs did flow : 
Your voice, whence change's sweetest notes arose : 
Your feet that kept the dance alone, I trow : 
Then veil your bonnets, poetasters all, 
Strike, lower amain, and at these humbly fall, 
And deem yourselves advanced to be her pedestal. 

Should all with lowly congees laurels bring, 
Waste Flora's magazine to find a wreath, 
Or Pineus' banks, 'twere too mean offering; 
Your muse a fairer garland doth bequeath 
To guard your fairer front ; here 't is your name 
Shall stand immarbled ; this your little frame 
Shall great Colossus be, to your eternal fame. 

She died in September, 1672, and "was 
greatly mourned." The following stanzas are 

August, 1640. In 1654 he became unpopular on account 
of his public advocacy of anti-ptedobaptism, and was com- 
pelled to resign. When he died, in 1659, he bequeathed 
legacies to the persons who were most active in causing 
his separation from the college. .In the life of Dunster, 
in the Magnalia., is the following admonition, by a Mr. 
Shepherd, to the authors of the New Psalm Book: 

You Roxb'ry poets keep clear of the crime 

Of missing to give to us very good rhyme. 

And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen, 

But with the texts- own words you will them strengthen. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



from one of her minor pieces, entitled " Con- 
templations." 

Under the cooling shadow of a stately elm 
Close sate I by a goodly river's side, 
Where gliding streams the rocks did overwhelm ; 
A lonely place, with pleasures dignified. 
I once that loved the shady woods so well. 
Now thought the rivers did the trees excel], 
And if the sun would ever shine, there would I dwell. 

While on the stealing stream I fixt mine eye, 
Which to the long'd-for ocean held its course, 
I markt nor crooks, nor rubs that there did lye 
Could hinder aught, but still augment its force : 
O happy flood, quoth I, that holdst thy race 
Till thou arrive at thy beloved place, 
Nor is it rocks or shoals that can obstruct thy pace. 

Nor is 't enough, that thou alone may'st slide, 
But hundred brooks in thy cleer waves do meet, 
So hand in hand along with thee they glide 
To Thetis' house, where all embrace and greet: 
Thou emblem true, of what I count the best, 

could I lead my rivulets to rest, 

So may we press to that vast mansion, ever blest. 

Ye fish, which in this liquid region 'bide, 

That for each season, have your habitation, 

Now salt, now fresh, where you think best to glide, 

To unknown coasts to give a visitation, 

In lakes and ponds, you leave your numerous fry, 

So nature taught, and yet you know not why, 

You watry folk that know not your felicity. 

Look how the wantons frisk to taste the air, 

Then to the colder bottome straight they dive, 

Eftsoon to Neptune's glassie hall repair 

To see what trade the great ones there do drive, 

Who forrage o'er the spacious sea-green field, 

And take the trembling prey before it yield, [shield. 

Whose armour is their scales, their spreading fins their 

While musing thus with contemplation fed, 
And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain, 
The sweet-tongued Philomel percht o'er my head, 
And chanted forth a most melodious strain 
Which rapt me so with wonder and delight, 

1 judg'd my hearing better than my sight, 

And wisht me wings with her a while to take my flight. 

O merry bird (said I) that fears no snares, 

That neither toyles nor hoards up in thy barn, 

Feels no sad thoughts, nor cruciating cares 

To gain more good, or shun what might thee harm ; 

Thy cloaths ne'er wear, thy meat is every where, 

Thy bed a bough, thy drink the water cleer, 

Reminds not what is past, nor what's to come dost fear. 

The dawning morn with songs thou dost prevent,* 

Setts hundred notes unto thy feather'd crew, 

So each one tunes his pretty instrument, 

And warbling out the old, begins anew, 

And thus they pass their youth in summer season, 

Then follow thee into a better region, 

Where winter 's never felt by that sweet airy legion. 

Man 's at the best a creature frail and vain, 

In knowledge ignorant, in strength but weak : 

Subject to sorrows, losses, sickness, pain, 

Each storm his state, his mind, his body break : 

From some of these he never finds cessation, 

But day or night, within, without, vexation, [lation. 

Troubles from foes, from friends, from dearest, near'st re- 

And yet this sinfull creature, frail and vain, 
This lump of wretchedness, of sin and sorrow, 
This weather-beaten vessel wrackt with pain, 
Joyes not in hope of an eternal morrow : 
Nor all his losses, crosses, and vexation, 

* Anticipate. 



In weight, in frequency, and long duration, 

Can make him deeply groan for that divine translation. 

The mariner that on smooth waves doth glide, 

Sings merrily, and steers his barque with ease, 

As if he had command of wind and tide, 

And now become great master of the seas; 

But suddenly a storm spoils all the sport, 

And makes him long for a more quiet port, 

Which 'gainst all adverse winds may serve for fort. 

So he that saileth in this world of pleasure, 

Feeding on sweets, that never bit of th' sowre, 

That 's full of friends, of honour, and of treasure, 

Fond fool, he takes this earth ev'n for heaven's bower. 

But sad affliction comes and makes him see 

Here 's neither honour, wealth, nor safety; 

Only above is found all with security. 

O Time, the fatal wrack of mortal things, 

That draws oblivion's curtains over kings, 

Their sumptuous monuments, men know them not, 

Their names without a record are forgot, 

Their parts, their ports, their pomp 's all laid in th' dust ; 

Nor wit, nor gold, nor buildings scape time's rust ; 

But he whose name is grav'd in the white stone 

Shall last and shine when all of these are gone. 

William Bradford, the second governor 
of Plymouth, who wrote a " History of the 
People and Colony from 1602 to 1647," 
composed also " A Descriptive and Historical 
Account of New England, in Verse," which 
is preserved in the Collections of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society. 

When John Cotton, a minister of Boston, 
died in 1652, Benjamin Woodbridge, the first 
graduate of Harvard College, and afterward 
one of the chaplains of Charles the Second, 
wrote an elegiac poem, from a passage in 
which it is supposed Franklin borrowed the 
idea of his celebrated epitaph on himself. 
Cotton, says Woodbridge, was 

A living, breathing Bible ; tables where 
Both covenants at large engraven were; 
Gospel and law in 's heart had each its column, 
His head an index to the sacred volume, 
His very name a title-page, and next 
His life a commentary on the text. 
O what a monument of glorious worth, 
When in a new edition he comes forth, 
Without erratas, may we think he '11 be, 
In leaves and covers of eternity! 

The lines of the Reverend Joseph Capen, 
on the death of Mr. John Foster, an inge- 
nious mathematician and printer, are yet more 
like the epitaph of Franklin : 

Thy body which no activeness did lack, 
Now 's laid aside like an old almanack; 
But for the present only 's out of date, 
'Twill have at length a far.more active state : 
Yea, though with dust thy body soiled be, 
Yet at the resurrection we shall see 
A fair edition, and of matchless worth, 
Free from erratas, new in heaven set forth ; 
'Tis but a word from God the great Creator, 
It shall be done when he saith Imprimatur. 

The excellent President Urian Oakes, 
styled " the Lactantius of New England," 
was one of the most distinguished poets of his 
time. The following verses are from his 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



Elegy on the death of Thomas Shepard, mi- 
nister of Charlestown : 

Art, nature, grace, in him were all combined 

To show the world a matchless paragon ; 

In whom of radiant virtues no less shined, 

Than a whole constellation ; but hee 's gone ! 
Hee 's gone, alas ! down in the dust must ly 
As much of this rare person, as could die. 

To be descended well, doth that commend? 

Can sons their fathers' glory call their own? 

Our Shepard justly might to this pretend, 

(His blessed father was of high renown, 

Both Englands speak him great, admire his name,) 
But his own personal worth's a better claim. 

His look commanded reverence and awe, 

Though mild and amiable, not austere : 

Well humour'd was he, as I ever saw, 

And ruled by love and wisdom more than fear. 
The muses and the graces too, conspired, 
To set forth this rare piece to be admired. 

He breathed love, and pursued peace in his day, 

As if his soul were made of harmony : 

Scarce ever more of goodness crowded lay 

In such a piece of frail mortality. 

Sure Father Wilson's genuine son was he, 
New-England's Paul had such a Timothy. 

My dearest, inmost, bosome friend is gone ! 

Gone is my sweet companion, soul's delight ! 

Now in a huddling crowd, I 'm all alone, 

And almost could bid all the world good-night, 
Blest be my rock ! God lives : O ! let him be 
As he is all, so all in all to me. 

At that period the memory of every eminent 
person was preserved in an ingenious elegy, 
epitaph, or anagram. Shepard, mourned in 
the above verses by Oakes, on the death of 
John Wilson, " the Paul of New England," 
and " the greatest annagrammatizer since the 
days of Lycophron," wrote — 

John Wilson, anagr. John Wilson. 
O, change it not! No sweeter name or thing, 
Throughout the world, within our ears shall ring. 

Thomas Welde, a poet of some reputation 
in his day, wrote the following epitaph on 
Samuel Danforth, a minister of Roxbury, 
who died soon after the completion of a new 
meeting-house : 

Our new-built church now suffers too by this, 
Larger its windows, but its lights are less. 

Peter Foulger, a schoolmaster of Nan- 
tucket, and the maternal grandfather of Doctor 
Franklin, in 1676 published a poem entitled 
"A Looking-glass for the Times," addressed 
to men in authority, in which he advocates 
religious liberty, and implores the government 
to repeal the uncharitable' laws against the 
Quakers and other sects. He says — 

The rulers in the country I do owne them in the Lord ; 
And^such as are for government, with them I do accord. 
But that which I intend hereby, is that they would keep 

bound; 
And meddle not with God's worship, for which they 

have no ground. 
And I am not alone herein, there's many hundreds more, 
That have for many years ago spoke much more upon that 
Indeed, I really believe, it 's not your business, [score. 
To meddle with the church of God in matters more or less. 



In another part of his " Looking Glass" he 
says — 

Now loving friends and countrymen, I wish we may be 

wise; 
'T is now a time for every man to see with his own eyes. 
'T is easy to provoke the Lord to send among us war ; 
'Tis easy to do violence, to envy and to jar; 
To show a spirit that is high ; to scorn and domineer; 
To pride it out as if there were no God to make us fear; 
To covet what is not our own ; to cheat and to oppress ; 
To live a life that might free us from acts of righteousness; 
To swear and lie and to be drunk, to backbite one another; 
To carry tales that may do hurt and mischief to our bro- 
ther; 
To live in such hypocrisy, as men may think us good, 
Although our hearts within are full of evil and of blood. 
All these, and many evils more, are easy for to do ; 
But to repent and to reform we have no strength thereto. 

The following are the concluding lines : 

I am for peace, and not for war, and that 's the reason why 
I write more plain than some men do, that use to daub 

and lie. 
But I shall cease and set my name to what I here insert : 
Because to be a libeller, I hate it with my heart, [here, 
From Sherbontown, where now I dwell, my name I do put 
Without offence, your real friend, it is Peter Foulger. 

Probably the first native bard was he who 
is described on a tombstone at Roxbury as 
" Benjamin Thomson, learned schoolmaster 
and physician, and ye renowned poet of New 
England." He was born in the town of Dor- 
chester, (now Quincy,) in 1640, and educated 
at Cambridge where he received a degree in 
1662. His J mcipal work, " New England's 
Crisis," appears to have been written during 
the famous wars of Philip, Sachem of the 
Pequods, against the colonists, in 1675 and 
1676. The following is the prologue, in 
which he laments the growth of luxury among 
the people : 

The times wherein old Pompion was a saint, 
When men fared hardly yet without complaint, 
On vilest cates; the dainty Indian-maize 
Was eat with clamp-shells out of wooden trayes, 
Under thatch'd huts without the cry, of rent, 
And the best sawce to every dish, content. 
When flesh was food and hairy skins made coats, 
And men as well as birds had chirping notes. 
When Cimnels were accounted noble blood ; 
Among the tribes of common herbage food. 
Of Ceres' bounty form'd was many a knack, 
Enough to fill poor Robw's Almanack. 
These golden times (too fortunate to hold) 
Were quickly sin'd away for love of gold. 
'T was then among the bushes, not the street, 
If one in place did an inferior meet, 
"Good-morrow, brother, is there aught you want? 
Take freely of me, what I have you ha'nt." 
Plain Tom and Dick would pass as current now, 
As ever since "Your servant, Sir," and bow. 
Deep-skirted doublets, puritanick capes, 
Which now would render men like upright apes, 
Was comlier wear, our wiser fathers thought, 
Than the cast fashions from all Europe brought. 
'T was in those dayes an honest grace would hold 
Till an hot pudding grew at heart a cold. 
And men had better stomachs at religion, 
Than I to capon, turkey-cock, or pigeon ; 
When honest sisters met to pray, not prate, 
About their own and not their neighbour's state. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



During Plain Dealing's reign, that worthy stud 

Of the ancient planters' race before the flood, 

Then times were good, merchants cared not a rush 

For other fare than jonakin and mush. 

Although men fared and lodged very hard, 

Yet innocence was better than a guard. 

'T was long before spiders and worms had drawn 

Their dingy webs, or hid with cheating lawne 

New England's beautys, which still seem'd to me 

Illustrious in their own simplicity. 

'Twas ere the neighbouring Virgin-Land had broke 

The hogsheads of her worse than hellish smoak. 

'Twas ere the Islands sent their presents in, 

Which but to use was counted next to sin. 

'T was ere a barge had made so rich a fraight 

As chocolate, dust-gold, and bitts of eight. 

Ere wines from France and Muscovadoe too, 

Without the which the drink will scarsely doe. 

From western isles ere fruits and delicasies 

Did rot maids' teeth and spoil their handsome faces. 

Or ere these times did chance, the noise of war 

Was from our towns and hearts removed far. 

No bugbear comets in the chrystal air 

Did drive our Christian planters to despair. 

No sooner p^gan malice peeped forth 

Eut valour snib'd it. Then were men of worth 

Who by their prayers slew thousands, angel-like ; 

Their weapons are unseen with which they strike. 

Then had the churches rest; as yet the coales 

Were covered up in most contentious souls : 

Freeness in judgment, union in affection, 

Dear love, sound truth, they were our grand protection. 

Then were the times in which our councells sate, 

These gave prognosticks of our future fate. 

If these be longer liv'd our hopes increase, 

These wans will usher in a longer peace. — 

But if ^\e\v England's love die in its youth, 

The grave will open next for blessed truth. 

This theame is out of date, the peacefull hours 

When castles needed not, but pleasant bowers. 

Not ink, but bloud and tears now serve the turn 

To draw the figure of New England's urne. 

New England's hour of passion is at hand; 

No power except divine can it withstand. 

Scarce hath her glass of fifty years run out, 

But her old prosperous steeds turn heads about, 

Tracking themselves back to their poor beginnings, 

To fear and fare upon their fruits of sinnings. 

So that the mirror of the Christian world 

Lyes burnt to heaps in part, her streamers furl'd. 

Grief sighs, joyes flee, and dismal fears surprize 

Not dastard spirits only, but the wise. 

Thus have the fairest hopes deceiv'd the eye 

Of the big-swoln expectant standing by : 

Thus the proud ship after a little turn, 

Sinks into Neptune's arms to find its urne : 

Thus hath the heir to many thousands born 

Been in an instant from the mother torn : 

Even thus thine infant cheeks begin to pale, 

And thy supporters through great losses fail. 

This is the Prologue to thy future woe, 

The Epilogue no mortal yet can know. 

Thomson died in April, 1714, aged 74. He 
wrote besides his " great epic," three shorter 
poems, neither of which have much merit. 

Roger Williams, Chief Justice Sewall, 
Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, John Osborn, 
Nathaniel Pitcher, and many others were 
in this period known as poets. The death of 
Pitcher was celebrated in some verses enti- 
tled " Pitchero Threnodia," in which he was 
compared to Pindar, Horace, and other great 
writers of antiquity. 



The most celebrated person of his age in 
America was Cotton Mather. He was once 
revered as a saint, and is still regarded as a 
man of great natural abilities and profound 
and universal learning. It is true that he had 
much of what is usually called scholarship : 
he could read many languages ; and his me- 
mory was so retentive that he rarely forgot the 
most trivial circumstance ; but he had too little 
genius to comprehend great truths; and his 
attainments, curious rather than valuable, made 
him resemble a complicate machine, which, 
turned by the water from year to year, pro- 
duces only bubbles, and spray, and rainbows 
in the sun. He was industrious, and, beside 
his three hundred and eighty-two printed 
works, left many manuscripts, of which the 
largest is called " Illustrations of the Sacred 
Scriptures," on which he laboured daily more 
than thirty years. It is a mere compilation of 
ideas and facts from multitudinous sources, 
and embraces nothing original, or valuable to 
the modern scholar. His minor works are 
nearly all forgotten, even by antiquaries. The 
" Magnalia Christi Americana" is preserved 
rather as a curiosity than as an authority ; for 
recent investigations have shown that his 
statements are not to be relied on where he 
had any interest in misrepresenting acts or 
the characters of persons. His style abounds 
with puerilities, puns, and grotesque conceits. 
His intellectual character, however, was bet- 
ter than his moral ; for he was wholly destitute 
of any high religious principles, and was am- 
bitious, intriguing, and unscrupulous. He 
fanned into a flame the terrible superstition in 
regard to witchcraft, and when the frenzy was 
over, hypocritically endeavoured to persuade 
the people that instead of encouraging the pro- 
ceedings, his influence and exertions had been 
on the side of forbearance and caution. Fail- 
ing to convince them of this, he attempted to 
justify his conduct, by inventing various per- 
sonal histories, to show that there had been 
good cause for the atrocious persecutions. 

Cotton Mather's verses, scattered through 
a great number of his works, are not superior 
to those of many of his contemporaries. The 
following lines from his "Remarks on the 
Bright and the Dark Side of that American 
Pillar, the Reverend Mr. William Thomson," 
show his customary manner — 
Apolltox owing him a cursed spleen 
Who an Apoulos in the church had been, 
Dreading his traffic here wouid be undone 
By numerous proselytes he daily won, 
Accused him of imaginary faults, 
And push'd him down so into dismal vaults : 
Vaults, where he kept long ember-weeks of grief, 
Till Heaven alarmed sent him a relief. 



xxu 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



Then was a Daniel in the lion's den, 

A man, oh, how beloved of God and men ! 

By his bedside an Hebrew sword there lay, 

With which at last he drove the devil away. 

Quakers, too, durst not bear his keen replies, 

But fearing it half-drawn the trembler flies. 

Like Lazarus, new raised from death, appears 

The saint that had been dead for many years. 

Our Nehemiah said, " shall such as I 

Desert my flock, and like a coward fly !" 

Long had the churches begg'd the saint's release; 

Released at last, he dies in glorious peace. 

The night is not so long, but Phosphor's ray 

Approaching glories doth on high display. 

Faith's eye in him discern'd the morning star, 

His heart leap'd ; sure the sun cannot be far. 

In ecstasies of joy, he ravish'd cries, 

"Love, love the Lamb, the Lamb !" in whom he dies. 

Mather died on the thirteenth of February, 
1724, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. 

Roger Wolcott, a major-general at the 
capture of Louisburg, and afterward governor 
of Connecticut, published a volume of verses 
at New London, in 1725. His principal work 
is "A Brief Account of the Agency of the 
Honourable John Winthrop, Esquire, in the 
Court of King Charles the Second, Anno Do- 
mini 1662, when he obtained a Charter for the 
Colony of Connecticut." In this he describes 
a miracle by one of Winthrop's company, on 
the return voyage. 

The winds awhile 
Are courteous, and conduct them on their way, 
To near the midst of the Atlantic sea, 
When suddenly their pleasant gales they change 
For dismal storms that o'er the ocean range. 
For faithless iEoLUs, meditating harms, 
Breaks up the peace, and priding much in arms, 
Unbars the great artillery of heaven, 
And at the fatal signal by him given, 
The cloudy chariots threatening take the plains; 
Drawn by wing'd steeds hard pressing on their reins. 
These vast battalions, in dire aspect raised, 
Start from the barriers — night with lightning blazed, 
Whilst clashing wheels, resounding thunders crack, 
Strike mortals deaf, and heavens astonish'd shake. 

Here the ship captain, in the midnight watch, 
Stamps on the deck, and thunders up the hatch; 
And to the mariners aloud he cries, 
" Now all from safe recumbency arise : 
All hands aloft, and stand well to your tack, 
Engendering storms have clothed the sky with black, 
Big tempests threaten to undo the world : 
Down topsail, let the mainsail soon be furl'd: 
Haste to the foresail, there take up a reef: 
'Tis time, boys, now if ever, to be brief; 
Aloof for life ; let 's try to stem the tide, 
The ship 's much water, thus we may not ride : 
Stand roomer then, let 's run before the sea, 
That so the ship may feel her steerage way : 
Steady at helm !" Swiftly along she scuds 
Before the wind, and cuts the foaming suds. 
Sometimes aloft she lifts her prow so high, 
As if she 'd run her bowsprit through the sky; 
Then from the summit ebbs and hurries down, 
As if her way were to the centre shown. 

Meanwhile our founders in the cabin sat, 
Reflecting on their true and sad estate ; 
Whilst holy Warham's sacred lips did treat 
About God's promises and mercies great. 

Still more gigantic births spring from the clouds, 
Which tore the tatter'd canvass from the shrouds, 



And dreadful balls of lightning fill the air, 
Shot from the hand of the great Thunderer. 

And now a mighty sea the ship o'ertakes, 
Which falling on the deck, the bulk-head breaks; 
The sailors cling to ropes, and frighted cry, 
"The ship is foundered, we die! we die!" 

Those in the cabin heard the sailors screech; 
All rise, and reverend Warham do beseech, 
That he would now lift up to Heaven a cry 
For preservation in extremity. 
He with a faith sure bottom'd on the word 
Of Him that is of sea and winds the Lord, 
His eyes lifts up to Heaven, his hands extends, 
And fervent prayers for deliverance sends. 
The winds abate, the threatening waves appease, 
And a sweet calm sits regent on the seas. 
They bless the name of their deliverer, 
Who now they found a God that heareth prayer. 

Still further westward on they keep their way, 
Ploughing the pavement of the briny sea, 
Till the vast ocean they had overpast, 
And in Connecticut their anchors cast. 

In a speech to the king, descriptive of the 
valley of the Connecticut, Winthrop says — 

The grassy banks are like a verdant bed, 
With choicest flowers all enamelled, 
O'er which the winged choristers do fly, 
And wound the air with wondrous melody. 
Here Philomel, high perch'd upon a thorn, 
Sings cheerful hymns to the approaching morn. 
The song once set, each bird tunes up his lyre, 
Responding Heavenly music through the quire 

Each plain is bounded at its utmost edge 
With a long chain of mountains in a ridge, 
Whose azure tops advance themselves so high, 
They seem like pendants hanging in the sky. 

In an account of King Philip's wars, he 
tells how the soldier — 

met his amorous dame, 
Whose eye had often set his heart in flame. 
Urged with the motives of her love and fear, 
She runs and clasps her arms about her dear 
Where, weeping on his bosom as she lies, 
And languishing, on him she sets her eyes, 
Till those bright lamps do with her life expire, 
And leave him weltering in a double fire. 

In the next page he describes the rising of 
the sun — 
By this Aurora doth with gold adorn 
The ever beauteous eyelids of the morn ; 
And burning Titan his exhaustless rays, 
Bright in the eastern horizon displays ; 
Then soon appearing in majestic awe, 
Makes all the starry deities withdraw; 
Veiling their faces in deep reverence, 
Before the throne of his magnificence. 

Wolcott retired from public life, after hav- 
ing held many honourable offices, in 1755, and 
died in May, 1767, in the eighty-ninth year 
of his age. The next American verse-writer 
of much reputation was the Reverend Michael 
Wiggles worth. He was born in 1631, and 
graduated at Harvard College soon after enter- 
ing upon his twentieth year. When rendered 
unable to preach, by an affection of the lungs, 
In costly verse and most laborious rhymes, 
He dish'd up truths right worthy our regard. 

His principal work, "The Day of Doom, 
or a Poetical Description of the Great and 
Last Judgment, with a Short Discourse about 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



Eternity," passed through six editions in this 
country, and was reprinted in London. A few 
verses will show its style — 

Still was the night, serene and bright, 

When all men sleeping lay ; 
Calm was the season, and carnal reason 

Thought so 'twould last for aye. 
Soul, take thine ease, let sorrow cease, 

Much good thou hast in store : 
This was their song their cups among, 
The evening before. 

After the "sheep" have received their re- 
ward, the several classes of " goats" are ar- 
raigned before the judgment-seat, and, in turn, 
begin to excuse themselves. When the infants 
object to damnation on the ground that 
Adam is set free 
And saved from his trespass, 
Whose sinful fall hath spilt them all, 
And brought them to this pass, — 
the puritan theologist does not sustain his 
doctrine very well, nor quite to his own satis- 
faction even; and the judge, admitting the 
palliating circumstances, decides that although 
in bliss 
They may not hope to dwell, 
Still unto them He will allow 
The easiest room in hell. 
At length the general sentence is pronounced, 
and the condemned begin to 

wring their hands, their caitiff-hands, 
And gnash their teeth for terror; 
They cry, they roar for anguish sore, 
And gnaw their tongues for horror. 
But get away without delay, 

Christ pities not your cry : 
Depart to hell, there may ye yell, 
And roar eternally. 

Wigglesworth died in 1705. ^ 

The Reverend Benjamin Colman, D.D. 
" married in succession three widows, and 
wrote three poems;" but though his diction 
was more elegant than that of most of his 
contemporaries, he had less originality. His 
only daughter, Mrs. Jane Turell, wrote 
verses which were much praised by the critics 
of her time. 

The " Poems of the Reverend John Adams, 
M.A.," were published in Boston in 1745, 
four years after the author's death. The vo- 
lume contains paraphrases of the Psalms of 
David, the Book of Revelation in heroic 
verse, translations from Horace, and four 
original compositions, of which the longest is 
a " Poem on Society," in three cantos. The 
following picture of parental love is from the 
first canto. 

The parent, warm with nature's tender fire, 
Does in the child his second self admire ; 
The fondling mother views the springing charms 
Of the young infant smiling in her arms: 
And when imperfect accents show the dawn 
Of rising reason, and the future man, 
Sweetly she hears what, fondly he returns, 
And by this fuel her affection burns. 



But when succeeding years have flx'd his growth, 
And sense and judgment crown the ripen'd youth: 
A social joy thence takes its happy rise, 
And friendship adds its force to Nature's ties. 

The conclusion of the second canto is a de- 
scription of love — 

But now the Muse in softer measure flows, 
And gayer scenes and fairer landscapes shows: 
The reign of Fancy, when the sliding hours 
Are past with lovely nymph in woven bowers, 
Where cooly shades, and lawns forever green, 
And streams, and warbling birds adorn the scene ; 
Where smiles and graces, and the wanton train 
Of Cytherea, crown the flowery plain. 
What can their charms in equal numbers tell 1 
The glow of roses, and the lily pale ; 
The waving ringlets of the flowing hair, 
The snowy bosom, and the killing air; 
Their sable brows in beauteous arches bent, 
The darts which from their vivid eyes are sent, 
And fixing in our easy-wounded hearts, 
Can never be removed lw all our arts ; 
'T is then with love, and love alone possest, 
Our reason fled, that passion claims our breast. 
How many evils then will fancy form ? 
A frown will gather, and discharge a storm : 
Her smile more soft and cooling breezes brings, 
Than zephyrs fanning with their silken wings. 
But love, where madness reason does subdue, 
E'en angels, were they here, might well pursue. 
Lovely the sex, and moving are their charms, 
But why should passion sink us to their arms ? 
Why should the female to a goddess turn, 
And flames of love to flames of incense burn"? 
Either by fancy fired, or fed by lies, 
Be all distraction, or all artifice ? 
True love does flattery as much disdain 
As, of its own perfections, to be vain. 
The heart can feel whate'er the lips reveal, 
Nor Syren's smiles the destined death conceal. 
Love is a noble and a generous fire, 
Esteem and virtue feed the just desire ; 
Where honour leads the way it ever moves, 
And ne'er from breast to breast, inconstant, roves. 
Harbour'd by one, and only harbour'd there, 
It likes, but ne'er can love another fair. 
Fix'd upon one supreme, and her alone, 
Our heart is, of the fair, the constant throne. 
Nor will her absence, or her cold neglect, 
At once, expel her from our just respect : 
Inflamed by virtue, love will not expire, 
Unless contempt or hatred quench the fire. 
Adams died on the twenty-second of Janu- 
ary, 1740. I copy from the " Boston Weekly 
Newsletter,"* printed the day after his inter- 
ment, the following letter from a correspondent 
at Cambridge, which shows the estimation in 
which he was held by his contemporaries : 

" Last Wednesday morning expired in this 
place, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, and 
this day was interred with a just solemnity and 
respect, the reverend and learned John Adams, 
M. A., only son of the Honourable John 
Adams, Esquire. 

" The corpse was carried and placed in the 

* This was the first newspaper published in America. 
It was established in 1604, and the first sheet that was 
printed was taken damp from the press by Chief Justice 
Sewel, to exhibit as a curiosity to President Willa.ro, 
of Harvard University. The "Newsletter" was con- 
tinued seventy-two years. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



center of the college hall ; from whence, after 
a portion of Holy Scripture, and a prayer very 
suitable to the occasion, by the learned head 
of that society, it was taken and deposited 
wuthin sight of the place of his own educa- 
tion. The pall was supported by the fellows 
of the college, the professor of mathematics, 
and another master of arts. And, next to a 
number of sorrowful relatives, the remains of 
this great man were followed by his honour 
the lieutenant-governor, with some of his 
majesty's council and justices; who, with the 
reverend the president, the professor of divini- 
ty, and several gentlemen of distinction from 
this and the neighbouring towns, together with 
all the members and students of the college, 
composed the train that attended in an orderly 
procession, to the place that had been appoint- 
ed for his mournful interment. 

" The character of this excellent person is 
too great to be comprised within the limits of 
a paper of intelligence. It deserves to be 
engraven in letters of gold on a monument of 
marble, or rather to appear and shine forth 
from the works of some genius, of an uncom- 
mon sublimity, and equal to his own. But 
sufficient to perpetuate his memory to the 
latest posterity, are the immortal writings and 
composures of this departed gentleman ; who, 
for his genius, his learning, and his piety, 
ought to be enrolled in the highest class in the 
catalogue of Fame." 

The only American immortalized in " The 
Dunciad" was James Ralph, who went to 
England with Franklin. Pope exclaims — 

Silence, ye wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls, 
And makes night hideous; answer him, ye owls! 

Ralph wrote along "poem" entitled "Zeu- 
ma, or the Love of Liberty," which appeared 
in London in 1729 ; " Night," and " Sawney," 
a satire, in which I suppose he attempted to 
repay the debt he owed to Pope, as it is but 
an abusive tirade against that poet and his 
friends. I quote a few lines from " Zeuma:" 

Tlascala's vaunt, great Zagnar's martial son, 
Extended on the rack, no more complains 
That realms are wanting to employ his sword ; 
But, circled with innumerable ghosts, 
Who print their keenest vengeance on his soul, 
For all the wrongs, and slaughters of his reign, 
Howls out repentance to the deafen'd skies, 
And shakes hell's concave with continual groans. 

In Philadelphia, in 1728 and 1729, Thomas 
Makin published two Latin poems, " Enco- 
mium Pennsylvania?" and "Inlaudes Penn- 
sylvania?. " About the same time appeared in 
Boston John Mayhew's " Gallic Perfidy" 
and " Conquest of Louisburg," two smoothly 
versified but very dull compositions. 



Thomas Godfrey of Philadelphia has been 
called » the first American dramatic poet," 
but I believe a play superior to "The Prince 
of Parthia" had been composed by some stu- 
dents at Cambridge before his time. Godfrey 
was a son of the inventor of the quadrant 
claimed in England by Hadley. He was a 
lieutenant in the expedition against Fort Du 
Qnesne in 1759, and on the disbanding of the 
colonial forces went to New Providence, and 
afterward to North Carolina, where he died, 
on the third of August, 1763, in the twenty- 
seventh year of his age. His poems were 
published in Philadelphia in 1765, in a quarto 
volume of two hundred and thirty pages. 
"The Prince of Parthia, a Tragedy," con- 
tains a few vigorous passages, but not enough 
to save it from condemnation as the most 
worthless composition in the dramatic form 
that has been printed in America. The fol- 
lowing lines from the fifth act, might pass for 
respectable prose — 

O may he never know a father's fondness, 
Or know it to his sorrow ; may his hopes 
Of joy be cut like mine, and his short life 
Be one continued tempest. If he lives, 
Let him be cursed with jealousy and fear; 
May torturing Hope present the flowing cup, 
Then, hasty, snatch it from his eager thirst, 
And, when he dies, base treachery be the means. 

The " Court of Fancy," a poem in the he- 
roic measure, is superior to his tragedy in its 
diction, but has little originality of thought or 
illustration. Of Fancy he gives this descrip- 
tion — 

High in the midst, raised on her rolling throne, 

Sublimely eminent, bright Fancy shone. 

A glittering tiara her temples bound, 

Rich set with sparkling rubies all around ; 

A radiant bough, ensign of her command, 

Of polished gold, waved in her lily hand; 

The same the sybil to ^Eneas gave, 

When the bold Trojan cross'd the Stygian wave. 

In silver traces fix'd unto her car, 

Four snowy swans, proud of the imperial fair, 

Wing'd lightly on, each in gay beauty dress'd, 

Smooth'd the soft plumage that adorn'd her breast. 

Sacred to her the lucent chariot drew, 

Or whether wildly through the air she flew, 

Or whether to the dreary shades of night, 

Oppress'd with gloom she downward bent her flight, 

Or proud aspiring sought the bless'd abodes, 

And boldly shot among the assembled gods. 

One of Godfrey's most intimate friends 
was the Reverend Nathaniel Evans, a na- 
tive of Philadelphia, admitted to holy orders 
by the Bishop of London in 1765. He died 
in October, 1767, in the twenty-sixth year of 
his age; and his poems, few of which had 
been printed in his lifetime, were soon after- 
ward, by his direction, collected and published. 
The " Ode on the Prospect of Peace," writ- 
ten in 1761, is the most carefully finished of 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



I quote the concluding 



his productions, 
verses — 

Thus has Britannia's glory beam'd, 

Where'er bright Phoebus, from his car, 
To earth his cheerful rays hath stream'd, 

Adown the crystal vault of air. 
Enough o'er Britain's shining arms, 
Hath Victory display'd her charms 

Amid the horrid pomp of war — 
Descend then, Peace, angelic maid, 

And smoothe Bellona's haggard brow ; 
Haste to diffuse thy healing aid, 

Where'er implored by scenes of wo. 
Henceforth whoe'er disturbs thy reign 

Or stains the world with human gore, 
Be they from earth (a gloomy train !) 

Banish'd to hell's profoundest shore; 
Where Vengeance, on Avernus' lake, 

Rages, with furious Ate bound ; 
And black Rebellion's fetters shake, 

And Discord's hideous murmurs sound ; 
Where Envy's noxious snakes entwine 

Her temples round, in gorgon mood, 
And bellowing Faction rolls supine 

Along the flame-becurled flood ! — 
Hence, then, to that accursed place, 
Disturbers of the human race! 
And with you bear Ambition wild, and selfish Pride, 
With Persecution foul, and Terror by her side. 

Thus driven from earth, War's horrid train — 

O Peace, thou nymph divine, draw near! 
Here let the muses fix their reign, 

And crown with fame each rolling year. 
Source of joy and genuine pleasure, 
Queen of quiet, queen of leisure, 

Haste thy votaries to cheer ! 
Cherish'd beneath thy hallow'd rule, 

Shall Pennsylvania's glory rise ; 
Her sons, bred up in Virtue's school, 

Shall lift her honours to the skies— 
A state thrice blest with lenient sway, 

Where Liberty exalts the mind ; 
Where Plenty basks the live-long day 

And pours her treasures unconfined. 
Hither, ye beauteous virgins tend, 

With Art and Science by your side, 
Whose skill the untutor'd morals mend, 

And mankind to fair honour guide ; 
And with you bring the graces three, 

To fill the soul with glory's blaze; 
Whose charms give grace to poesy, 

And consecrate the immortal lays — 
Such as, when mighty Pindar sung, 
Through the Alphean village rung; 
Or such as, Meles, by thy lucid fountains flovv'd, 
When bold M^eonides with heavenly transports glow'd. 

To such, may Delaware, majestic flood, 

Lend, from his flowery banks, a ravish'd ear; 
Such note as may delight the wise and good, 

Or saints celestial may endure to hear! 
For if the muse can aught of time descry, 

Such notes shall sound thy crystal waves along, 
Thy cities fair with glorious Athens vie, 

Nor pure Ilissus boast a nobler song. 
On thy fair banks, a fane to Virtue's name 

Shall rise — and Justice light her holy flame. 
All hail, then, Peace ! restore the golden days, 
And round the ball diffuse Britannia's praise ; 
Stretch her wide empire to the world's last end, 
Till kings remotest to her sceptre bend ! 

John Osborn of Sandwich, in Massachu- 
setts, who died in 1753, wrote a " Whaling 
Song" which was well known in the Pacific 



for more than half a century. While in col- 
lege, in 1735, he addressed an elegiac epistle 
to one of his sisters, on the death of a member 
of the family, of which I quote the first part — 

Dear sister, see the smiling spring 

In all its beauties here,; 
The groves a thousand pleasures bring, 

A thousand grateful scenes appear. 
With tender leaves the trees are crown'd, 
And scatter'd blossoms all around, 
Of various dyes 
Salute your eyes, 

And cover o'er the speckled ground. 
Now thickets shade the glassy fountains; 

Trees o'erhang the purling streams ; 
Whisp'ring breezes brush the mountains, 

Grots are fill'd with balmy steams. 

But, sister, all the sweets that grace 
The spring and blooming nature's face ; 

The chirping birds, 

Nor lowing herds; 

The woody hills, 

Nor murm'ring rills ; 

The sylvan shades, 

Nor flowery meads, 
To me their former joys dispense, 
Though all their pleasures court my sense, 
But melancholy damps my mind ; 

I lonely walk the field, 

With inward sorrow fill'd, 
And sigh to every breathing wind. 

The facetious Mather Byles was in his 
time equally famous as a poet and a wit. A 
contemporary bard exclaims — 

Would but Apollo's genial touch inspire 
Such sounds as breathe from Byles's warbling lyre, 
Then might my notes in melting measures flow, 
And make all nature wear the signs of wo. 

And his humour is celebrated in a poetical 
account of the clergy of Boston, quoted by 
Mr. Samuel Kettell, in his " Specimens of 
American Poetry," — 

There's punning Byles, provokes our smiles, 

A man of stately parts. 
He visits folks to crack his jokes, 

Which never mend their hearts. 
With strutting gait, and wig so great, 

He walks along the streets ; 
And throws out wit, or what's like it, 

To every one he meets. 

Byles was graduated at Cambridge in 1725, 
and was ordained the first minister of the church 
in Hollis street, in 1732. He soon became emi- 
nent as a preacher, and the King's College at 
Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of Doc- 
tor of Divinity. He was one of the authors 
of "A Collection of Poems by several Hands," 
which appeared in 1744, and of numerous essays 
and metrical compositions in " The New Eng- 
land Weekly Journal," the merit of which was 
such as to introduce him to the notice of Pope 
and other English scholars. One of his poems 
is entitled "The Conflagration;" and it is 
"applied to that grand catastrophe of our 
world when the face of nature is to be changed 
c 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



by a deluge of fire." The following lines 

show its style — 

Yet shall ye, flames, the wasting globe refine, 
And bid the skies with purer splendour shine. 
The earth, which the prolific fires consume, 
To beauty burns, and withers into bloom ; 
Improving in the fertile flame it lies, 
Fades into form, and into vigour dies : 
Fresh-dawning glories blush amidst the blaze, 
And nature all renews her flowery face. 
With endless charms the everlasting year 
Rolls round the seasons in a full career; 
Spring, ever-blooming, bids the fields rejoice, 
And warbling birds try their melodious voice ; 
Where'er she treads, lilies unbidden blow, 
Quick tulips rise, and sudden roses glow : 
Her pencil paints a thousand beauteous scenes, 
Where blossoms bud amid immortal greens; 
Each stream, in mazes, murmurs as it flows, 
And floating forests gently bend their boughs. 
Thou, autumn, too, sitt'st in the fragrant shade, 
While the ripe fruits blush all around thy head : 
And lavish nature, with luxuriant hands, 
All the soft months, in gay confusion blends. 

Byles was earnestly opposed to the Revo- 
lution, and in the spring of 1777 was denounced 
in the public assemblies as a Tory, and com- 
pelled to give bonds for his appearance before 
a court for trial. In the following June he was 
convicted of treasonable conversation, and hos- 
tility to the country, and sentenced to be im- 
prisoned forty days on board a guard ship, and 
at the end of that period to be sent with his 
family to England. The board of war how- 
ever took his case into consideration, and com- 
muted the punishment to a short confinement 
under a guard in his own house ; but, though 
he continued to reside in Boston during the 
remainder of his life, he never again entered 
a pulpit, nor regained his ante-revolutionary 
popularity. He died in 1788, in the eighty- 
second year of his age. 

He was a favourite in every social or con- 
vivial circle, and no one was more fond of his 
society than the colonial governor, Belcher, 
on the death of whose wife he wrote an elegy 
ending with — 

Meantime my name to thine allied shall stand, 

Still our warm friendship, mutual flames extend; 

The muse shall so survive from age to age, 

And Belcher's name protect his Byles's page. 

The doctor had declined an invitation to 
visit with the governor the province of Maine, 
and Belcher resorted to a stratagem to secure 
his company. Having persuaded him to drink 
tea with him on board the Scarborough ship of 
war, one Sunday afternoon, as soon as they 
were seated at the table the anchor was 
weighed, the sails set, and before the punning 
parson had called for his last cup, the ship 
was too far at sea for him to think of returning 
to the shore. As every thing necessary for his 
comfort had been thoughtfully provided, he 
was easily reconciled to the voyage. While 



making preparations for religious services, the 
next Sunday, it was discovered that there was 
no hymn book on board, and he wrote the 
following lines, which were sung instead of a 
selection from Sternhold and Hopkins — 
Great God, thy works our wonder raise; 

To thee our swelling notes belong ; 
While skies and winds, and rocks and seas, 

Around shall echo to our song. 
Thy power produced this mighty frame, 

Aloud to thee the tempests roar, 
Or softer breezes tune thy name 
Gently along the shelly shore. 
Round thee the scaly nation roves, 

Thy opening hands their joys bestow, 
Through all the blushing coral groves, 

These silent gay retreats below. 
See the broad sun forsake the skies, 

Glow on the waves, and downward glide ; 
Anon heaven opens all its eyes, 

And star-beams tremble o'er the tide. 
Each various scene, or day or night, 

Lord ! points to thee our nourish'd soul ; 
Thy glories fix our whole delight ; 
So the touch'd needle courts the pole. 
Joseph Green, a merchant of Boston, who 
had been a classmate of Byles at Cambridge, 
was little less celebrated than the doctor for 
humour; and some of his poetical composi- 
tions were as popular ninety years ago as in 
our own time have been those of " Croaker & 
Co.," which they resemble in spirit and play- 
ful ease of versification. The abduction of the 
Hollis street minister was the cause of not a 
little merriment in Boston; and Green, be- 
tween whom and Byles there was some rivalry, 
as the leaders of opposing social factions, soon 
after wrote a burlesque account of it — 
In David's Psalms an oversight 

Byles found one morning at his tea, 
Alas! that he should never write 
A proper psalm to sing at sea. 
Thus ruminating on his seat, 

Ambitious thoughts at length prevail'd, 
The bard determined to complete 

The part wherein the prophet fail'd. 
He sat awhile and stroked his muse,* 

Then taking up his tuneful pen, 
Wrote a few stanzas for the use 

Of his seafaring bretheren. 
The task perform'd, the bard content, 

Well chosen was each flowing word ; 
On a short voyage himself he went, 
To hear it read and sung on board. 
Most serious Christians do aver, 

(Their credit sure we may rely on,) 
In former times that after prayer, 

They used to sing a song of Zion. 
Our modern parson having pray'd, 

Unless loud fame our faith beguiles, 
Sat down, took out his book and said, 

" Let 's sing a psalm of- Mather Byles." 
At first, when he began to read, 

Their heads the assembly downward hung, 
But he with boldness did proceed, 
And thus he read, and thus they sung. 

* Byles's favourite cat, so named by his friends. 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



THE PSALM. 

With vast amazement we survey 

The wonders of the deep, 
Where mackerel swim, and porpoise play, 

And crabs and lobsters creep. 
Fish of all kinds inhabit here, 

And throng the dark abode. 
Here haddock, hake, and flounders are, 

And eels, and perch, and cod. 
From raging winds and tempests free, 

So smoothly as we pass, 
The shining surface seems to be 

A piece of Bristol glass. 
But when the winds and tempests rise, 

And foaming billows swell, 
The vessel mounts above the skies 

And lower sinks than hell. 
Our heads the tottering motion feel, 

And quickly we become 
Giddy as new-dropp'd calves, and reel 

Like Indians drunk with rum. 
What praises then are due that we 

Thus far have safely got, 
Amarescoggin tribe to see, 

And tribe of Penobscot. 

In 1750 Green published "An Entertain- 
ment for a Winter Evening," in which he 
ridicules the freemasons ; and afterward, " The 
Sand Bank," "A True Account of the Cele- 
bration of St. John the Baptist," and several 
shorter pieces, all of which I believe were 
satirical. His epigrams are the best written 
in this country before the Revolution; and 
many anecdotes are told to show the readiness 
of his wit and his skill as an improvisator. 
On one occasion, a country gentleman, know- 
ing his reputation as a poet, procured an intro- 
duction to him, and solicited a " first rate epi- 
taph" for a favourite servant who had lately 
died. Green asked what were the man's chief 
qualities, and was told that " Cole excelled 
in all things, but was particularly good at 
raking hay, which he could do faster than 
anybody, the present company, of course, ex- 
cepted." Green wrote immediately — 

Here lies the body of John Cole, 
His master loved him like his soul ; 
He could rake hay, none could rake faster 
Except that raking dog, his master. 

In his old age Green left Boston for Eng- 
land, rather from the infirmities of age, than 
from indifference to the cause of liberty. 

Contemporary with Byles and Green was 
the celebrated Doctor Benjamin Church. He 
was born in Boston in 1739, and graduated at 
Cambridge when in the sixteenth year of his 
age. After finishing his professional educa- 
tion, he established himself as a physician in 
his native city, and soon became eminent by 
his literary and political writings. At the 
commencement of the revolutionary troubles, 
he was chosen a member of the Massachusetts 
legislature, and after the battle of Lexington 



was appointed surgeon-general of the army. 
In the autumn of 1775 he was suspected of 
treasonable correspondence with the enemy, 
arrested by order of the commander-in-chief, 
tried by the general court, and found guilty. 
By direction of the Congress, to whom the 
subject of his punishment was referred, he 
was confined in a prison in Connecticut; but 
after a few months, on account of the condi- 
tion of his health, was set at liberty ; and in 
the summer of 1776 he embarked at Newport 
for the West Indies, in a ship which was 
never heard of after the day on which it sailed. 
Church wrote several of the best poems in 
Pietas et Gratulatio Collegii Cantabrigiensis 
apud Novanglos, published on the accession 
of George the Third to the throne ; and « The 
Times," a satire, "The Choice," "Elegies 
on George W t hitefield and Doctor May- 
hew," and several other pieces, all of which 
were manly in their style, and smoothly ver- 
sified. The following are the concluding lines 
of his address to the king : 

May one clear calm attend thee to thy close, 
One lengthen'd sunshine of complete repose : 
Correct our crimes, and beam that Christian mind 
O'er the wide wreck of desolate mankind; 
To calrn-brow'd Peace, the maddening world restore, 
Or lash the demon thirsting still for gore ; 
Till nature's utmost bound thy arms restrain, 
And prostrate tyrants bite the British chain. 

James Allen, the author of an " epic poem" 
entitled "Bunker Hill," of which but a few 
fragments have been published, lived in the 
same period. The world lost nothing by "his 
neglect of fame." 

William Livingston, a member of the first 
Congress, and the first republican governor of 
New Jersey, was born in New York in 1723, 
and was graduated at Yale College in 1741. 
His poem entitled " Philosophic Solitude," 
which has been frequently reprinted, is a spe- 
cimen of elegant mediocrity — superior to most 
of the compositions which I have already 
alluded to — but contains nothing worthy of 
especial praise. The opening verses are not 
deficient in melody : 

Let ardent heroes seek renown in arms, 

Pant after fame, and rush to war's alarms ; 

To shining palaces let fools resort, 

And dunces cringe to be esteem'd at court : 

Mine be the pleasure of a rural life, 

From noise remote, and ignorant of strife; 

Far from the painted belle, and white-gloved beau, 

The lawless masquerade, and midnight show, 

From ladies, lap-dogs, courtiers, garters, stars, 

Fops, fiddlers, tyrants, emperors, and czars. 

Among the poets who wrote just before the 
Revolution, and whom I have not before men- 
tioned, was Mrs. Eliza Bleecker, the author 
of several pieces relating to the domestic suf- 



HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 



ferings which followed in the train of frontier 
warfare. Some « Lines on Reading- Virgil," 
written in 1778, show her manner — 

Now cease those tears, lay gentle Virgil by, 

Let recent sorrows dim thy pausing eye ; 

Shall JEneas for lost Creusa mourn, 

And tears be wanting on Abella's urn ? 

Like him I lost my fair one in my flight, 

From cruel foes, and in the dead of night. 

Shall he lament the fall of Uion's towers, 

And we not mourn the sudden ruin of ours? 

See York on fire— while, borne by winds, each flame 

Projects its glowing sheet o'er half the main, 

The affrighted savage, yelling with amaze, 

From Alleghany sees the rolling blaze. 

Far from these scenes of horror, in the shade 

I saw my aged parent safe conveyed ; 

Then sadly followed to the friendly land 

With my surviving infant by the hand : 

No cumbrous household gods had I, indeed, 

To load my shoulders, and my flight impede ; 

Protection from such impotence who 'd claim? 

My Gods took care of me— not I of them. 

The Trojan saw Anchises breathe his last 

When all domestic dangers he had passed ; 

So my lov'd parent, after she had fled, 

Lamented, perish'd on a stranger's bed : 

— He held his way o'er the Cerulian main, 

But I returned to hostile fields again. 

During the war several volumes of patriotic 
and miscellaneous verses were published in 
New England and New York. The poems 
of Doctor J. M. Sewell, contain the well- 
known epilogue to Addison's " Cato," begin- 
ning— 

" We see mankind the same in every age:" 

and those of Doctor Prime and Gulian Ver- 
planck are written with unusual taste and 
care. Prime finished his professional educa- 
tion in Europe, and on his return applied for a 
commission in the army, but did not succeed 
in obtaining one. He alludes to his disap- 
pointment in an elegy on the death of his friend 
Doctor Scudder, who was slain in a skirmish 
at Shrewsbury in New Jersey — 

So bright, bless'd shade! thy deeds of virtue shine ; 

So rich, no doubt, thy recompence on high : 
My lot's far more lamentable than thine, 

Thou liv'st in death, while I in living die. 
With great applause hast thou perform'd thy part, 

Since thy first entrance on the stage of life ; 
Or in the labours of the healing art, 

Or in fair Liberty's important strife. 
In med'cine skilful, and in warfare brave, 

In council steady, uncorrupt and wise ; 
To thee, the happy lot thy Maker gave, 

To no small rank in each of these to rise. 



Employ'd in constant usefulness thy time, 

And thy fine talents in exertion strong; 
Thou diedst advanc'd in life, though in thy prime, 

For, living useful thou hast lived long. 
But I, alas! like some unfruitful tree, 

That useless stands, a cumberer of the plain, 
My faculties unprofitable see, 

And five long years have lived almost in vain. 
While all around me, like the busy swarms, 

That ply the fervent labours of the hive ; 
Or guide the state, with ardour rush to arms, 

Or some less great but needful business drive, 

I see my time inglorious glide away, 

Obscure and useless like an idle drone; 
And unconducive each revolving day, 

Or to my country's int'rest or my own. 
Great hast thou lived and glorious hast thou died ; 

Though trait'rous villains have cut short thy days ; 
Virtue must shine, whatever fate betide, 

Be theirs the scandal, and be thine the praise. 
Then, to my soul thy memory shall be, 

From glory bright, as from affection, dear; 
And while I live to pour my grief for thee, 

Glad joy shall sparkle in each trickling tear. 
Thy great example, too, shall fire my breast; 

If Heaven permit, with thee, again I Ml vie ; 
And all thy conduct well in mine express'd, 

Like thee I' 11 live, though I like thee should die. 

Prime wrote a satire on the Welsh, in Latin 
and English, entitled " Muscipula sive Cam- 
bromyomachia ;" and on the passage of the 
stamp act composed " A Song for the Sons of 
Liberty in New York," which is superior to 
any patriotic lyric up to that time written in 
this country. Verplanck was a man of taste 
and erudition, and his " Vice, a Satire," pub- 
lished soon after his return from his travels, in 
1774, is an elegant and spirited poem. Among 
his shorter pieces is the following " Prophecy," 
written while he was in England, in 1773 — 

Hail, happy Britain, Freedom's blest retreat; 

Great is thy power, thy wealth, thy glory great, 

But wealth and power have no immortal day, 

For all things ripen only to decay. 

And when that time arrives, the lot of all, 

When Britain's glory v power, and wealth shall fall ; 

Then shall thy sons by Fate's unchanged decree 

In other worlds another Britain see, 

And what thou art, America shall be. 

From this account of the " poets and poetry" 
of our ante-revolutionary period, it will be seen 
that until the spirit of freedom began to influ- 
j ence the national character, very little verse 
worthy of preservation was produced in Ame- 
rica. The poetry of the colonies was with- 
out originality, energy, feeling, or correctness 
of diction. 



POETS AND POETRY OF AMERICA. 



THROUGH THE GROWING PRESENT 
WESTWARD THE STARRY PATH OP POESY LIES ; 
HER GLORIOUS SPIRIT, LIKE THE EVENING CRESCENT, 
OOMES ROUNDING UP THE SKIES. 

T. B. REAI>. 



o2 



PHILIP FRENEAU. 



[Born, 1752. Died, 1832.] 



Philip Freneau* was the most distinguished 
poet of our revolutionary time. He was a volumi- 
nous writer, and many of his compositions are 
intrinsically worthless, or, relating to persons and 
events now forgotten, are no longer interesting ; 
but enough remain to show that he had more 
genius and more enthusiasm than any other bard 
whose powers were called into action during the 
great struggle for liberty. 

He was of French extraction. His grandfather a 
pious and intelligent Huguenot, came to America 
immediately after the revocation of the edict of 
Nantz, in company with a number of Protestant 
gentlemen, who on their arrival founded the old 
church of Saint Esprit, in New York, and after- 
ward, I believe, the pleasant village of New Ro- 
chelle, near that city. The poet was born on the 
fifteenth of January, in the year 1752. His father 
died while he was yet a child, but his mother at- 
tended carefully to his education, and he entered 
Nassau Hall at Princeton, in 1767, so far advanced 
in classical studies, that the president of the col- 
lege made his proficiency the subject of a congra- 
tulatory letter to one of his relatives. His room- 
mate and most devoted friend here was James 
Madison, and among his classmates were many 
others who in after time became eminent as legis- 
lators or scholars. He was graduated when nine- 
teen years of age, and soon after removed to Phila- 
delphia, where he was for several years on terms 
of familiar intimacy with the well-known Francis 
Hopkinson, with whom he was associated as a 
political writer. 

He began to compose verses at an early period, 
and, before leaving Princeton, had formed the plan 
of an epic poem on the life and discoveries of Co- 
lumbus, of which the " Address to Ferdinand," in 
this volume, is probably a fragment. After his 
removal to Philadelphia his attention was devoted 
to politics, and his poetical writings related princi- 
pally to public characters and events. His satires 
on Hugh Gaine,-|- and other prominent tories, 
were remarkably popular in their time, though 
deserving of little praise for their chaste ness or 
elegance of diction ; and his patriotic songs and 



* The name of the poet is sometimes confounded with 
that of his brother, Peter Freneau, a celebrated par- 
tisan editor, of South Carolina, who occasionally wrote 
verses, though I believe nothing of more pretension 
than a song or an epigram. Peter Freneau was a 
man of wit and education ; he was one of Mr. Jeffer- 
son's most ardent and influential adherents, and when 
the republican party came into power in South Carolina, 
he was made Secretary of State. Thomas, in his " Re- 
miniscences," remarks that "his style of writing com- 
bined the beauty and smoothness of Addison with the 
simplicity of Cobbett." He died in 1814. 

•J- The "King's Printer," in New York. 



ballads, which are superior to any metrical compo- 
sitions then written in this country, were every- 
where sung with enthusiasm. 

Freneau enjoyed the friendship of Adams, 
Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, 
and the last three were his constant correspondents 
while they lived. I have before me two letters, 
one written by Jefferson and the other by Madi- 
son, in which he is commended to certain citizens 
of New York, for his extensive information, sound 
discretion, and general high character, as a candi- 
date for the editorship of a journal which it was 
intended to establish in that city. His application 
appears to have been unsuccessful : probably be- 
cause the project was abandoned. 

As a reward for the ability and patriotism he had 
displayed during the war, Mr. Jefferson gave him 
a place in the Department of State ; but his public 
employment being of too sedentary a description 
for a man of his ardent temperament, he soon 
relinquished it to conduct in Philadelphia a paper 
entitled " The Freeman's Journal." He was the 
only editor who remained at his post, during the 
prevalence of the yellow fever in that city, in the 
summer of 1793. The "Journal" was unprofitable, 
and he gave it up, in 1793, to take the command of 
a merchant-ship, in which he made several voyages 
to Madeira, the West Indies, and other places. His 
naval ballads and other poems relating to the sea, 
written in this period, are among the most spirited 
and carefully finished of his productions. 

Of the remainder of his history I have been able 
to learn but little. In 1 8 1 he resided in Philadel- 
phia, and he subsequently removed to Mount Plea- 
sant, in New Jersey. He died, very suddenly, near 
Freehold, in that state, on the eighteenth day of 
December, 1832, in the eightieth year of his age. 

The first collection of Freneau's poems was 
published in 1786 ; a second edition appeared in 
a closely printed octavo volume at Monmouth, in 
New Jersey, in 1795 ; and a third, in two duodeci- 
mo volumes, in Philadelphia, in 1809. The last 
is entitled " Poems written and published during 
the American Revolutionary War, and now re- 
published from the original Manuscripts, inter- 
spersed with Translations from the Ancients, 
and other Pieces not heretofore in Print." In 
1788 he published in Philadelphia his "Miscella- 
neous Works, containing Essays and additional 
Poems," and, in 1814, "A Collection of Poems 
on American Affairs, and a Variety of other Sub- 
jects, chiefly Moral and Political, written between 
1797 and 1815." His house at Mount Pleasant 
was destroyed by fire, in 1815 or 1816, and in 
some of his letters he laments the loss, by that 
misfortune, of some of his best poems, which had 
never been printed. 

31 



32 



PHILIP FRENEAU. 



THE DYING INDIAN. 



" On yonder lake I spread the sail no more ! 
Vigour, and youth, and active days are past- 
Relentless demons urge me to that shore 
On whose black forests all the dead are cast : — 
Ye solemn train, prepare the funeral song, 
For I must go to shades below, 
Where all is strange and all is new ; 
Companion to the airy throng ! — 

What solitary streams, 

In dull and dreary dreams, 
All melancholy, must I rove along ! 

To what strange lands must Cheqjti take his way ! 
Groves of the dead departed mortals trace : 
No deer along those gloomy forests stray, 
No huntsmen there take pleasure in the chase. 
But all are empty, unsubstantial shades, 
That ramble through those visionary glades ; 
No spongy fruits from verdant trees depend, 
But sickly orchards there 
Do fruits as sickly bear, 
And apples a consumptive visage shew, 
And wither'd hangs the whortleberry blue. 

Ah me ! what mischiefs on the dead attend ! 
Wandering a stranger to the shores below, 
Where shall I brook or real fountain find 1 
Lazy and sad deluding waters flow — 
Such is the picture in my boding mind ! 

Fine tales, indeed, they tell 

Of shades and purling rills, 

Where our dead fathers dwell 

Beyond the western hills ; 
But when did ghost return his state to shew ; 
Or who can promise half the tale is true 1 

I too must be a fleeting ghost ! — no more — 
None, none but shadows to those mansions go ; 
I leave my woods, I leave the Huron shore, 

For emptier groves below ! 

Ye charming solitudes, 

Ye tall ascending woods 
Ye glassy lakes and prattling streams, 

Whose aspect still was sweet, 

Whether the sun did greet, 
Or the pale moon embraced you with her beams — 

Adieu to all ! 
To all, that charm'd me where I stray'd, 
The winding stream, the dark sequester' d shade ; 

Adieu all triumphs here ! 
Adieu the mountain's lofty swell, 
Adieu, thou little verdant hill, 
And seas, and stars, and skies — farewell, 

For some remoter sphere ! 

Perplex'd with doubts, and tortured with despair, 
Why so dejected at this hopeless sleep ? 
Nature at last these ruins may repair, 
When fate's long dream is o'er, and she forgets to 
weep; 



Some real world once more may be assign'd, 
Some new-born mansion for the immortal mind! 
Farewell, sweet lake ; farewell, surrounding woods : 
To other groves, through midnight glooms, I stray, 
Beyond the mountains, and beyond the floods, 

Beyond the Huron bay ! 
Prepare the hollow tomb, and place me low, 
My trusty bow and arrows by my side, 
The cheerful bottle and the venison store ; 
For long the journey is that I must go, 
Without a partner, and without a guide." 

He spoke, and bid the attending mourners weep, 
Then closed his eyes, and sunk to endless sleep ! 



THE INDIAN BURYING-GROUND. 



Ik spite of all the learn'd have said, 

I still my old opinion keep ; 
The posture that we give the dead, 

Points out the soul's eternal sleep. 

Not so the ancients of these lands— 
The Indian, when from life released, 

Again is seated with his friends, 
And shares again the joyous feast.* 

His imaged birds, and painted bowl, 
And venison, for a journey dress' d, 

Bespeak the nature of the soul, 
Activity, that knows no rest. 

His bow, for action ready bent, 
And arrows, with a head of stone, 

Can only mean that life is spent, 
And not the old ideas gone. 

Thou, stranger, that shalt come this way, 
No fraud upon the dead commit — 

Observe the swelling turf, and say 
They do not lie y but here they sit. 

Here still a lofty rock remains, 

On which the curious eye may trace 

(Now wasted, half, by wearing rains) . 
The fancies of a ruder race. 

Here still an aged elm aspires, 

Beneath whose far-projecting shade 

(And which the shepherd still admires) 
The children of the forest play'd ! 

There oft a restless Indian queen 

(Pale Sue bah, with her braided hair) 

And many a barbarous form is seen 
To chide the man that lingers there. 

* The North American Indians bury their dead in a 
sitting posture ; decorating the corpse with wampum, the 
images of birds, quadrupeds, &c. : and (if that of a 
warrior) with bows, arrows, tomahawks, and other 
military weapons. 



PHiLIP FRENEAU. 



33 



By midnight moons, o'er moistening dews, 
In habit for the chase array'd, 

The hunter still the deer pursues, 
The hunter and the deer, a shade ! 

And long shall timorous fancy see 
The painted chief and pointed spear ; 

And Reason's self shall bow the knee 
To shadows and delusions here. 



TO THE MEMORY OF THE AMERICANS 
WHO FELL AT EUTAW.* 



At Eutaw Springs the valiant died; 

Their limbs with dust are cover'd o'er — 
Weep on, ye springs, your tearful tide ; 

How many heroes are no more ! 

If, in this wreck of ruin, they 

Can yet be thought to claim the tear, 

smite your gentle breast, and say, 
The friends of freedom slumber here ! 

Thou who shalt trace this bloody plain, 
If goodness rules thy generous breast, 

Sigh for the wasted rural reign ; 

Sigh for the shepherds, sunk to rest ! 

Stranger, their humble graves adorn ; 

You too may fall, and ask a tear : 
'Tis not the beauty of the morn 

That proves the evening shall be clear. 

They saw their injured country's wo ; 

The flaming town, the wasted field ; 
Then rush'd to meet the insulting foe ; 

They took the spear — but left the shield. 

Led by the conquering genius, Greexe, 
The Britons they compell'd to fly : 

None distant viewed the fatal plain ; 
None grieved, in such a cause to die. 

But like the Parthians, famed of old, 
Who, flying, still their arrows threw ; 

These routed Britons, full as bold, 
Retreated, and retreating slew. 

Now rest in peace, our patriot band ; 

Though far from Nature's limits thrown, 
We trust they find a happier land, 

A brighter sunshine of their own. 



TO AN OLD MAN. 



Why, dotard, wouldst thou longer groan 
Beneath a weight of years and wo ; 

Thy youth is lost, thy pleasures flown, 
And age proclaims, " 'Tis time to go." 



* The Battle of Eutaw, South Carolina, was fought 
September 8, 1781. 

5 



To willows sad and weeping yews 
With us a while, old man, repair, 

Nor to the vault thy steps refuse ; 

Thy constant home must soon be there. 

To summer suns and winter moons 

Prepare to bid a long adieu ; 
Autumnal seasons shall return, 

And spring shall bloom, but not for you. 

Why so perplex'd w r ith cares and toil 
To rest upon this darksome road 1 

'Tis but a thin, a thirsty soil, 
A barren and a bleak abode. 

Constrain'd to dwell with pain and care, 
These dregs of life are bought too dear ; 

'Tis better far to die. than bear 

The torments of life's closing year. 

Subjected to perpetual ills, 

A thousand deaths around us grow : 
The frost the tender blossom kills, 

And roses wither as they blow. 

Cold, nipping winds your fruits assail ; 

The blasted apple seeks the ground ; 
The peaches fall, the cherries fail ; 

The grape receives a mortal wound. 

The breeze, that gently ought to blow, 
Swells to a storm, and rends the main ; 

The sun, that charm'd the grass to grow, 
Turns hostile, and consumes the plain ; 

The mountains waste, the shores decay, 
Once purling streams are dead and dry— 

'Twas Nature's work — 'tis Nature's play, 
And Nature says, that all must die. 

Yon flaming lamp, the source of light, 
In chaos dark may shroud his beam, 

And leave the world to mother Night, 
A farce, a phantom, or a dream. 

What now is young, must soon be old : 
Whate'er we love, we soon must leave : 

'Tis now too hot, 'tis now too cold — 
To live, is nothing but to grieve. 

How bright the morn her course begun ! 

No mists bedimm'd the solar sphere ; 
The clouds arise — they shade the sun, 

For nothing can be constant here. 

Now hope the longing soul employs, 

In expectation we are bless'd ; 
But soon the airy phantom flies, 

For, lo ! the treasure is possess'd. 

Those monarchs proud, that havoc spread, 
(While pensive Reasox dropt a tear,) 

Those monarchs have to darkness fled, 
And ruin bounds their mad career. 

The grandeur of this earthly round, 
Where folly would forever stay, 

Is but a name, is but a sound — 
Mere emptiness and vanity. 



31 



PHILIP FRENEAU. 



Give me the stars, give me the skies, 
Give me the heaven's remotest sphere, 

Above these gloomy scenes to rise 
Of desolation and despair. 

Those native fires, that warm'd the mind, 
Now languid grown, too dimly glow, 

Joy has to grief the heart resign'd, 
And love, itself, is changed to wo. 

The joys of wine are all you boast, 

These, for a moment, damp your pain ; 

The gleam is o'er, the charm is lost — 
And darkness clouds the soul again. 

Then seek no more for bliss below, 
Where real bliss can ne'er be found ; 

Aspire where sweeter blossoms blow, 
And fairer flowers bedeck the ground ; 

Where plants of life the plains invest, 
And green eternal crowns the year :— • 

The little god, that warms the breast, 
Is weary of his mansion here. 

Like Phospher, sent before the day, 
His height meridian to regain, 

The dawn arrives — he must not stay 
To shiver on a frozen plain. 

Life's journey past, for fate prepare, — 
'Tis but the freedom of the mind ; 

Jove made us mortal — his we are, 
To Jove be all our cares resign'd. 



COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND.* 



Illustrious monarch of Iberia's soil, 
Too long I wait permission to depart ; 

Sick of delays, I beg thy listening ear — 

Shine forth the patron and the prince of art. 

While yet Columbus breathes the vital air, 
Grant his request to pass the western main : 

Reserve this glory for thy native soil, 

And, what must please thee more, for thy own 
reign. 

Of this huge globe, how small a part we know — 
Does heaven their worlds to western suns deny 1 

How disproportion^ to the mighty deep 
The lands that yet in human prospect lie ! 

Does Cynthia, when to western skies arrived, 
Spend her moist beam upon the barren main, 

And ne'er illume with midnight splendour, she, 
The natives dancing on the lightsome green 1 

Should the vast circuit of the world contain 
Such wastes of ocean and such scanty land 1 

'Tis reason's voice that bids me think not so ; 
I think more nobly of the Almighty hand. 



* Columbus was a considerable number of years en- 
gaged in soliciting the court of Spain to fit him out, in 
order to discover a new continent, which he imagined to 
exist somewhere in the western parts of the ocean. 
During his negotiations, he is here supposed to address 
King Ferdinand in the above stanzas. 



Does yon fair lamp trace half the circle round 
To light mere waves and monsters of the seas l 

No ; be there must, beyond the billowy waste, 
Islands, and men, and animals, and trees. 

An unremitting flame my breast inspires 
To seek new lands amid the barren waves, 

Where, falling low, the source of day descends, 
And the blue sea his evening visage laves. 

Hear, in his tragic lay, Cordova's sage :* 

" The time may come, when numerous years 
are past, 

"When ocean will unloose the hands of things, 
And an unbounded region rise at last ,- 

And Typhis may disclose the mighty land, 
Far, far away, where none have roved before ; 

Nor will the world's remotest region be 

Gibraltar's rock, or Thule's savage shore" 

Fired at the theme, I languish to depart ; 

Supply the bark, and bid Columbus sail ; 
He fears no storms upon the untravell'd deep ; 

Reason shall steer, and skill disarm the gale. 

Nor does he dread to miss the intended course, 
Though far from land the reeling galley stray, 

And skies above, and gulfy seas below, 
Be the sole objects seen for many a day. 

Think not that Nature has unveil'd in vain 
The mystic magnet to the mortal eye : 

So late have we the guiding needle plann'd, 
Only to sail beneath our native sky 1 

Ere this was known, the ruling power of all 
Form'd for our use an ocean in the land, 

Its breadth so small, we could not wander long, 
Nor long be absent from the neighbouring strand. 

Short was the course, and guided by the stars, 
But stars no more must point our daring way ; 

The Bear shall sink, and every guard be drowned, 
And great Arcturus scarce escape the sea, 

When southward we shall steer — — grant my 
wish, 

Supply the bark, and bid Columbus sail, 
He dreads no tempests on the untravell'd deep, 

Reason shall steer, and skill disarm the sale. 



THE WILD HONEYSUCKLE. 



Faik flower, that dost so comely grow, 

Hid in this silent, dull retreat, 
Untouch'd thy honey'd blossoms blow, 
Unseen thy little branches greet : 

No roving foot shall crush thee here, 
No busy hand provoke a tear. 



* Seneca, the poet, a native of Cordova in Spain : 
" Venient annis secula seris, 
Quibus oceanus vinculo, rerum 
Laxet, et ivgevs pateat tellus, 
Typhisque novos deteo-at orbes ; 
Ncc sit terris ultima Thule." 

Seneca, Med., act iii., v. 375. 



PHILIP FRENEAU. 



By Nature's self in white array'd, 

She bade thee shun the vulgar eye, 
And planted here the guardian shade, 
And sent soft waters murmuring by ; 
Thus quietly thy summer goes, 
Thy days declining to repose. 

Smit with those charms, that must decay, 

I grieve to see your future doom ; 
They died — nor were those flowers more gay, 
The flowers that did in Eden bloom ; 
Unpitying frosts and Autumn's power 
Shall leave no vestige of this flower. 

From morning suns and evening dews 

At first thy little being came : 
If nothing once, you nothing lose, 
For when you die you are the same ; 
The space between is but an hour, 
The frail duration of a flower. 



HUMAN FRAILTY. 



Disasters on disasters grow, 

And those which are not sent we make ; 
The good we rarely find below, 

Or, in the search, the road mistake. 

The object of our fancied joys 

With eager eye we keep in view : 

Possession, when acquired, destroys 
The object, and the passion too. 

The hat that hid Belinda's hair 
Was once the darling of her eye ; 

'Tis now dismiss'd, she knows not where ; 
Is laid aside, she knows not why. 

Life is to most a nauseous pill, 

A treat for which they dearly pay : 

Let's take the good, avoid the ill, 
Discharge the debt, and walk away. 



THE PROSPECT OF PEACE. 



Though clad in winter's gloomy dress 

All Nature's works appear, 
Yet other prospects rise to bless 

The new returning year : 
The active sail again is seen 

To greet our western shore, 
Gay plenty smiles, with brow serene, 

And wars distract no more. 

No more the vales, no more the plains 

An iron harvest yield ; 
Peace guards our doors, impels our swains 

To till the grateful field : 



From distant climes, no longer foes, 

(Their years of misery past,) 
Nations arrive, to find repose 

In these domains at last. 

And, if a more delightful scene 

Attracts the mortal eye, 
Where cloud? nor darkness intervene, 

Behold, aspiring high, 
On freedom's soil those fabrics plann'd, 

On virtue's basis laid, 
That make secure our native land, 

And prove our toils repaid. 

Ambitious aims and pride severe, 

Would you at distance keep, 
What wanderer would not tarry here, 

Here charm his cares to sleep 1 
0, still may health her balmy wings 

O'er these fair fields expand, 
While commerce from all climates brings 

The products of each land. 

Through toiling care and lengthen'd views, 

That share alike our span, 
Gay, smiling hope her heaven pursues, 

The eternal friend of man : 
The darkness of the days to come 

She brightens with her ray, 
And smiles o'er Nature's gaping tomb, 

When sickening to decay ! 



TO A NIGHT-FLY, APPROACHING A 
CANDLE. 

Attracted by the taper's rays, 
How carelessly you come to gaze 
On what absorbs you in its blaze ! 

fly ! I bid you have a care : 
You do not heed the danger near — 
This light, to you a blazing star. 

Already you have scorch' d your wings : 
What courage, or what folly brings 
You, hovering near such blazing things ? 



Ah, 



you touch this little sun- 



One circuit more, and all is done ! — 
Now to the furnace you are gone ! — 

Thus folly, with ambition join'd, 
Attracts the insects of mankind. 
And sways die superficial mind : 

Thus, power has charms which all admire, 
But dangerous is that central fire — 
If you are wise, in time retire. 



JOHN TRUMBULL. 



3ornl750. Died 1831.] 



Johx Trumbull, LL.D., the author of" McFin- 
gal," was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on 
the twenty-fourth day of April, 1750. His father 
was a Congregational clergyman, and for many 
years one of the trustees of Yale College. He 
early instructed his son in the elementary branches 
of education, and was induced by the extraordinary 
vigour of his intellect, and his unremitted devotion 
to study, to give him lessons in the Greek and 
Latin languages before he was six years old. At 
the age of seven, after a careful examination, 
young Trumbull was declared to be sufficiently 
advanced to merit admission into Yale College. 
On account of his extreme youth, however, at that 
time, and his subsequent ill health, he was not 
sent to reside at New Haven until 1763, when 
he was in his thirteenth year. His college life 
was a continued series of successes. His superior 
genius, attainments and industry enabled him in 
every trial to surpass his competitors for academic 
honours ; and such of his collegiate exercises as 
have been printed evince a discipline of thought 
and style rarely discernible in more advanced years, 
and after greater opportunities of improvement. 
He was graduated in 1787, but remained in the 
college three years longer, devoting his attention 
principally to the study of polite letters. In this 
period he became acquainted with Dwight, then 
a member of one of the younger classes, who had 
attracted considerable attention by translating in 
a very creditable manner two of the finest odes of 
Horace, and contracted with him a lasting friend- 
ship. On the resignation of two of the tutors in 
the college in 1771, Trumbull and Dwight 
were elected to fill the vacancies, and exerted all 
their energies for several years to introduce an im- 
proved course of study and system of discipline 
into the seminary. At this period the ancient 
languages, scholastic theology, logic, and mathe- 
matics were dignified with the title of "solid 
learning," and the study of belles lettres was de- 
cried as useless and an unjustifiable waste of time. 
The two friends were exposed to a torrent of cen- 
sure and ridicule, but they persevered, and in the 
end were successful. Trumbull wrote many 
humorous prose and poetical essays while he was 
a tutor, which were published in the gazettes of 
Connecticut and Massachusetts, and with Dwight 
produced a series in the manner of the " Spectator," 
which extended to more than forty numbers. The 
" Progress of Dulness" was published in 1772. It 
is the most finished of Trumbull's poems, and 
was hardly lese serviceable to the cause of educa- 
tion than " McFingal" was to that of liberty. The 
puerile absurdity of regarding a knowledge of the 
Greek and Hebrew languages as of more import- 
ance to a clergyman than the most perfect ac- 



quaintance with rhetoric and belles lettres, then 
obtained more generally than now, and dunces 
had but to remain four years in the neighbourhood 
of a university to be admitted to the fellowship 
of scholars and the ministers of religion. In the 
satire, Tom Braixless, a country clown, too 
indolent to follow the plough, is sent by his weak- 
minded parents to college, where a degree is 
gained by residence, and soon after appears as a 
full-wigged parson, half-fanatic, half-fool, to do his 
share toward bringing Christianity into contempt. 
Another principal person is Dick Hairbraix, an 
impudent fop, who is made a master of arts in the 
same way ; and in the third part is introduced a 
character of the same description, belonging to the 
other sex. 

During the last years of his residence at College, 
Trumbull paid as much attention as his other 
avocations would permit to the study of the law, 
and in 1773 resigned his tutorship and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Connecticut. He did not 
seek business in the courts, however, but went 
immediately to Boston, and entered as a student 
the office of Johjt Adams, afterward President 
of the United States, and at that time an eminent 
advocate and counsellor. He was now in the 
focus of American politics. The controversy 
with Great Britain was rapidly approaching a 
crisis, and he entered with characteristic ardour 
into all the discussions of the time, employing his 
leisure hours in writing for the gazettes and in 
partisan correspondence. In 1774, he published 
anonymously his "Essay on the Times," and 
soon after returned to New Haven, and with the 
most flattering prospects commenced the practice 
of his profession. 

The first gun of the revolution echoed along the 
continent in the following year, and private pur- 
suits were abandoned in the general devotion to 
the cause of liberty. Trumbull wrote the first 
part of "McFingal," which was immediately 
printed in Philadelphia, where the Congress was 
then in session, and soon after republished in 
numerous editions in different parts of this country 
and in England. It was not finished until 1782, 
when it was issued complete in three cantos at 
Hartford, to which place Trumbull had removed 
in the preceding year. 

" McFingal" is in the Hudibrastic vein, and 
much the best imitation of the great satire of 
Butler that has been written. The hero is a 
Scotish justice of the peace residing in the vicinitj 
of Boston at the beginning of the revolution, and 
the first two cantos are principally occupied with 
a discussion between him and one Hoxorius on 
the course of the British government, in which 
McFingal, an unyielding loyalist, endeavours to 

36 



JOHN TRUMBULL. 



37 



make proselytes, while all his arguments are 
directed against himself. His zeal and his logic 
are together irresistibly ludicrous, but there is no- 
thing in the character unnatural, as it is common 
for men who read more than they think, or attempt 
to discuss questions they do not understand, to 
use arguments which refute the positions they wish 
to defend. The meeting ends with a riot, in which 
McFingal is seized, tried by the mob, con- 
victed of violent toryism, and tarred and feathered. 
On being set at liberty, he assembles his friends 
around him in his cellar, and harangues them 
until they are dispersed by the whigs, when he 
escapes to Boston, and the poem closes. These 
are all the important incidents of the story, yet 
it is never tedious, and few commence reading 
it who do not follow it to the end and regret its 
termination. Throughout the three cantos the 
wit is never separated from the character of the 
hero. 

After the removal of Trumbull to Hartford a 
social club was established in that city, of which 
Barlow, Colonel Humphries, Doctor Lemuel 
Hopkins, and our author, were members. They 
produced numerous essays on literary, moral, and 
political subjects, none of which attracted more 
applause than a series of papers in imitation of 
the » Rolliad," (a popular English work, ascribed 
to Fox, Sheridan, and their associates,) entitled 
" American Antiquities'.' and " Extracts from the 
Anarchiad," originally printed in the New Haven 



Gazette for 1786 and 1787. These papers have 
never been collected, but they were republished 
from one end of the country to the other in the 
periodicals of the time, and were supposed to have 
had considerable influence on public taste and 
opinions, and Dy the boldness of their satire to 
have kept in abeyance the leaders of political dis- 
organization and infidel philosophy. Trumbull 
also aided Barlow in the preparation of his edi- 
tion of Watts's version of the Psalms, and wrote 
several of the paraphrases in that work which 
have been generally attributed to the author of 
"The Oolumbiad." 

Trumbull was a popular lawyer, and was ap- 
pointed to various honourable offices by the people 
and the government. From 1795, in consequence 
of ill health, he declined all public employment, 
and was for several years an invalid. At length, 
recovering his customary vigour, in j.800 he was 
elected a member of the legislature, and in the 
year following a judge of the Superior Court. 
In 1808 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme 
Court of Errors, and held the office until 1819, 
when he finally retired from public life. His 
poems were collected and published in 1820, 
and in 1825 he removed to Detroit, where his 
daughter, the wife of the Honourable William 
Woobbridge, now a member of the United 
States Senate for Michigan, was residing, and 
died there in May, 1831, in the eighty-first year 
of his age. 



ODE TO SLEEP. 



I. 



Come, gentle Sleep ! 
Balm of my wounds and softener of my woes, 
And lull my weary heart in sweet repose, 
And. bid my sadden' d soul forget to weep, 
And close the tearful eye ; 
While dewy eve, with solemn sweep, 
Hath drawn her fleecy mantle o'er the sky, 

And chased afar, adown the ethereal way, 
The din of bustling care and gaudy eye of day. 

II. 

Come, but thy leaden sceptre leave, 
Thy opiate rod, thy poppies pale, 
Dipp'd in the torpid fount of Lethe's stream, 
That shroud with night each intellectual beam, 
And quench the immortal fire, in deep Oblivion's 
wave. 
Yet draw the thick, impervious veil 
O'er all the scenes of tasted wo ; 
Command each cypress shade to flee ; 
Between this toil-worn world and me 
Display thy curtain broad, and hide the realms be- 
low. 



III. 

Descend, and, graceful, in thy hand, 

With thee bring thy magic wand, 

And thy pencil, taught to glow 

In all the hues of Iris' bow. 

And call thy bright, aerial train. 
Each fairy form and visionary shade, 

That in the Elysian land of dreams, 

The flower-enwoven banks along, 
Or bowery maze, that shades the purple streams, 
Where gales of fragrance breathe the enamour'd 
In more than mortal charms array'd. [song, 
People the airy vales and revel in thy reign. 

IV. 

But drive afar the haggard crew, 
That haunt the guilt-encrimson'd bed, 

Or dim before the frenzied view 
Stalk with slow and sullen tread ; 

While furies, with infernal glare, 
Wave their pale torches through the troubled air ; 

And deep from Darkness' inmost womb, 
Sad groans dispart the icy tomb, 

And bid the sheeted spectre rise, 
Mid shrieks and fiery shapes and deadly fantasies. 



See a note on this subject appended to the Life of 
Barlow in this volume. 

D 



38 



JOHN TRUMBULL. 



V. 

Come and loose the mortal chain, 

That binds to clogs of clay the ethereal wing ; 
And give the astonish'd soul to rove, 
Where never sunbeam stretch' d its wide domain ; 
And hail her kindred forms above, 
In fields of uncreated spring, 
Aloft where realms of endless glory rise, 
And rapture paints in gold the landscape of the 
skies. 

VI. 

Then through the liquid fields we'll climb, 

Where Plato treads empyreal air, 
Where daring Homer sits sublime, 

And Pindar rolls his fiery car ; 
Above the cloud-encircled hills, 

Where high Parnassus lifts his airy head, 
And Helicon's melodious rills 
Flow gently through the warbling glade ; 
And all the Nine, in deathless choir combined, 
Dissolve in harmony the enraptured mind, 
And every bard, that tuned the immortal lay, 
Basks in the ethereal blaze, and drinks celestial 
day. 

vn. 

Or call to my transported eyes 

Happier scenes, for lovers made ; 
Bid the twilight grove arise, 

Lead the rivulet through the glade. 
In some flowering arbour laid, 
Where opening roses taste the honey'd dew, 

And plumy songsters carol through the shade, 
Recall my long-lost wishes to my view. 
Bid Time's inverted glass return 

The scenes of bliss, with hope elate, 
And hail the once expected morn, 
And burst the iron bands of fate 
Graced with all her virgin charms, 

Attractive smiles and past, responsive flame, 
Restore my ***** to my arms, 

Just to her vows and faithful to her fame. 

VIII. 

Hymen's torch, with hallow'd fire, 

Rising beams the auspicious ray. 
Wake the dance, the festive lyre 

Warbling sweet the nuptial lay ; 
Gay with beauties, once alluring, 

Bid the bright enchantress move, 
Eyes that languish, smiles of rapture, 

And the rosy blush of love. 
On her glowing breast reclining, 

Mid that paradise of charms, 
Every blooming grace combining, 

Yielded to my circling arms, 
I clasp the fair, and, kindling at the view, 
Press to my heart the dear deceit, and think the 
transport true. 

IX. 

Hence, false, delusive dreams, 
Fantastic hopes and mortal passions vain 



Ascend, my soul, to nobler themes 
Of happier import and sublimer strain. 
Rising from this sphere of night, 
Pierce yon blue vault, ingemm'd with golden fires ; 

Beyond where Saturn's languid car retires, 
Or Sirius keen outvies the solar ray, 
To worlds from every dross terrene refined, 
Realms of the pure, ethereal mind, 
Wann with the radiance of unchanging day : 
Where cherub-forms and essences of light, 
With holy song and heavenly rite, 
From rainbow clouds their strains immortal pour ; 
An earthly guest, in converse high, 
Explore the wonders of the sky, 
From orb to orb with guides celestial soar, 
And take, through heaven's wide round, the uni- 
versal tour ; 

X. 

And find that mansion of the blest, 
Where, rising ceaseless from this lethal stage, 
Heaven's favourite sons, from earthly chains re- 
leased, 
In happier Eden pass the eternal age. 

The newborn soul beholds the angelic face 
Of holy sires, that throng the blissful plain, 

Or meets his consort's loved embrace, 
Or clasps the son, so lost, so mourn'd in vain. 
There, charm'd with each endearing wile, 
Maternal fondness greets her infant's smile ; 
Long-sever'd friends, in transport doubly dear, 
Unite and join the interminable train — 

And, hark ! a well-known voice I hear 
I spy my sainted friend ! I meet my Howe* again ! 

XI. 

Hail, sacred shade ! for not to dust consign' d, 
Lost in the grave, thine ardent spirit lies, 

Nor fail'd that warm benevolence of mind 
To claim the birthright of its native skies. 
What radiant glory and celestial grace, 
Immortal meed of piety and praise ! 
Come to my visions, friendly shade, 
'Gainst all assaults my wayward weakness arm, 

Raise my low thoughts, my nobler wishes aid, 
When passions rage, or vain allurements charm ; 

The pomp of learning and the boast of art, 
The glow, that fires in genius' boundless range, 
The pride, that wings the keen, satiric dart, 
And hails the triumph of revenge. 
Teach me, like thee, to feel and know 
Our humble station in this vale of wo, 
Twilight of life, illumed with feeble ray, 
The infant dawning of eternal day ; 
With heart expansive, through this scene improve 
The social soul of harmony and love ; 
To heavenly hopes alone aspire and prize 
The virtue, knowledge, bliss, and glory of the 
skies. 



* Rev. Joseph Howe, pastor of a church in Boston ; 
some time a fellow-tutor with the author at Yale College. 
He died in 1775. The conclusion of the ode was varied, 
by inserting this tribute of affection. 



JOHN TRUMBULL. 



39 



THE COUNTRY CLOWN.* 

Bred in distant woods, the clown 
Brings all his country airs to town ; 
The odd address, with awkward grace, 
That bows with all-averted face ; 
The half-heard compliments, whose note 
Is swallow'd in the trembling throat ; 
The stiffen'd gait, the drawling tone, 
By which his native place is known ; 
The blush, that looks, by vast degrees, 
Too much like modesty to please ; 
The proud displays of awkward dress, 
That all the country fop express : 
The suit right gay, though much belated, 
Whose fashion 's superannuated ; 
The watch, depending far in state, 
Whose iron chain might form a grate 
The silver buckle, dread to view, 
O'crshadowing all the clumsy shoe ; 
The white-gloved hand, that tries to peep 
From ruffle, full five inches deep ; 
With fifty odd affairs beside, 
The foppishness of country pride. 

Poor Dick ! though first thy airs provoke 
The obstreperous laugh and scornful joke, 
Doom'd all the ridicule to stand, 
While each gay dunce shall lend a hand ; 
Yet let not scorn dismay thy hope 
To shine a witling and a fop. 
Blest impudence the prize shall gain, 
And bid thee sigh no more in vain. 
Thy varied dress shall quickly show 
At once the spendthrift and the beau. 
With pert address and noisy tongue, 
That scorns the fear of prating wrong 
'Mongst listening coxcombs shalt thou shine, 
And every voice shall echo thine. 



THE FOP.t 

How blest the brainless fop, whose praise 
Is doom'd to grace these happy days, 
When well-bred vice can genius teach, 
And fame is placed in folly's reach ; 
Impertinence all tastes can hit, 
And every rascal is a wit. 
The lowest dunce, without despairing, 
May learn the true sublime of swearing ; 
Leam the nice art of jests obscene, 
While ladies wonder what they mean ; 
The heroism of brazen lungs, 
The rhetoric of eternal tongues ; 
While whim usurps the name of spirit, 
And impudence takes place of merit, 
And every money'd clown and dunce 
Commences gentleman at once. 

For now, by easy rules of trade, 
Mechanic gentlemen are made ! 
From handicrafts of fashion born ; 
Those very arts so much their scorn. 

* From the " Progress of Pulness." 
f From the same. 



To tailors half themselves they owe, 
Who make the clothes that make the beau. 

Lo ! from the seats, where, fops to bless, 
Learn'd artists fix the forms of dress, 
And sit in consv. Ration grave 
On folded skirt, or straiten'd sleeve, 
The coxcomb trips with sprightly haste, 
In all the flush of modern taste ; 
Oft turning, if the day be fair, 
To view his shadow's graceful air ; 
Well pleased, with eager eye runs o'er 
The laced suit glittering gay before ;* 
The ruffle, where from open'd vest 
The rubied brooch adorns the breast ; 
The coat, with lengthening waist behind, 
Whose short skirts dangle in the wind ; 
The modish hat, whose breadth contains 
The measure of its owner's brains ; 
The stockings gay, with various hues ; 
The little toe-encircling shoes ; 
The cane, on whose carved top is shown 
A head, just emblem of his own ; 
While, wrapp'd in self, with lofty stride, 
His little heart elate with pride, 
He struts in all the joys of show 
That tailors give, or beaux can know. 

And who for beauty need repine, 
That's sold at every barber's sign ; 
Nor lies in features or complexion, 
But curls disposed in meet direction, 
With strong pomatum's grateful odour, 
And quantum sufficit of powder 1 ? 
These charms can shed a sprightly grace 
O'er the dull eye and clumsy face ; 
While the trim dancing-master's art 
Shall gestures, trips, and bows impart, 
Give the gay piece its final touches, 
And lend those airs, would lure a duchess. 

Thus shines the form, nor aught behind, 
The gifts that deck the coxcomb's mind; 
Then hear tbe daring muse disclose 
The sense and piety of beaux. 

To grace his speech, let France bestow 
A set of compliments for show. 
Land of politeness ! that affords 
The treasure of new-fangled words, 
And endless quantities disburses 
Of bows and compliments and curses ; 
The soft address, with airs so sweet, 
That cringes at the ladies' feet ; 
The pert, vivacious, play-house style, 
That wakes the gay assembly's smile ; 
Jests that his brother beaux may hit, 
And pass with young coquettes for wit, 
And prized by fops of true discerning, 
Outface the pedantry of learning. 
Yet learning too shall lend its aid 
To fill the coxcomb's spongy head ; 
And studious oft he shall peruse 
The labours of the modern muse. 
From endless loads of novels gain 
Soft, simpering tales of amorous pain, 



* This passage alludes to the mode of dress then in 
fashion. 



40 JOHN TRUMBULL 




With double meanings, neat and handy, 


With mimic drollery of grimace, 




From Rochester and Tristram Shandt.* 


And pleased impertinence of face, 




The blundering aid of we;\k reviews, 


'Gainst virtue arm their feeble forces, 




That forge the fetters of th 3 muse, 


And sound the charge in peals of curses. 




Shall give him airs of critic 'sing 


Blest be his ashes ! under ground 




On faults of books, he ne'er set eyes on. 


If any particles be found, 




The magazines shall teach the fashion, 


Who, friendly to the coxcomb race, 




And commonplace of conversation, 


First taught those arts of commonplace, 




And where his knowledge fails, afford 


Those topics fine, on which the beau 




The aid of many a sounding word. 


May all his little wits bestow, 




Then, lest religion he should need, 


Secure the simple laugh to raise, 




Of pious Hume he'll learn his creed, 


And gain the dunce's palm of praise. 




By strongest demonstration shown, 


For where 's the theme that beaux could hit 




Evince that nothing can be known ; 


With least similitude of wit, 




Take arguments, unvex'd by doubt, 


Did not religion and the priest 




On Voltaire's trust, or go without; 


Supply materials for the jest ; 




'Gainst Scripture rail in modern lore, 


The poor in purse, with metals vile 




As thousand fools have rail'd before ; 


For current coins, the world beguile ; 




Or pleased a nicer art display 


The poor in brain, for genuine wit 




To expound its doctrines all away, 


Pass off a viler counterfeit ; 




Suit it to modern tastes and fashions 


While various thus their doom appears, 




By various notes and emendations ; 


These lose their souls, and those their ears ; 




The rules the ten commands contain, 


The want of fancy, whim supplies, 




With new provisos well explain ; 


And native humour, mad caprice ; 




Prove all religion was but fashion, 


Loud noise for argument goes off, 




Beneath the Jewish dispensation. 


For mirth polite, the ribald's scoff; 




A ceremonial law, deep hooded 


For sense, lewd drolleries entertain us, 




In types and figures long exploded ; 


And wit is mimick'd by profaneness. 




Its stubborn fetters all unfit 

For these free times of gospel light, 






* 




This rake's millennium, since the day 






When Sabbaths first were done away ; 


CHARACTER OF McFINGAL.* 




Since pander-conscience holds the door, 







And lewdness is a vice no more ; 


When Yankees, skill'd in martial rule, 




And shame, the worst of deadly fiends, 


First put the British troops to school ; 




On virtue, as its squire, attends. 


Instructed them in warlike trade, 




Alike his poignant wit displays 


And new manoeuvres of parade ; 




The darkness of the former days, 


The true war-dance of Yankee-reels, 




When men the paths of duty sought, 


And manual exercise of heels ; 




And own'd what revelation taught ; 


Made them give up, like saints complete, 




Ere human reason grew so bright, 


The arm of flesh, and trust the feet, 




Men could see all things by its light, 


And work, like Christians undissembling, 




And summon'd Scripture to appear, 


Salvation out by fear and trembling ; 




And stand before its bar severe, 


Taught Percy fashionable races, 




To clear its page from charge of fiction, 


And modern modes of Chevy-Chaces :■{• 




And answer pleas of contradiction ; 


From Boston, in his best array, 




Ere miracles were held in scorn, 


Great Sqjjire McFingal took his way, 




Or Bolingbroke, or Hume were born. 


And, graced with ensigns of renown, 




And now the fop, with great energy, 


Steer'd homeward to his native town. 




Levels at priestcraft anu the clergy, 


His high descent our heralds trace 




At holy cant and godly prayers, 


To Ossian's famed Fingalian race ; 




And bigots' hypocritic airs ; 


For though their name some part may lack, 




Musters each veteran jest to aid, 


Old Fiivgal spelt it with a Mac ; 




Calls piety the parson's trade ; 


Which great McPherson, with submission, 




Cries out 't is shame, past all abiding, 


We hope will add the next edition. 




The world should still be so priest-ridden ; 


His fathers flourish'd in the Highlands 




Applauds free thought that scorns control. 


Of Scotia's fog-benighted island ; 




And generous nobleness of soul, 


Whence gain'd our squire two gifts by right, 




That acts its pleasure, good or evil, 


Rebellion and the second-sight. 




And fears nor deity nor devil. 
These standing topics never fail 






* From " McFingal." 




To prompt our little wits to rail, 


f Lord Percy commanded the party that was first 
opposed by the Americans at Lexington. This allusion 
to the family renown of Chevy-Chnce arose from the pre- 








* Sterne's Tristram Shandy was then in the highest 


cipitate manner of his quitting the field of battle, and re- 




vogue, and in the zenith of its transitory reputation. 


turning to Boston. 





JOHN TRUMBULL. 



41 



Of these the first, in ancient days, 
Had gain'd the noblest palms of praise ; 
'Gainst kings stood forth, and many a crown'd 
With terror of its might confounded ; [head 
Till rose a king with potent charm 
His foes by goodness to disarm ; 
Whom every Scot and Jacobite 
Straight fell in love with — at first sight ; 
Whose gracious speech, with aid of pensions, 
Hush'd down all murmurs of dissensions, 
And with the sound of potent metal, 
Brought all their blust'ring swarms to settle ; 
Who rain'd his ministerial mannas, 
Till loud sedition sung hosannas ; 
The good lords-bishops and the kirk 
United in the public work ; 
Rebellion from the northern regions, 
With Bute and Maxsfield swore allegiance, 
And all combined to raze, as nuisance, 
Of church and state, the constitutions ; 
Pull down the empire, on whose ruins 
They meant to edify their new ones ; 
Enslave the American wildernesses, 
And tear the provinces in pieces. 
For these our squire, among the valiant' st, 
Employ'd his time, and tools, and talents ; 
And in their cause, with manly zeal. 
Used his first virtue — to rebel ; 
And found this new rebellion pleasing 
As his old king-destroying treason. 
Nor less avail'd his optic sleight, 
And Scottish gift of second-sight. 
No ancient sibyl, famed in rhyme, 
Saw deeper in the womb of time ; 
No block in old Dodona's grove 
Could ever more oracular prove. 
Nor only saw he all that was, 
But much that never came to pass ; 
Whereby all prophets far outwent he, 
Though former days produced a plenty : 
For any man with half an eye 
What stands before him may espy ; 
But optics sharp it needs, I ween, 
To see what is not to be seen. 
As in the days of ancient fame, 
Prophets and poets were the same, 
And all the praise that poets gain 
Is but for what they invent and feign : 
So gain'd our squire his fame by seeing 
Such things as never would have being ; 
Whence he for oracles was grown 
The very tripod of his town. 
Gazettes no sooner rose a lie in, 
But straight he fell to prophesying ; 
Made dreadful slaughter in his course, 
O'erthrew provincials, foot and horse ; 
Brought armies o'er by sudden pressings 
Of Hanoverians, Swiss, and Hessians ;* 



* This prophecy, like some of the prayers of Homer's 
heroes,was but half accomplished. The Hanoverians, &c, 
indeed came over, and much were they feasted with 
blood ; but the hanging of the rebels and the dividing 
their estates remain unfulfilled. This, however, cannot 
be the fault of the hero, but rather the British minister, 
who left off the war before the work was completed. 



Feasted with blood his Scottish clan, 
And hang'd all rebels to a man ; 
Divided their estates and pelf, 
And took a goodly share himself. 
All this, with spirit energetic, 
He did by second-sight prophetic. 

Thus stored with intellectual riches, 
SkilPd was our squire in making speeches, 
Where strength of brains united centres 
With strength of lungs surpassing Stentor's. 
But as some muskets so contrive it, 
As oft to miss the mark they drive at, 
And, though well aim'd at duck or plover, 
Bear wide and kick their owners over : 
So fared our squire, whose reas'ning toil 
Would often on himself recoil, 
And so much injured more his side, 
The stronger arguments he applied ; 
As old war-elephants, dismay'd, 
Trod down the troops they came to aid, 
And hurt their own side more in battle 
Than less and ordinary cattle : 
"i et at town meetings ev'ry chief 
Pinn'd faith on great McFixgal's sleeve. 
And, as he motioned, all, by rote, 
Raised s} T mpafhetic hands to vote. 

The town, our hero's scene of action, 
Had long been torn by feuds of faction ; 
And as each party's strength prevails, 
It turn'd up different heads or tails ; 
With constant rattling, in a trice 
Show'd various sides, as oft as dice: 
As that famed weaver, wife to Ulysses, 
By night each day's work pick'd in pieces 
And though she stoutly did bestir her. 
Its finishing was ne'er the nearer : 
So did this town, with steadfast zeal, 
Weave cobwebs for the public weal ; 
Which when completed, or before, 
A second vote in pieces tore. 
They met, made speeches full long-winded, 
Resolved, protested, and rescinded ; 
Addresses sign'd, then chose committees, 
To stop all drinking of Bohea-teas ; 
With winds of doctrine veer'd about, 
And turn'd all Whig committees out. 
Meanwhile our hero, as their head, 
In pomp the Tory faction led, 
Still following, as the squire should please 
Successive on, like files of creese. 



EXTREME HUMANITY.* 



Thus Gage's arms did fortune bless 

With triumph, safety, and success: 

But mercy is without dispute 

His first and darling attribute ; 

So great, it far outwent, and conquer'd, 

His military skill at Concord. 

There, when the war he chose to wage, 

Shone the benevolence of Gage : 



* From " McFingal." 
d2 



42 JOHN TRUMBULL. 


Sent troops to that ill-omen'd place 


And fearful, if they stay'd for sport, 


On errands mere of special grace, 


You might by accident be hurt, 


And all the work he chose them for 


Convey themselves with speed away 


Was to prevent a civil war ; 


Full twenty miles in half a day ; 


And for that purpose he projected 


Race till their legs were grown so wearv, 


The only certain way to effect it, 


They 'd scarce suffice their weight to carry 1 


To take your powder, stores, and arms, 


Whence Gage extols, from general hearsay, 


And all your means of doing harms : 


The great activity of Lord Percy, 


As prudent folks take knives away, 


Whose brave example led them on, 


Lest children cut themselves at play. 


And spirited the troops to run ; 


And yet, though this was all his scheme, 


And now may boast, at royal levees, 


This war you still will charge on him ; 


A Yankee chace worth forty Chevys. 


And though he oft has swore and said it, 


Yet you, as vile as they were kind, 


Stick close to facts, and give no credit, 


Pursued, like tigers, still behind ; 


Think you, he wish'd you 'd brave and beard 


Fired on them at your will, and shut 


him"? 


The town, as though you 'd starve them out 


Why, 'twas the very thing that scared him. 


And with parade preposterous hedged, 


He 'd rather you should all have yun, 


Affect to hold him there besieged. 


Than stay'd to fire a single gun. 




And for the civil law you lament, 






Faith, you yourselves must take the blame in't; 
For had you then, as he intended, 


THE DECAYED COQUETTE.* 


Given up your arms, it must have ended ; 


New beauties push her from the stage; 


Since that's no war, each mortal knows, 


She trembles at the approach of age, 


Where one side only gives the blows, 


And starts to view the alter'd face 


And the other bear 'em ; on reflection 


That wrinkles at her in her glass : 


The most you'll call it, is correction. 


So Satan, in the monk's tradition, 


Nor could the contest have gone higher, 


Fear'd, when he met his apparition. 


If you had ne'er return'd the fire ; 


At length her name each coxcomb cancels 


But when you shot and not before, 


From standing lists of toasts and angels; 


It then commenced a civil war. 


And slighted where she shone before, 


Else Gage, to end this controversy, 


A grace and goddess now no more, 


Had but corrected you in mercy : 


Despised by all, and doom'd to meet 


Whom mother Britain, old and wise, 


Her lovers at her rival's feet, 


Sent o'er the colonies to chastise ; 


She flies assemblies, shuns the ball, 


Command obedience on their peril 


And cries out, vanity, on all ; 


Of ministerial whip and ferule, 


Affects to scorn the tinsel-shows 


And, since they ne'er must come of age, 


Of glittering belles and gaudy beaux ; 


Govern'd and tutor'd them by Gage. 


Nor longer hopes to hide by dress 


Still more, that this was all their errand, 


The tracks of age upon her face. 


The army's conduct makes apparent. 


Now careless grown of airs polite, 


What though at Lexington you can say 


Her noonday nightcap meets the sight : 


They kill'd a few they did not fancy, 


Her hair uncomb'd collects together, 


At Concord then, with manful popping, 


With ornaments of many a feather ; 


Discharg'd a round, the ball to open — 


Her stays for easiness thrown by, 


Yet, when they saw your rebel-rout 


Her rumpled handkerchief awry, 


Determined still to hold it out ; 


A careless figure half undress'd, 


Did they not show their love to peace, 


(The reader's wits may guess the rest;) 


And wish that discord straight might cease, 


All points of dress and neatness carried, 


Demonstrate, and by proofs uncommon, 


As though she'd been a twelvemonth married , 


Their orders were to injure no man '? 


She spends her breath, as years prevail, 


For did not every regular run 


At this sad wicked world to rail, 


As soon as e'er you fired a gun 1 


To slander all her sex impromptu, 


Take the first shot you sent them greeting, 
As meant their signal for retreating ; 


And wonder what the times will come to. 


* From the "Progress of Dulness." 



TIMOTHY D WIGHT. 



[Born 1752. Died 1817.] 



Timothy D wight, D.D., LL.D., was born in 
Northampton, Massachusetts, on the fourteenth 
of May, 1752. His father was a merchant, of 
excellent character and liberal education ; and his 
mother, a daughter of the great Jonathan Ed- 
wards, was one of the noblest matrons of her 
time, distinguished not less for her maternal soli- 
citude, ardent temperament, and patriotism, than 
for the intellectual qualities which made so illus- 
trious the name of the New England metaphysi- 
cian. She early perceived the indications of 
superior genius in her son ; and we are told by his 
biographers that under her direction he became 
familiar with the rudiments of the Latin language 
before he was six years old, and at the same early 
period laid the foundation of his remarkable 
knowledge of history, geography, and the kindred 
departments of learning. When thirteen years 
old he entered Yale College. His previous unre- 
mitted attention to study had impaired his health, 
and he made little progress during the first two 
years of his residence at New Haven ; but his 
subsequent intense and uninterrupted application 
enabled him to graduate in 1769, the first scholar 
in the institution. Immediately after obtaining 
the degree of bachelor of arts, he opened a gram- 
mar-school in New Haven, in which he continued 
two years, at the end of which time he was elected 
a tutor in his alma mater. Yale College was 
established in the year 1700 by several Congrega- 
tional clergymen, and had, before the period at 
which Dwight returned to it, become generally 
unpopular, in consequence of the alleged illiberality 
of the trustees towards other denominations of 
Christians. At this time two of the tutors had 
resigned, leaving in office Mr. Joseph Howe, 
a man of erudition and liberal sentiments, and 
Dwight and John Trumbull were chosen in 
their places. The regeneration of the seminary 
now commenced ; the study of belles lettres was 
successfully introduced ; its character rapidly rose, 
and so popular did Dwight become with the 
students, that when, at the age of twenty-five, 
he resigned his office, they drew up and almost 
unanimously signed a petition to the corporation 
that he might be elected to the presidency. He, 
however, interfered and prevented the formal pre- 
sentation of the application. 

In 1771, Dwight commenced writing the "Con- 
quest of Canaan," an " epic poem in eleven books," 
which he finished in 1774, before he was twenty- 
three years of age. The subject probably was not 
the most fortunate that could have been chosen, 
but a poet with passion and a brilliant imagination, 
by attempting to paint the manners of the time and 
the natural characteristics of the oriental world, 
might have treated it more successfullv. Dwight 



" endeavoured to represent such manners as are re- 
moved from the peculiarities of any age or country, 
and might belong to the amiable and virtuous of 
any period ; elevated without design, refined with- 
out ceremony, elegant without fashion, and agreea- 
ble because they are ornamented with sincerity, 
dignity, and religion ;" his poem therefore has no 
distinctive features, and with very slight changes 
would answer as well for any other land or period 
as for Judea at the time of its conquest by Joshua. 
Its versification is harmonious, but monotonous, 
and the work is free from all the extravagances of 
expression and sentiment which so frequently 
lessen the worth of poetry by youthful and inex- 
perienced writers. Some of the passages which I 
have quoted from the " Conquest of Canaan" are 
doubtless equal to any American poetry produced 
at this period. 

In 1777, the classes in Yale College were sepa- 
rated on account of the war, and, in the month of 
May, Dwight repaired with a number of students 
to Weathersfield, in Connecticut, where he re- 
mained until the autumn, when, having been 
licensed to preach as a Congregational minister, 
he joined the army as a chaplain. In this office 
he won much regard by his professional industry 
and eloquence, and at the same time exerted con- 
siderable influence by writing patriotic songs, which 
became popular throughout New England. The 
death of his father, in 1778, induced him to resign 
his situation in the army, and return to Northamp- 
ton, to assist his mother to support and educate 
her family. He remained there five years, labour- 
ing on a farm, preaching, and superintending a 
school, and was in that period twice elected a 
member of the Legislature of Massachusetts. De- 
clining offers of political advancement, he was, in 
1783, ordained a minister in the parish of Green- 
field, in Connecticut, where he remained twelve 
years, discharging his pastoral duties in a manner 
that was perfectly satisfactory to his people, and 
taking charge of an academy, established by him- 
self, which soon become the most popular school 
of the kind that had ever existed in America. 

The " Conquest of Canaan," although finished 
ten years before, was not printed until the spring 
of 1785. It was followed by « Greenfield Hill," 
a descriptive, historical, and didactic poem, which 
was published in 1794. This work is divided 
into seven parts, entitled " The Prospect," " The 
Flourishing Yillage," "The Burning of Fairfield," 
" The Destruction of the Pequods," « The Clergy- 
man's Advice to the Villagers," " The Farmer's 
Advice to the Villagers," and " The Vision, or 
Prospect of the Future Happiness of America." 
It contains some pleasing pictures of rural life, 
but added little to the author's reputation as a 



44 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 



poet. The " Triumph of Infidelity," a satire, occa- 
sioned by the appearance of a defence of Universal- 
ism, was his next attempt in poetry. It was printed 
anonymously, and his fame would not have been less 
had its authorship been still a secret. 

On the death of Dr. Styles, in 1795, D wight 
was elected to the presidency of Yale College, 
which at this time was in a disordered condition, 
and suffering from pecuniary embarrassments. The 
reputation of the new president as a teacher soon 
brought around him a very large number of stu- 
dents; new professorships were established, the li- 
brary and philosophical apparatus were extended, the 
course of study and system of government changed, 
and the college rapidly rose in the public favour. 
Besides acting as president, D wight was the stated 
preacher, professor of theology, and teacher of the 
senior class, for nearly twenty-one years, during 
which time the reputation of the college was inferior 
to that of no other in America. 

Dr. D wight died at his residence in New Haven 
on the eleventh of January, 1817, in the sixty -fifth 
year of his age. The following catalogue of his 
works is probably complete : " America," a poem in 
the style of Pope's « Windsor Forest," 1772 ; « The 
History, Eloquence and Poetry of the Bible," 1772 ; 
"The Conquest of Canaan," a poem, 1785 ; "An 
Election Sermon," 1791 ; "The Genuineness and 
Authenticity of the New Testament," 1793; "Green- 
field Hill," a poem, 1794 ; « The Triumph of Infi- 
delity," a satire, and two " Discourses on the Nature 
and Danger of Infidel Philosophy," 1797; "The 



Duty of Americans in the Present Crisis," 1798; 
" Discourse on the Character of Washington," 1 800; 
" Discourse on some Events in the last Century," 
1801 ; " Sermons," on the death of E. G. Marsh, 
1804; on Duelling, 1805; at the Andover Theolo- 
gical Seminary, 1808 ; on the ordination of E. Pear- 
son, 1808 ; on the death of Governor Trumbull, 
1809; on Charity, 1810; at the ordination of N. 
W. Taylor, 1812 ; on two days of public fasting, 
1812; and before the American Board of F.oreign 
Missions, 1813; " Remarks on a Review of Inchi- 
quin's Letters," 1815; "Observations on Language," 
and an "Essay on Light," 1816; and "Theology 
Explained and Defended," in a series of sermons, 
and " Travels in New England and New York," 
in which is given an account of various spring and 
autumn vacation excursions, each in four volumes, 
published after his death. 

As a poet D wight was little inferior to any of 
his contemporaries in America ; but it was not on 
his poetry that his claims to the respect of man- 
kind were based. As an instructor probably he was 
never surpassed in this country, and as a theolo- 
gian he had few if any equals. An eloquent 
preacher, with a handsome person, an expressive 
countenance, polished and affable manners, brilliant 
conversational abilities, and vast stores of learning, 
it was almost impossible that he should fail of success 
in any effort, and least of all in the administration of 
the important office which he so long and so honour- 
ably filled. The best account of his life and charac- 
ter which has appeared is that by Dr. Spkague. 



AN INDIAN TEMPLE. 

There too, with awful rites, the hoary priest, 
Without, beside the moss-grown altar stood, 
(His sable form in magic cincture dress' d,) 
And heap'd the mingled offering to his god. 
What time with golden light calm evening glow'd, 
The mystic dust, the flower of silver bloom 
And spicy herb, his hand in order strew'd ; 
Bright rose the curling flame, and rich perfume 
On smoky wings upflew or settled round the tomb. 

Then o'er the circus danced the maddening throng 
As erst the Thyas roam'd dread Nysa round, 
And struck to forest notes the ecstatic song, 
While slow beneath them heaved the wavy ground. 
With a low, lingering groan of dying sound, 
The woodland rumbled; murmur'd deep each 

stream ; 
Shrill sung the leaves ; the ether sigh'd profound ; 
Pale tufts of purple topp'd the silver flame, 
And many-colour'd forms on evening breezes came: 

Thin, twilight forms, attired in changing sheen 
Of plumes, high-tinctured in the western ray — 
Bending, they peep'd the fleecy folds between, 
Their wings light-rustling in the breath of May ; 



Soft-hovering round the fire in mystic play, 
They snuff 'd the incense waved in clouds afar, 
Then silent floated toward the setting day ; 
Eve redden'd each fine form, each misty car, 
And through them faintly gleam'd, at times, the 
western star. 

Then — so tradition sings — the train behind, 
In plumy zones of rainbow beauty dress'd, 
Rode the Great Spirit, in the obedient wind, 
In yellow clouds slow-sailing from the west. 
With dawning smiles the god his votaries blest, 
And taught where deer retired to ivy dell ; 
What chosen chief with proud command t' invest; 
Where crept the approaching foe, with purpose fell, 
And where to wind the scout, and war's dark storm 
dispel. 

There, on her lover's tomb in silence laid, [beam, 
While still and sorrowing shower'd the moon's pale 
At times expectant, slept the widow'd maid, 
Her soul far-wandering on the sylph-wing'd dream. 
Wafted from evening skies on sunny stream, 
Her darling youth with silver pinions shone ; 
With voice of music, tuned to sweetest theme, 
He told of shell-bright bowers beyond the sun, 
Where years of endless joy o'er Indian lovers run. 



TIMOTHY D WIGHT. 



45 



ENGLAND AND AMERICA.* 

Soon fleets the sunbright form, by man adored! — 
Soon fell the head of gold to Time a prey. 
The arms, the trunk, his cankering tooth devour' d, 
And whirlwinds blew the iron dust away. 
Where dwelt imperial Timur, far astray 
Some lonely-musing pilgrim now inquires ; 
And, rack'd by storms and hastening to decay, 
Mohammed's mosque foresees its final fires, 
And Rome's more lordly temple day by day expires. 

As o'er proud Asian realms the traveller winds, 
His manly spirit, hush'd by terror, falls 
When some forgotten town's lost site he finds ; 
Where ruin wild his pondering eye appals, 
Where silence swims along the moulder'd walls, 
And broods upon departed Grandeur's tomb, 
Through the lone, hollow aisles, sad Echo calls 
At each slow step ; deep sighs the breathing gloom, 
And weeping fields around bewail their eniDress' 
doom. 

Where o'er a hundred realms the throne uprose 
The screech-owl nests, the panther builds his home ; 
Sleep the dull newts, the lazy adders doze 
Where pomp and luxury danced the golden room; 
Low lies in dust the sky-resembled dome, 
Tall grass around the broken column waves, 
And brambles climb and lonely thistles bloom ; 
The moulder'd arch the weedy streamlet laves, 
And low resound, beneath, unnumber'd sunken 
graves. 

In thee, O Albion ! queen of nations, live [known ; 
Whatever splendours earth's wide realms have 
In thee proud Persia sees her pomp revive, 
And Greece her arts, and Rome her lordly throne ; 
By every wind thy Tyrian fleets are blown ; 
Supreme, on Fame's dread roll, thy heroes stand ; 
All ocean's realms thy naval sceptre own ; 
Of bards, of sages, how august thy band ! 
And one rich Eden blooms around thy garden'd land. 

But, how vast thy crimes! Through Heaven's 

great year, 
When few centurial suns have traced their way ; 
When Southern Europe, worn by feuds severe, 
Weak, doting, fallen, has bow'd to Russian sway, 
And setting Glory beam'd her farewell ray, 
To wastes, perchance, thy brilliant fields shall turn ; 
In dust thy temples, towers, and towns decay; 
The forest howl where London turrets burn, 
And all thy garlands deck thy sad funereal urn. 

Some land, scarce glimmering in the light of fame, 
Scepter'd with arts and arms, (if I divine,) 
Some unknown wild, some shore without a name, 
In all thy pomp shall then majestic shine. 
As silver-headed Time's slow years decline, 
Not ruins only meet the inquiring eye ; 
Where round yon mouldering oak vain brambles 
The filial stem, already towering high, [twine, 
Ere long shaM stretch his arms, and nod in yonder 
sky. 

* The extract above and the one which precedes it are 
from the canto on the destruction of the Pequod Indians, 
in "Greenfield Hill." 



Where late resounded the wild woodland roar 
Now heaves the palace, now the temple smiles ; 
Where frown'd the rude rock and the desert shore 
Now Pleasure sports, and Business want beguiles, 
And Commerce wings her flight to thousand isles ; 
Culture walks forth, gay laugh the loaded fields, 
And jocund Labour plays his harmless wiles; 
Glad Science brightens, Art her mansion builds, 
And Peace uplifts her wand, and Heaven his bless- 
ing yields. 



THE SOCIAL VISIT.* 

Ye Muses ! dames of dignified renown, 
Revered alike in country and in town, 
Your bard the mysteries of a visit show; 
(For sure your ladyships those mysteries know:) 
What is it, then, obliging sisters ! say, 
The debt of social visiting to pay 1 

'Tis not to toil before the idol pier ; 
To shine the first in fashion's lunar sphere ; 
By sad engagements forced abroad to roam, 
And dread to find the expecting fair at home ! 
To stop at thirty doors in half a day, 
Drop the gilt card, and proudly roll away ; 
To alight, and yield the hand with nice parade ; 
Up stairs to rustle in the stiff brocade ; 
Swim through the drawing-room with studied air, 
Catch the pink'd beau, and shade the rival fair; 
To sit, to curb, to toss with bridled mien, 
Mince the scant speech, and lose a glance between ; 
Unfurl the fan, display the snowy arm, 
And ope, with each new motion, some new charm : 
Or sit in silent solitude, to spy 
Each little failing with malignant eye ; 
Or chatter with incessancy of tongue, 
Careless if kind or cruel, right or wrong ; 
To trill of us and ours, of mine and me, 
Our house, our coach, our friends, our family, 
While all the excluded circle sit in pain, 
And glance their cool contempt or keen disdain : 
To inhale from proud Nanking a sip of tea, 
And wave a courtesy trim and flirt away : 
Or waste at cards peace, temper, health, and life, 
Begin with sullenness, and end in strife; 
Lose the rich feast by friendly converse given, 
And backward turn from happiness and heaven. 

It is in decent habit, plain and neat, 
To spend a few choice hours in converse sweet, 
Careless of forms, to act the unstudied part, 
To mix in friendship, and to blend the heart ; 
To choose those happy themes which all must feel, 
The moral duties and the household weal, 
The tale of sympathy, the kind design, 
Where rich affections soften and refine , 
To amuse, to be amused, to bless, be bless'd, 
And tune to harmony the common breast ; 
To cheer with mild good-humour's sprightly ray, 
And smooth life's passage o'er its thorny way ; 
To circle round the hospitable board, 
And taste each good our generous climes afford ; 
To court a quick return with accents kind, 
And leave, at parting, some regret behind. 

* From " Greenfield Hill." 



i(i 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 



THE COUNTRY PASTOR.* 



Ah ! knew he but his happiness, of menj 
Not the least happy he, who, free from broils 
And base ambition, vain and bustling pomp, 
Amid a friendly cure, and competence, 
Tastes the pure pleasures of parochial life. 
What though no crowd of clients, at his gate, 
To falsehood and injustice bribe his tongue, 
And flatter into guilt 1 — what though no bright 
And gilded prospects lure ambition on 
To legislative pride, or chair of state 1 
What though no golden dreams entice his mind 
To burrow, with the mole, in dirt and mire 1 
What though no splendid villa, Eden'd round 
With gardens of enchantment, walks of state, 
And all the grandeur of superfluous wealth, 
Invite the passenger to stay his steed, 
And ask the liveried foot-boy, " Who dwells here V 
What though no swarms, around his sumptuous 

board, 
Of soothing flatterers, humming in the shine 
Of opulence, and honey from its flowers 
Devouring, till their time arrives to sting, 
Inflate his mind ; his virtues round the year 
Repeating, and his faults, with microscope 
Inverted, lessen, till they steal from sight 1 — 
Yet from the dire temptations these present 
His state is free ; temptations, few can stem ; 
Temptations, by whose sweeping torrent hurl'd 
Down the dire steep of guilt, unceasing fall 
Sad victims, thousands of the brightest minds 
That time's dark reign adorn ; minds, to whose grasp 
Heaven seems most freely ofFer'd ; to man's eye, 
Most hopeful candidates for angels' joys. 

His lot, that wealth, and power, and pride forbids, 
Forbids him to become the tool of fraud, 
Injustice, misery, ruin ; saves his soul 
From all the needless labours, griefs, and cares, 
That avarice and ambition agonize ; 
From those cold nerves of wealth, that, palsied, feel 
No anguish, but its own ; and ceaseless lead 
To thousand meannesses, as gain allures. 

Though oft compell'd to meet the gross attack 
Of shameless ridicule and towering pride, 
Sufficient good is his; good, real, pure, 
With guilt unmingled. Rarely forced from home, 
Around his board his wife and children smile ; 
Communion sweetest, nature here can give, 
Each fond endearment, office of delight, 
With love and duty blending. Such the joy 
My bosom oft has known. His, too, the task 
To rear the infant plants that bud around ; 
To ope their little minds to truth's pure light ; 
To take them by the hand, and lead them on 
In that straight, narrow road where virtue walks ; 
To guard them from a vain, deceiving world, 



* From "Greenfield Hill." 
•?• Ah ! knew he but his happiness, of men 
The happiest he, &c. Thomson. 



O fortunatos nimium, sua 
Agricolas ! 



bona norint, 

Virgil, Georg. 2. 



And point their course to realms of promised life. 
His too the esteem of those who weekly hear 
His words of truth divine ; unnumber'd acts 
Of real love attesting to his eye 
Their filial tenderness. Where'er he walks, 
The friendly welcome and inviting smile 
Wait on his steps, and breathe a kindred joy. 

Oft too in friendliest association join'd, 
He greets his brethren, with a flowing heart, 
Flowing with virtue; all rejoiced to meet, ■ 
And all reluctant parting ; every aim, 
Benevolent, aiding with purpose kind; 
While, season'd with unblemish'd cheerfulness, 
Far distant from the tainted mirth of vice, 
Their hearts disclose each contemplation sweet 
Of things divine ; and blend in friendship pure, 
Friendship sublimed by piety and love. 

All virtue's friends are his : the good, the just, 
The pious, to his house their visits pay, 
And converse high hold of the true, the fair, 
The wonderful, the moral, the divine : 
Of saints and prophets, patterns bright of truth, 
Lent to a world of sin, to teach mankind 
How virtue in that world can live and shine ; 
Of learning's varied realms ; of Nature's works ; 
And that bless'd book which gilds man's darksome 

way 
With light from heaven ; of bless'd Messiah's throne 
And kingdom ; prophecies divine fulfill'd, 
And prophecies more glorious yet to come 
In renovated days ; of that bright world, 
And all the happy trains which that bright world 
Inhabit, whither virtue's sons are gone: 
While God the whole inspires, adorns, exalts ; 
The source, the end, the substance, and the soul. 

This too the task, the bless'd, the useful task, 
To invigour order, justice, law, and rule ; 
Peace to extend, and bid contention cease ; 
To teach the words of life ; to lead mankind 
Back from the wild of guilt and brink of wo 
To virtue's house and family ; faith, hope, 
And joy to inspire ; to warm the soul 
With love to God and man ; to cheer the sad, 
To fix the doubting, rouse the languid heart ; 
The wandering to restore ; to spread with down 
The thorny bed of death ; console the poor, 
Departing mind, and aid its lingering wing. 

To him her choicest pages Truth expands, 
Unceasing, where the soul-entrancing scenes 
Poetic fiction boasts are real all : 
Where beauty, novelty, and grandeur wear 
Superior charms, and moral worlds unfold 
Sublimities transporting and divine. 

Not all the scenes Philosophy can boast, 
Though them with nobler truths he ceaseless blends, 
Compare with these. They, as they found the mind, 
Still leave it ; more inform'd, but not more wise. 
These wiser, nobler, better, make the man. 

Thus every happy mean of solid good 
His life, his studies, and profession yield. 
With motives hourly new, each rolling day 
Allures, through wisdom's path and truth's fair field, 
His feet to yonder skies. Before him heaven 
Shines bright, the scope sublime of all his prayers, 
The meed of every sorrow, pain, and toil. 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 



47 



THE COUNTRY SCHOOLMASTER.* 

Where yonder humble spire salutes the eye, 
Its vane slow-turning in the liquid sky, 
Where, in light gambols, healthy striplings sport, 
Ambitious learning builds her outer court ; 
A grave preceptor, there, her usher stands, 
And rules without a rod her little bands. 
Some half-grown sprigs of learning graced his brow : 
Little he knew, though much he wish'd to know ; 
Enchanted hung o'er Virgix's honey'd lay, 
And smiled to see desipient Horace play ; 
Glean' d scraps of Greek ; and, curious, traced afar, 
Through Pope's clear glass the bright Mseonian star. 
Yet oft his students at his wisdom stared, 
For many a student to his side repair'd ; 
Surprised, they heard him Dilworth's knots untie, 
And tell what lands beyond the Atlantic lie. 

Many his faults ; his virtues small and few ; 
Some little good he did, or strove to do ; 
Laborious still, he taught the early mind, 
And urged to manners meek and thoughts refined ; 
Truth he impress'd, and every virtue praised ; 
While infant eyes in wondering silence gazed ; 
The worth of time would day by day unfold, 
And tell them every hour was made of gold. 



THE BATTLE OF ALt 

Now near the burning domes the squadrons stood, 
Their breasts impatient for the scenes of blood : 
On every face a death-like glimmer sate, 
The unbless'd harbinger of instant fate. [spires, 
High through the gloom, in pale and dreadful 
Rose the long terrors of the dark-red fires ; 
Torches, and torrent sparks, by whirlwinds driven, 
Stream'd through the smoke, and fired the clouded 

heaven ; 
As oft tall turrets sunk, with rushing sound, 
Broad flames burst forth, and sweep the ethereal 

round ; 
The bright expansion lighten'd all the scene, 
And deeper shadows lengthen'd o'er the green. 
Loud through the walls, that cast a golden gleam, 
Crown'd with tall pyramids of bending flame, 
As thunders rumble down the darkening vales, 
Roll'd the deep, solemn voice of rushing gales : 
The bands, admiring, saw the wondrous sight, 
And expectation trembled for the fight. 

At once the sounding clarion breathed alarms ; 
Wide from the forest burst the flash of arms ; 
Thick gleam'd the helms ; and o'er astonish'd fields, 
Like thousand meteors rose the flame-bright shields. 
In gloomy pomp, to furious combat roll'd [gold ; 
Ranks sheath'd in mail, and chiefs in glimmering 
In floating lustre bounds the dim-seen steed, 
And cars unfinish'd, swift to cars succeed : 
From all the host ascends a dark-red glare, 
Here in full blaze, in distant twinklings there ; 

* From "Greenfield Hill." 

t This and the three following extracts are from " The 
Conquest of Canaan." 



Slow waves the dreadful light, as round the shore 
Night's solemn blasts with deep confusion roar : 
So rush'd the footsteps of the embattled train, 
And send an awful murmur o'er the plain. 

Tall in the opposing van, bold Irad stood, 
And bid the clarion sound the voice of blood. 
Loud blew the trumpet on the sweeping gales, 
Rock'd the deep groves, and echoed round the vales ; 
A ceaseless murmur all the concave fills, 
Waves through the quivering camp, and trembles 

o'er the hills. 
High in the gloomy blaze the standards flew ; 
The impatient youth his burnish'd falchion drew ; 
Ten thousand swords his eager bands display'd, 
And crimson terrors danced on every blade. 
With equal rage, the bold, Hazorian train 
Pour'd a wide deluge o'er the shadowy plain ; 
Loud rose the songs of war, loud clang'd the shields, 
Dread shouts of vengeance shook the shuddering 

fields ; 
With mingled din, shrill, martial music rings, 
And swift to combat each fierce hero springs. 
So broad, and dark, a midnight storm ascends, 
Bursts on the main, and trembling nature rends ; 
The red foam burns, the watery mountains rise, 
One deep, unmeasured thunder heaves the skies ; 
The bark drives lonely ; shivering and forlorn, 
The poor, sad sailors wish the lingering morn : 
Not with less fury rush'd the vengeful train ; 
Not with less tumult roar'd the embattled plain. 
Now in the oak's black shade they fought conceal'd ; 
And now they shouted through the open field ; 
The long, pale splendours of the curling flame 
Cast o'er their polish'd arms a livid gleam ; 
An umber'd lustre floated round their way, 
And lighted falchions to the fierce affray. 
Now the swift chariots 'gainst the stubborn oak 
Dash'd ; and the earth re-echoes to the shock. 
From shade to shade the forms tremendous stream, 
And their arms flash a momentary flame. 
Mid hollow tombs as fleets an airy train, 
Lost in the skies, or fading o'er the plain ; 
So visionary shapes, around the fight, 
Shoot through the gloom, and vanish from the sight ; 
Through twilight paths the maddening coursers 

bound, 
The shrill swords crack,the clashing shields resound. 
There, lost in grandeur, might the eye behold 
The dark-red glimmerings of the steel and gold ; 
The chief; the steed; the nimbly-rushing car; 
And all the horrors of the gloomy war. 
Here the thick clouds, with purple lustre bright, 
Spread o'er the long, long host, and gradual sunk 

in night ; 
Here half the world was wrapp'd in rolling fires, 
And dreadful valleys sunk between the spires. 
Swift ran black forms across the livid flame, 
And oaks waved slowly in the trembling beam : 
Loud rose the mingled noise ; with hollow sound, 
Deep rolling whirlwinds roar, and thundering 

flames resound. 
As drives a blast along the midnight heath, 
Rush'd raging Irad on the scenes of death ; 
High o'er his shoulder gleam'd his brandish'd blade, 
And scatter'd ruin round the twilight shade. 



48 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 



Full on a giant hero's sweeping car 
He pour'd the tempest of resistless war; 
His twinkling lance the heathen raised on high, 
And hurl'd it, fruitless, through the gloomy sky ; 
From the bold youth the maddening coursers wheel, 
Gash'd by the vengeance of his slaughtering steel ; 
'Twixt two tall oaks the helpless chief they drew ; 
The shrill car dash'd ; the crack'd wheels rattling 

flew ; 
Crush'd in his arms, to rise he strove in vain, 
And lay unpitied on the dreary plain. 



THE LAMENTATION OF SELIMA. 

Canst thou forget, when, call'd from southern 
bowers, 
Love tuned the groves, and spring awaked the 

flowers, 
How, loosed from slumbers by the morning ray, 
O'er balmy plains we bent our frequent way 1 
On thy fond arm, with pleasing gaze, I hung, 
And heard sweet music murmur o'er thy tongue ; 
Hand lock'd in hand, with gentle ardour press'd, 
Pour'd soft emotions through the heaving breast ; 
In magic transport heart with heart entwined, 
And in sweet languor lost the melting mind. 

'T was then thy voice, attuned to wisdom's lay, 
Show'd fairer worlds, and traced the immortal way ; 
In virtue's pleasing patbs my footsteps tried, 
My sweet companion and my skilful guide ; 
Through varied knowledge taught my mind to soar, 
Search hidden truths, and new-found walks explore : 
While still the tale, by nature learn'd to rove, 
Slid, unperceived, to scenes of happy love. 
Till, weak and lost, the faltering converse fell, 
And eyes disclosed what eyes alone could tell ; 
In rapturous tumult bade the passions roll, 
And spoke the living language of the soul. 
With what fond hope, through many a blissful hour, 
We gave the soul to fancy's pleasing power ; 
Lost in the magic of that sweet employ 
To build gay scenes, and fashion future joy ! 
We saw mild peace o'er fair Canaan rise, 
And shower her pleasures from benignant skies. 
On airy hills our happy mansion rose, 
Built but for joy, nor room reserved for woes. 
Round the calm solitude, with ceaseless song, 
Soft roll'd domestic ecstasy along : 
Sweet as the sleep of innocence, the day, 
By raptures number'd, lightly danced away : 
To love, to bliss, the blended soul was given, 
And each, too happy, ask'd.no brighter heaven. 
Yet then, even then, my trembling thoughts would 

rove, 
And steal an hour from Irad, and from love, 
Through dread futurity all anxious roam, 
And cast a mournful glance on ills to come. . . . 
And must the hours in ceaseless anguish roll 1 
Must no soft sunshine cheer my clouded soul 1 
Spring charm around me brightest scenes, in vain, 
And youth's angelic visions wake to pain '{ 
O, come once more; with fond endearments come! 
Burst the cold prison of the sullen tomb ; 



Through favourite walks thy chosen maid attend, 
Where well known shades for thee their branches 

bend ; 
Shed the sweet poison from thy speaking eye, 
And look those raptures lifeless words deny ! 
Still be the tale rehearsed, that ne'er could tire, 
But, told each eve, fresh pleasure could inspire ; 
Still hoped those scenes which love and fancy drew, 
But, drawn a thousand times, were ever new ! 

Again all bright shall glow the morning beam, 
Again soft suns dissolve the frozen stream, 
Spring call young breezes from the southern skies, 
And, clothed in splendour, flowery millions rise — 
In vain to thee! No morn's indulgent ray 
Warms the cold mansion of thy slumbering clay. 
No mild, ethereal gale, with tepid wing, 
Shall fan thy locks, or waft approaching spring : 
Unfelt, unknown, shall breathe the rich perfume, 
And unheard music wave around thy tomb. 

A cold, dumb, dead repose invests thee round ; 
Still as a void, ere Nature form'd a sound. 
O'er thy dark region, pierced by no kind ray, 
Slow roll the long, oblivious hours away. 
In these wide walks, this solitary round, 
Where the pale moonbeam lights the glimmering 

ground, 
At each sad turn, I view thy spirit come, 
And glide, half-seen, behind a neighbouring tomb ; 
With visionary hand, forbid my stay, 
Look o'er the grave, and beckon me away. 



PREDICTION TO JOSHUA RELATIVE 
TO AMERICA. 

Fab. o'er yon azure main thy view extend, 
Where seas and skies in blue confusion blend : 
Lo, there a mighty realm, by Heaven design'd 
The last retreat for poor, oppress'd mankind ; 
Form'd with that pomp which marks the hand 

divine, 
And clothes yon vault where worlds unnumber'd 

shine. 
Here spacious plains in solemn grandeur spread, 
Here cloudy forests cast eternal shade ; 
Rich valleys wind, the sky-tall mountains brave, 
And inland seas for commerce spread the wave. 
With nobler floods the sea-like rivers roll, 
And fairer lustre purples round the pole. 
Here, warm'd by happy suns, gay mines unfold 
The useful iron and the lasting gold ; 
Pure, changing gems in silence learn to glow, 
And mock the splendours of the covenant bow. 
On countless hills, by savage footsteps trod, 
That smile to see the future harvest nod, 
In glad succession plants unnumber'd bloom, 
And flowers unnumber'd breathe a rich perfume. 
Hence life once more a length of days shall claim, 
And health, reviving, light her purple flame. 
Far from all realms this world imperial lies, 
Seas roll between, and threat'ning tempests rise. 
Alike removed beyond ambition's pale, 
And the bold pinions of the venturous sail ; 



TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 



49 



Till circling years the destined period bring, 
And a new Moses lift the daring wing, 
Through trackless seas an unknown flight explores, 
And hails a new Canaan's promised shores. 
On yon far strand behold that little train 
Ascending venturous o'er the unmeasured main ; 
No dangers fright, no ills the course delay ; 
'Tis virtue prompts, and God directs the way. 
Speed — speed, ye sons of truth! let Heaven befriend, 
Let angels waft you, and let peace attend. 
O ! smile, thou sky serene ; ye storms, retire ; 
And airs of Eden every sail inspire. 
Swift o'er the main behold the canvass fly, 
And fade and fade beneath the farthest sky ; 
See verdant fields the changing waste unfold ; 
See sudden harvests dress the plains in gold; 
In lofty walls the moving rocks ascend, 
And dancing woods to spires and temples bend. . . 
Here empire's last and brightest throne shall rise, 
And Peace, and Right, and Freedom greet the 

skies ; 
To morn's far realms her trading ships shall sail, 
Or lift their canvass to the evening gale : 
In wisdom's walks her sons ambitious soar, 
Tread starry fields, and untried scenes explore. 
And, hark ! what strange, what solemn breaking 

strain 
Swells, wildly murmuring, o'er the far, far main ! 
Down Time's long, lessening vale the notes decay, 
And, lost in distant ages, roll away. 



EVENING AFTER A BATTLE. 

Above tall western hills, the light of day 
Shot far the splendours of his golden ray ; 
Bright from the storm, with tenfold grace he smiled, 
The tumult soften'd, and the world grew mild. 
With pomp transcendent, robed in heavenly dyes, 
Arch'd the clear rainbow round the orient skies ; 
Its changeless form, its hues of beam divine — 
Fair type of truth and beauty — endless shine 
Around the expanse, with thousand splendours rare; 
Gay clouds sail wanton through the kindling air; 
From shade to shade unnumber'd tinctures blend, 
Unnumber'd forms of wondrous light extend ; 
In pride stupendous, glittering walls aspire, 
Graced with bright domes, and crown'd with towers 

of fire; 
On cliffs cliffs burn ; o'er mountains mountains roll : 
A burst of glory spreads from pole to pole : 
Rapt with the splendour, every songster sings, 
Tops the high bough, and claps his glistening wings ; 
With new-born green reviving nature blooms, 
And sweeter fragrance freshening air perfumes. 

Far south the storm withdrew its troubled reign, 
Descending twilight dimm'd the dusky plain ; 
Black night arose , _ x er curtains hid the ground : 
Less roar'd, and less, the thunder's solemn sound ; 
The bended lightning shot a brighter stream, 
Or wrapp'd all heaven in one wide, mantling flame ; 
By turns, o'er plains, and woods, and mountains 

spread 
Faint, yellow glimmerings, and a deeper shade. 



From parting clouds, the moon out-breaking shone, 
And sate, sole empress, on her silver throne ; 
In clear, full beauty, round all nature smiled, 
And claimed, o'er heaven and earth, dominion mild; 
With humbler glory, stars her court attend, 
And bless'd, and union'd, silent lustre blend. 



COLUMBIA. 

Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, 
The queen of the world and the child of the skies ; 
Thy genius commands thee ; with rapture behold, 
While ages on ages thy splendours unfold. 
Thy reign is the last and the noblest of time ; 
Most fruitful thy soil, most inviting thy clime ; 
Let the crimes of the east ne'er encrimson thy name ; 
Be freedom and science, and virtue thy fame. 

To conquest and slaughter let Europe aspire ; 
Whelm nations in blood and wrap cities in fire ; 
Thy heroes the rights of mankind shall defend, 
And triumph pursue them, and glory attend. 
A world is thy realm ; for a world be thy laws, 
Enlarged as thine empire, and just as thy cause ; 
On Freedom's broad basis that empire shall rise, 
Extend with the main, and dissolve with the skies. 

Fair Science her gates to thy sons shall unbar, 
And the east see thy morn hide the beams of her 

star; 
New bards and new sages, unrivall'd, shall soar 
To fame, unextinguish'd when time is no more ; 
To thee, the last refuge of virtue design'd, 
Shall fly from all nations the best of mankind ; 
Here, grateful, to Heaven with transport shall bring 
Their incense, more fragrant than odours of spring. 

Nor less shall thy fair ones to glory ascend, 
And genius and beauty in harmony blend ; 
The graces of form shall awake pure desire, 
And the charms of the soul ever cherish the fire: 
Their sweetness unmingled, their manners refined, 
And virtue's bright image enstamp'd on the mind, 
With peace and soft rapture shall teach life to glow, 
And light up a smile in the aspect of wo. 

Thy fleets to all regions thy power shall display, 
The nations admire, and the ocean obey ; 
Each shore to thy glory its tribute unfold, 
And the east and the south yield their spices and 

gold. 
As the day-spring unbounded, thy splendour shall 

flow, 
And earth's little kingdoms before thee shall bow, 
While the ensigns of union, in triumph unfurl'd, 
Hush the tumult of war, and give peace to the world. 

Thus, as down a lone valley, with cedars o'erspread, 
From war's dread confusion I pensively stray'd — 
The gloom from the face of fair heaven retired, 
| The winds ceased to murmur, the thunders expired ; 
Perfumes, as of Eden, flow'd sweetly along, 
And a voice, as of angels, enchantingly sung : 
" Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, 
The queen of the world, and the child of the sides." 



DAVID HUMPHREYS. 



fBorn 1753. Died \ 



David Humphreys, LL.D., was the son of a 

Congregational clergyman, at Derby, in Con- 
necticut, where he was born in 1753. He was 
educated at Yale College, with D wight, Trum- 
bull, and Barlow, and soon after being gradu- 
ated, in 1771, joined the revolutionary army, 
under General Parsons, with the rank of cap- 
tain. He was for several years attached to the 
staff of General Putnam, and in 1780 was ap- 
pointed aid-de-camp to General Washington", 
with the rank of colonel. He continued in the 
military family of the commander-in-chief until 
the close of the war, enjoying his friendship and 
confidence, and afterward accompanied him to 
Mount Vernon, where he remained until 1784, 
when he went abroad with Franklin, Adams, 
and Jefferson, who were appointed commis- 
sioners to negotiate treaties of commerce with 
foreign powers, as their secretary of legation.* 
Soon after his return to the United States, in 
1786, he was elected by the citizens of his native 
town a member of the Legislature of Connecticut, 
and by that body was appointed to command a 
regiment to be raised by order of the national 
government. On receiving his commission, Co- 
lonel Humphreys established his head-quarters 
and recruiting rendezvous at Hartford ; and there 
renewed his intimacy with his old friends Trum- 
bull and Barlow, with whom, and Doctor 
Lemuel Hopkins, he engaged in writing the 
"Anarchiad," a political satire, in imitation of the 
"Rolliad," a work attributed to Sheridan and 
others, which he had seen in London. He re- 
tained his commission until the suppression of 
the insurrection in 1787, and in the following 
year accepted an invitation to visit Mount Vernon, 
where he continued to reside until he was ap- 
pointed minister to Portugal, in 1790. He re- 
mained in Lisbon seven years, at the end of 
which period he was transferred to the court of 
Madrid, and in 1802, when Mr. Pinckney was 
made minister to Spain, returned to the United. 
States. From 1802 to 1812, he devoted his 
attention to agricultural and manufacturing pur- 
suits ; and on the breaking out of the second war 

* In a letter to Doctor Franklin, written soon after 
the appointment of Humphreys to this office, General 
Washington, says : " His zeal in the cause of his 
country, his good sense, prudence, and attachment to 
me, have rendered him dear to me ; and I persuade my- 
self you will find no confidence which you may think 
proper to repose in him, misplaced. He possesses an 
excellent heart, good natural and acquired abilities, and 
sterling integrity, as well as sobriety, and an obliging 
disposition. A. full conviction of his possessing all these 
good qualities makes me less scrupulous of recommend- 
ing him to your patronage and friendship." — Sparks ? s 
Life of Washington, vol. ix. p. 46. 



with Great Britain, was appointed commander of 
the militia of Connecticut, with the rank of bri- 
gadier-general. His public services terminated 
with the limitation of that appointment. He 
died at New Haven, on the twenty-first day of 
February, 1818, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. 
The principal poems of Colonel Humphreys 
are an "Address to the Armies of the United 
States," written in 1772, while he was in the 
army ; " A Poem on the Happiness of America," 
written during his residence in London and Paris, 
as secretary of legation ; " The Widow of Mala- 
bar, or The Tyranny of Custom, a Tragedy, imi- 
tated from the French of M. Le Mierre," writ- 
ten at Mount Vernon ; and a " Poem on Agri- 
culture," written while he was minister at the 
court of Lisbon. The " Address to the Armies 
of the United States" passed through many edi- 
tions in this country and in Europe, and was 
translated into the French language by the Mar- 
quis de Chatellux, and favourably noticed in 
the Parisian gazettes. The " Poem on the Hap- 
piness of America" was reprinted nine times in 
three years; and the "Widow of Malabar" is 
said, in the dedication of it to the author of 
"McFingal," to have met with "extraordinary 
success" on the stage. The " Miscellaneous Works 
of Colonel Humphreys" were published in an 
octavo volume, in New York, in 1790, and again 
in 1804. The Works contain, besides the author's 
poems, an interesting biography of his early friend 
and commander, General Putnam, and several 
orations and other prose compositions. They 
are dedicated to the Duke deRocHEFoucAULT, who 
had been his intimate friend in France. In the 
dedication he says : " In presenting for your 
amusement the trifles which have been composed 
during my leisure hours, I assume nothing be- 
yond the negative merit of not having ever writ- 
ten any thing unfavourable to the interests of re- 
ligion, humanity, and virtue." He seems to have 
aimed only at an elegant mediocrity, and his 
pieces are generally simple and correct, in thought 
and language. He was one of the " four bards 
with Scripture names," satirized in some verses 
published in London, commencing 

"David and Jonathan, Joel and Timothy, 
Over the water, set up the hymn of the" — etc., 

and is generally classed among the "poets of the 
Revolution." The popularity he enjoyed while 
he lived, and his connection with Trumbull, 
Barlow, and D wight, justify the introduction 
of a sketch of his history and writings into this 
volume. The following extracts exhibit his style. 
The first alludes to the departure of the British 
fleet from New York. 

50 



DAVID HUMPHREYS. 



51 



ON THE PROSPECT OF PEACE. 

E'e>- now, from half the threaten'd horrors freed, 
See from our shores the lessening sails recede ; 
See the proud flags that, to the wind unfurl'd, 
Waved in proud triumph round avanquish'd world, 
Inglorious fly ; and see their haggard crew, 
Despair, shame, rage, and infamy pursue. 

Hail, heaven-born peace ! thy grateful blessings pour 
On this glad land, and round the peopled shore ; 
Thine are the joys that gild the happy scene, 
Propitious days, and happy nights serene ; 
With thee gay Pleasure frolics o'er the plain, 
And smiling Plenty leads the prosperous train. 

Then, blest land ! with genius unconfined, 
With polish'd manners, and the illumined mind, 
Thy future race on daring wing shall soar, 
Each science trace, and all the arts explore. 
Till bright religion, beckoning to the skies, 
Shall bid thy sons to endless glory rise. 



WESTERN EMIGRATION. 

With all that 's ours, together let us rise, 
Seek brighter plains, and more indulgent skies ; 
Where fair Ohio rolls his amber tide, 
And nature blossoms in her virgin pride ; 
Where all that Beauty's hand can form to please 
Shall crown the toils of war with rural ease. 

The shady coverts and the sunny hills, 
The gentle lapse of ever-murmuring rills, 
The soft repose amid the noontide bowers, 
The evening walk among the blushing flowers, 
The fragrant groves, that yield a sweet perfume, 
And vernal glories in perpetual bloom 
Await you there ; and heaven shall bless the toil : 
Your own the produce, and your own the soil. 

There, free from envy, cankering care and strife, 
Flow the calm pleasures of domestic life ; 
There mutual friendship soothes each placid breast : 
Blest in themselves, and in each other blest. 
From house to house the social glee extends, 
For friends in war in peace are doubly friends. 

There cities rise, and spiry towns increase, 
With gilded domes and every art of peace. 
There Cultivation shall extend his power, 
Rear the green blade, and nurse the tender flower ; 
Make the fair villa in full splendours smile, 
And robe with verdure all the genial soil. 
There shall rich Commerce court the favouring gales, 
And wondering wilds admire the passing sails, 
Where the bold ships the stormy Huron brave, 
Where wild Ontario rolls the whitening wave, 
Where fair Ohio his pure current pours, 
And Mississippi laves the extended shores. 
And thou Supreme ! whose hand sustains this ball, 
Before whose nod the nations rise and fall, 
Propitious smile, and shed diviner charms 
On this blest land, the queen of arts and arms ; 
Make the great empire rise on wisdom's plan, 
The seat of bliss, and last retreat of man. 



AMERICAN WINTER. 

Thex doubling clouds the wintry skies deform, 
And, wrapt in vapour, comes the roaring storm ; 
With snows surcharged, from tops of mountains 

sails, 
Loads leafless trees, and fills the whiten'd vales. 
Then Desolation strips the faded plains, 
Then tyrant Death o'er vegetation reigns ; 
The birds of heaven to other climes repair, 
And deepening glooms invade the turbid air. 
Nor then, unjoyous, winter's rigours come, 
But find them happy and content with home ; 
Their granaries fill'd — the task of culture past- 
Warm at their fire, they hear the howling blast, 
While pattering rain and snow, or driving sleet, 
Rave idly loud, and at their window beat : 
Safe from its rage, regardless of its roar, 
In vain the tempest rattles at the door. 
'Tis then the time from hoarding cribs to feed 
The ox laborious, and the noble steed ; 
'Tis then the time to tend the bleating fold, 
To strew with litter, and to fence from cold. 
The cattle fed, the fuel piled within, 
At setting day the blissful hours begin ; 
'Tis then, sole owner of his little cot, 
The farmer feels his independent lot ; 
Hears, with the crackling blaze that lights the wall, 
The voice of gladness and of nature call ; 
Beholds his children play, their mother smile, 
And tastes with them the fruit of summer's toil. 
From stormy heavens the mantling clouds unroll'd, 
The sky is bright, the air serenely cold. 
The keen north-west, that heaps the drifted snows, 
For months entire o'er frozen regions blows ; 
Man braves his blast ; his gelid breath inhales, 
And feels more vigorous as the frost prevails. 



REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS. 

O, what avails to trace the fate of war 
Through fields of blood, and paint each glorious 

scar ! 
Why should the strain your former woes recall, 
The tears that wept a friend's or brother's fall, 
When by your side, first in the adventurous strife, 
He dauntless rush'd, too prodigal of life ! 
Enough of merit has each honour'd name, 
To shine untarnish'd on the rolls of fame, 
To stand the example of each distant age, 
And add new lustre to the historic page ; 
For soon their deeds illustrious shall be shown 
In breathing bronze or animated stone, 
Or where the canvass, starting into life, 
Revives the glories of the crimson strife. 
And soon some bard shall tempt the untried themes, 
Sing how we dared, in fortune's worst extremes ; 
What cruel wrongs the indignant patriot bore, 
What various ills your feeling bosoms tore, 
What boding terrors gloom'd the threatening hour, 
When British legions, arm'd with death-like power, 
Bade desolation mark their crimson'd way, 
And lured the savage to his destined prey. 



JOEL BARLOW. 



[Born 1755. Died 1812.] 



The author of the " Columbiad" was born in 
the village of Reading, in Connecticut, in 1755. 
He was the youngest in a family of ten, and his 
father died while he was yet a child, leaving to 
him property sufficient only to defray the costs of 
his education. On the completion of his prepara- 
tory studies he was placed by his guardians at 
Dartmouth College, but was soon induced to re- 
move to New Haven, where he was graduated, in 
1778. Among his friends here were D wight, 
then a college tutor, Colonel Humphreys, a re- 
volutionary bard of some reputation, and Trum- 
bull, the author of " McFingal." Barlow 
recited an original poem, on taking his bachelor's 
degree, which is preserved in the " American 
Poems," printed at Litchfield in 1793. It was 
his first attempt of so ambitious a character, and 
possesses little merit. During the vacations of the 
college he had on several occasions joined the 
army, in which four of his brothers were serving ; 
and he participated in the conflict at White Plains, 
and a number of minor engagements, in which he 
is said to have displayed much intrepidity. 

For a short time after completing his academic 
course, Barlow devoted his attention chiefly to 
the law ; but being urged by his friends to qualify 
himself for the office of chaplain, he undertook the 
study of theology, and in six weeks became a 
licensed minister. He joined the army immediately, 
and remained with it until the establishment of 
peace, cultivating the while his taste for poetry, by 
writing patriotic songs and ballads, and composing, 
in part, his " Vision of Columbus," afterward ex- 
panded into the " Columbiad." When the army 
was disbanded, in 1783, he removed to Hartford, 
to resume his legal studies; and to add to his 
revenue established "The Mercury," a weekly 
gazette, to which his writings gave reputation and 
an immediate circulation. He had previously 
married at New Haven a daughter of the Honour- 
able Abraham Baldwin, and had lost his early 
patron and friend, the Honourable Titus Hosmer, 
on whom he wrote an elegant elegy. In 1785 -he 
was admitted to the bar, and in the same year, in 
compliance with the request of an association of 
Congregational ministers, he prepared and publish- 
ed an enlarged and improved edition of Watts's 
version of the Psalms,* to which were appended a 

* Of the psalms omitted by Watts and included in 
this edition, only the eighty-eighth and one hundred and 
thirty-seventh were paraphrased by Barlow. His ver- 
sion of the latter added much to his reputation, and has 
been considered the finest translation of the words of 
David that has been written, though they have received 
a metrical dress from some of the best poets of England 
and America. Recently the origin of this paraphrase 
has been a subject of controversy, but a memorandum 
found among the papers of the late Judge Trumbull, 
52 



collection of hymns, several of which weie written 
by himself. 

" The Vision of Columbus" was published in 
1787. It was dedicated to Louis XVI., with 
strong expressions of admiration and gratitude, 
and in the poem were corresponding passages of 
applause ; but Barlow's feelings toward the 
amiable and unfortunate monarch appear to have 
changed in after time, for in the " Columbiad" he is 
coldly alluded to, and the adulatory lines are sup- 
pressed. The "Vision of Columbus" was re- 
printed in London and Paris, and was generally 
noticed favourably in the reviews. After its pub- 
lication the author relinquished his newspaper and 
established a bookstore, principally to sell the 
poem and his edition of the Psalms, and as soon 
as this end was attained, resumed the practice of 
the law. In this he was, however, unfortunate, for 
his forensic abilities were not of the most popular 
description, and his mind was too much devoted 
to political and literary subjects to admit of the 
application to study and attention to business 
necessary to secure success. He was engaged 
with Colonel Humphreys, John Trumbull, and 
Dr. Lemuel Hopkins, a man of some wit, of the 
coarser kind, in the " Anarchiad," a satirical poem 
published at Hartford, which had considerable 
political influence, and in some other works of 
a similar description ; but, obtaining slight pe- 
cuniary advantage from his literary labours, he 
was induced to accept a foreign agency from 
the « Sciota Land Company," and sailed for Eu- 
rope, with his family, in 1788. In France he 
sold some of the lands held by this association, but 
deriving little or no personal benefit from the trans- 
actions, and becoming aware of the fraudulent 
character of the company, he relinquished his 
agency and determined to rely on his pen for support. 

who aided in the preparation of the Connecticut edition 
of Watts, settles the question in favour of Barlow 
The following is the version to which we have alluded : 

THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. 

Along the banks where Babel's current flows, 
Our cautive bands in de^-p despondence stray'd ; 

Where Zion's fail in sad remembrance rose, — 
Her friends, her children, mingled with the dead. 

The tuneful harp that once with joy we strung. 

When [.raise employ 'd and mirth inspired ihe lay, 
In mournful s'Knce on the willows hung, 

And growing grief prolong'd the tedious day. 
Our proud oppressors, to increase our wo, 

With taunting smiles a song of Zinu claim ; 
Bid sacred praise in strains melodious flow. 

While they blaspheme th* great Jehovah's name. 

But how, in heathen chains, and lands unknown, 

Shall Israel's sons the sicred anthems raise ? 
hapless Silem ! God's :errestrial throne, 

Thou land of glory, sacred mount of praise ! 
If e'er my memory lose thy lovely name, 

If my cold heart neglect my kindred race, 
Let dire destruction seize this guilty frame ! 

My hands shall perish and my voice shall cease ! 
Yet shall the Lord who hears when Zion calls, 

Overtake her foes with terror and dismay ; 
His arm avenge her desolated walls, 

And raise her children to eternal day. 



JOEL BARLOW. 



53 



In 1791, Barlow published in London « Advice 
to the Privileged Orders," a work directed against 
the distinguishing features of kingly and aristo- 
cratic governments ; and in the early part of the 
succeeding year, "The Conspiracy of Kings," a 
poem of about four hundred lines, educed by the 
first coalition of the continental sovereigns against 
republican France. In the autumn of 1792, he 
wrote a letter to the French National Conven- 
tion, recommending the abolition of the union be- 
tween the church and the state, and other reforms ; 
and was soon after chosen by the " London Con- 
stitutional Society," of which he was a member, 
to present in person an address to that body. 
On his arrival in Paris he was complimented with 
the rights of citizenship, an « honour" which had 
been previously conferred on Washington and 
Hamilton. From this time he made France his 
home. In the summer of 1793, a deputation, of 
which his friend GrtEGORiE,who before the Revo- 
lution had been Bishop of Blois, was a member, 
was sent into Savoy, to organize it as a department 
of the republic. He accompanied it to Chamberry, 
the capital, where, at the request of its president, 
he wrote an address to the inhabitants of Piedmont, 
inciting them to throw off allegiance to " the man 
of Turin who called himself their king." Here 
too he wrote " Hasty Pudding," the most popular 
of his poems. 

On his return to Paris, Barlow's time was 
principally devoted to commercial pursuits, by 
which, in a few years, he obtained a considerable 
fortune. The atrocities which marked the pro- 
gress of the Revolution prevented his active parti- 
cipation in political controversies, though he con- 
tinued under all circumstances an ardent republican. 
Toward the close of 1795, he visited the North of 
Europe, on some private business, and on his re- 
turn to Paris was appointed by Washington 
consul to Algiers, with power to negotiate a com- 
mercial treaty with the dey, and to ransom all the 
Americans held in slavery on the coast of Barbary. 
He accepted and fulfilled the mission to the satis- 
faction of the American Government, concluding 
treaties with Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, and 
liberating more than one hundred Americans, who 
were in prisons or in slavery to the Mohammedans. 
He then returned to Paris, where he purchased 
the splendid hotel of the Count Clermont i>e 
Tonne re, and lived several years in a fashionable 
and costly manner, pursuing still his fortunate 
mercantile speculations, revising his " great epic," 
and writing occasionally for the political gazettes. 

Finally, after an absence of nearly seventeen 
years, the poet, statesman, and philosopher re- 
turned to his native country. He was received 
with kindness by many old friends, Avho had cor- 
responded with him while abroad or been remem- 
bered in all his wanderings ; and after spending a 
few months in travel, marking, with patriotic pride, 
the rapid progress which the nation had made in 
greatness, he fixed his home on the banks of the 
Potomac, near the city of Washington, where he 
built the splendid mansion, known afterward as 
" Kalorama," and expressed an intention to spend 



there the remainder of his life. In 1806, he pub- 
lished a prospectus of a National Institution, at 
Washington, to combine a university with a naval 
and military school, academy of fine arts, and 
learned society. A bill to carry his plan into 
effect was introduced into Congress, but never be- 
came a law. 

In the summer of 1808, appeared the « Colum- 
biad," in a splendid quarto volume, surpassing in the 
beauty of its typography and embellishments any 
work before that time printed in America. From 
his earliest years Barlow had been ambitious to 
raise the epic song of his nation. The " Vision 
of Columbus," in which the most brilliant events 
in American history had been described, occupied 
his leisure hours when in college, and afterward, 
when, as a chaplain, he followed the standard 
of the liberating army. That work was executed 
too hastily and imperfectly, and for twenty years 
after its appearance, through every variety of for- 
tune, its enlargement and improvement engaged 
his attention. 

The events of the Revolution were so recent and 
so universally known, as to be inflexible to the 
hand of fiction ; and the poem could not therefore 
be modelled after the regular epic form, which 
would otherwise have been chosen. It is a 
series of visions, presented by Hesper, the genius 
of the western continent, to Columbcs, while in 
the prison at Valladolid, where he is introduced to 
the reader uttering a monologue on his ill-requited 
services to Spain. These visions embrace a vast 
variety of scenes, circumstances, and characters : 
Europe in the middle ages, with her political and 
religious reformers ; Mexico and the South A men- 
can nations, and their imagined history ; the pro- 
gress of discovery ; the settlement of the states 
now composing the federation ; the war of the 
Revolution, and establishment of republicanism; 
and the chief actors in the great dramas which he 
attempts to present. 

The poem, having no unity of fable, no regular 
succession of incidents, no strong exhibition of 
varied character, lacks the most powerful charms 
of a narrative ; and has, besides, many dull and 
spiritless passages, that would make unpopular a 
work of much more faultless general design. The 
versification is generally harmonious, but mechani- 
cal and passionless, the language sometimes in- 
correct, and the similes often inappropriate and 
inelegant. Yet there are in it many bursts of elo- 
quence and patriotism, which should preserve it 
from oblivion. The descriptions of nature and of 
personal character are frequently condensed and 
forceful ; and passages of invective, indignant and 
full of energy. In his narrative of the expedition 
against Quebec, under Arnold, the poet exclaims : 

Ah. gallant tmop! deprived of half the praise 
That deeds like yours in rther times repays, 
Since your prime chief (the favourite erst of Fame.) 
Hath sunk so deep his hateful, hideous name, 
That every honest muse with horror flings 
It forth unsounded from her sacred strings; 
Else what high tones of rapture must have told 
The first great actions of a chief so bold ! 
These lines are characteristic of his manner. 

e2 



54 



JOEL BARLOW. 



The "Columbiad" was reprinted in Paris and 
London, and noticed in the leading critical gazettes, 
but generally with little praise. The London 
" Monthly Magazine" attempted in an elaborate 
article to prove its title to a place in the first class 
of epics, and expressed a belief that it was sur- 
passed only by the "Illiad," the "iEneid" and 
" Paradise Lost." In America, however, it was re- 
garded by the judicious as a failure, and reviewed 
with even more wit and severity than in England. 
Indeed, the poet did not in his own country receive 
the praise which he really merited ; and faults were 
imputed to his work which it did not possess. Its 
sentiments were said to be hostile to Christianity,* 
and the author was declared an infidel ; but there 
is no line in the "Columbiad" unfavourable to 
the religion of New England, the Puritan faith 
which is the basis of the national greatness ; and 
there is no good reason for believing that Bar- 
low at the time of his death doubted the creed 
of which in his early manhood he had been a 
minister. 

After the publication of the " Columbiad," Bar- 
low made a collection of documents, with an in- 
tention to write a history of the United States ; but, 
in 1811, he was unexpectedly appointed minister 
plenipotentiary to the French government, and 
immediately sailed for Europe. His attempts to 
negotiate a treaty of commerce and indemnifica- 
tion for spoliations were unsuccessful at Paris ; 



and in the autumn of 1812 he was invited by the 
Duke of Bassano to a conference with Napoleon 
at Wilna, in Poland. He started from Paris, and 
travelled without intermission until he reached 
Zarnowitch, an obscure village near Cracow, 
where he died, from an inflammation of the lungs, 
induced by fatigue and exposure in an inhospitable 
countiy, in an inclement season, on the twenty- 
second day of December, in the fifty-fourth year 
of his age. In Paris, honours were paid to his 
memory as an important public functionary and a 
man of letters ; his eulogy was written by Dtjpodtt 
de Nemours, and an account of his life and 
writings was drawn up and published, accom- 
panied by a canto of the " Columbiad," translated 
into French heroic verse. In America, too, his death 
was generally lamented, though without any pub- 
lic exhibition of mourning. 

Barlow was much respected in private life for 
his many excellent social qualities. His manners 
were usually grave and dignified, though when 
with his intimate friends he was easy and familiar. 
He was an honest and patient investigator, and 
would doubtless have been much more successful 
as a metaphysical or historical writer than as a 
poet. As an author he belonged to the first class 
of his time in America; and for his ardent pa- 
triotism, his public services, and the purity of his 
life, he deserves a distinguished rank among the 
men of our golden age. 



THE HASTY PUDDING. 



Ye Alps audacious, through the heavens that rise, 
To cramp the day and hide me from the skies ; 
Ye Gallic flags, that, o'er their heights unfurl'd, 
Bear death to kings and freedom to the world, 
I sing not you. A softer theme I choose, 
A virgin theme, unconscious of the muse, 
But fruitful, rich, well suited to inspire 
The purest frenzy of poetic fire. 

Despise it not, ye bards to terror steel'd, 
Who hurl your thunders round the epic field ; 
Nor ye who strain your midnight throats to sing 
Joys that the vineyard and the stillhouse bring ; 
Or on some distant fair your notes employ, 
And speak of raptures that you ne'er enjoy. 

* It is now generally believed that Baklow, while in 
Fiance, abjured the Christian religion. The Reverend 
Thomas Robbins, a venerable clergyman of Rochester, 
Massachusetts, in a letter written in 1840, remarks that 
"Barlow's deistical opinions were not suspected pre- 
vious to the publication of his ' Vision of Columbus,' in 
1787 ;" and further, that " when at a later period he lost 
his character, and became an open and bitter reviler of 
Christianity, his psalm-book was laid aside ; but for that 
cause only, as competent judges still maintained that no 
revision of Watts possesses as much poetic merit as 
Barlow's." I have seen two letters written by Barlow 
during the last year of his life, in which he declares him- 
self "a sincere believer of Christianity, divested of its 



I sing the sweets I know, the charms I feel, 
My morning incense, and my evening meal, — 
The sweets of Hasty Pudding. Come, dear bowl, 
Glide o'er my palate, and inspire my soul. 
The milk beside thee, smoking from the kine, 
Its substance mingled, married in with thine, 
Shall cool and temper thy superior heat, 
And save the pains of blowing while I eat. 

O ! could the smooth, the emblematic song 
Flow like thy genial juices o'er my tongue, 
Could those mild morsels in my numbers chime, 
And, as they roll in substance, roll in rhyme, 
No more thy awkward, unpoetic name 
Should shun the muse or prejudice thy fame ; 
But, rising grateful to the accustom'd ear, 
All bards should catch it, and all realms revere! 

Assist me first with pious toil to trace 
Through wrecks of time thy lineage and thy race ; 



corruptions." In a letter to M. Gregorie, published in 
the second volume of Dennie's "Port Folio," pages 471 
to 479, he says, "the sect of Puritans, in which I was 
born and educated, and to which I still adhere, for the 
same reason that you adhere to the Catholics, a conviction 
that they are right" etc. The idea that Barlow disbelieved 
in his later years the religion of his youth, was probably 
first derived from an engraving in the "Vision of Colum- 
bus," in which the cross, by which he intended to repre- 
sent monkish superstition, is placed among the " symbols 
of prejudice." He never " lost his character" as a man of 
honourable sentiments and blameless life; and I could pre- 
sent numerous other evidences that he did not abandon 
his religion, were not the above apparently conclusive. 



JOEL BARLOW. 



55 



Declare what lovely squaw, in days of yore, 
(Ere great Columbus sought thy native shore,) 
First gave thee to the world ; her works of fame 
Have lived indeed, but lived without a name. 
Some tawny Ceres, goddess of her days, 
First learn'd with stones to crack the well-dried 

maize, 
Through the rough sieve to shake the golden 

shower, 
In boiling water stir the yellow flour : 
The yellow flour, bestrew'd and stirr'd with haste, 
Swells in the flood and thickens to a paste, 
Then puffs and wallops, rises to the brim, 
Drinks the dry knobs that on the surface swim; 
The knobs at last the busy ladle breaks, 
And the whole mass its true consistence takes. 

Could but her sacred name, unknown so long, 
Rise, like her labours, to the son of song, 
To her, to them I 'd consecrate my lays, 
And blow her pudding with the breath of praise. 
Not through the rich Peruvian realms alone 
The fame of Sol's sweet daughter should be known, 
But o'er the world's wide clime should live secure, 
Far as his rays extend, as long as they endure. 
Dear Hasty Pudding, what unpromised joy 
Expands my heart, to meet thee in Savoy ! 
Doom'd o'er the world through devious paths to 

roam, 
Each clime my country, and each house my home, 
My soul is soothed, my cares have found an end: 
I greet my long-lost, unforgotten friend. 

For thee through Paris, that corrupted town, 
How long in vain I wander'd up and down, 
Where shameless Bacchus, with his drenching 

hoard, 
Cold from his cave usurps the morning board. 
London is lost in smoke and steep'd in tea; 
No Yankee there can lisp the name of thee ; 
The uncouth word, a libel on the town, 
Would call a proclamation from the crown. 
For climes oblique, that fear the sun's full rays, 
Chill'd in their fogs, exclude the generous maize : 
A grain whose rich, luxuriant growth requires 
Short, gentle showers, and bright, ethereal fires. 

But here, though distant from our native shore, 
With mutual glee, we meet and laugh once more. 
The same ! I know thee by that yellow face, 
That strong complexion of true Indian race, 
Which time can never change, nor soil impair, 
Nor Alpine snows, nor Turkey's morbid air ; 
For endless years, through every mild domain, 
Where grows the maize, there thou art sure to 

reign. 
But man, more fickle, the bold license claims, 
In different realms to give thee different names. 
Thee the soft nations round the warm Levant 
Polanta call; the French, of course, Polante. 
E'en in thy native regions, how I blush 
To bear the Pennsylvanians call thee Mush! 
On Hudson's banks, while men of Belgic spawn 
Insult and eat thee by the name Suppawn. 
All spurious appellations, void of truth ; 
I've better known thee from my earliest youth : 
Thy name is Hasty Pudding! thus our sires 
Were wont to greet thee fuming from the fires ; 



And while they argued in thy just defence 
With logic clear, they thus explained the sense: 
"In haste the boiling caldron, o'er the blaze, 
Receives and cooks the ready powder'd maize; 
In haste 'tis served, and then in equal haste, 
With cooling milk, we make the sweet repast. 
No carving to be done, no knife to grate 
The tender ear and wound the stony plate ; 
But the smooth spoon, just fitted to the lip, 
And taught with art the yielding mass to dip, 
By frequent journeys to the bowl well stored, 
Performs the hasty honours of the board." 
Such is thy name, significant and clear, 
A name, a sound to every Yankee dear, 
But most to me, whose heart and palate chaste 
Preserve my pure, hereditary taste. 

There are who strive to stamp with disrepute 
The luscious food, because it feeds the brute ; 
In tropes of high-strain'd wit, while gaudy prigs 
Compare thy nursling man to pamper'd pigs; 
With sovereign scorn I treat the vulgar jest, 
Nor fear to share thy bounties with the beast. 
What though the generous cow gives me to 

quaff 
The milk nutritious; am I then a calf] 
Or can the genius of the noisy swine, 
Though nursed on pudding, thence lay claim to 

mine? 
Sure the sweet song I fashion to thy praise, 
Runs more melodious than the notes they raise. 

My song, resounding in its grateful s'lee, 
No merit claims : I praise myself in thee. 
My father loved thee through his length of days ! 
For thee his fields were shaded o'er with maize; 
From thee what health, what vigour he possess'd, 
Ten sturdy freemen from his loins attest ; 
Thy constellation ruled my natal morn, 
And all my bones were made of Indian corn. 
Delicious grain ! whatever form it take, 
To roast or boil, to smother or to bake, 
In every dish 'tis welcome still to me, 
But most, my Hasty Pudding, most in thee. 

Let the green succotash with thee contend ; 
Let beans and corn their sweetest juices blend; 
Let butter drench them in its yellow tide, 
And a long slice of bacon grace their side ; 
Not all the plate, how famed soe'er it be, 
Can please my palate like a bowl of thee. 
Some talk of Hoe-Cake, fair Virginia's pride ! 
Rich Johnny -Cake this mouth hath often tried; 
Both please me well, their virtues much the same 
Alike their fabric, as allied their fame, 
Except in dear New England, where the last 
Receives a dash of pumpkin in the paste, 
To give it sweetness and improve the taste. 
But place them all before me, smoking hot, 
The big, round dumpling, rolling from the pot; 
The pudding of the bag, whose quivering breast, 
With suet lined, leads on the Yankee feast; 
The Charlotte brown, within whose crusty sides 
A belly soft the pulpy apple hides ; 
The yellow bread, whose face like amber glows, 
And all of Indian that the bakepan knows, — 
You tempt me not; my favourite greets my eyes, 
To that loved bowl my spoon by instinct flies. 



56 



JOEL BARLOW. 



CANTO II. 

To mix the food by vicious rules of art, 
To kill the stomach and to sink the heart, 
To make mankind to social virtue sour, 
Cram o'er each dish, and be what they devour ; 
For this the kitchen muse first framed her book, 
Commanding sweat to stream from every cook; 
Children no more their antic gambols tried, 
And friends to physic wonder'd why they died. 

Not so the Yankee: his abundant feast, 
With simples furnish'd and with plainness dress'd, 
A numerous offspring gathers round the board, 
And cheers alike the servant and the lord; [taste, 
Whose well-bought hunger prompts the joyous 
And health attends them from the short repast. 

While the full pail rewards the milkmaid's toil, 
The mother sees the morning caldron boil; 
To stir the pudding next demands their care ; 
To spread the table and the bowls prepare: 
To feed the children as their portions cool, 
And comb their heads, and send them off to school. 

Yet may the simplest dish some rules impart, 
For nature scorns not all the aids of art. 
E'en Hasty Pudding, purest of all food, 
May still be bad, indifferent, or good, 
As sage experience the short process guides, 
Or want of skill, or want of care presides. 
Whoe'er would form it on the surest plan, 
To rear the child and long sustain the man ; 
To shield the morals while it mends the size, 
And all the powers of every food supplies, — 
Attend the lesson that the muse shall bring; 
Suspend your spoons, and listen while I sing. 

But since, man! thy life and health demand 
Not food alone, but labour from thy hand, 
First, in the field, beneath the sun's strong rays, 
Ask of thy mother earth the needful maize; 
She loves the race that courts her yielding soil, 
And gives her bounties to the sons of toil. 

When now the ox, obedient to thy call, 
Repays the loan that fill'd the winter stall, 
Pursue his traces o'er the furrow'd plain, 
And plant in measured hills the golden grain. 
But when the tender germ begins to shoot, 
And the green spire declares the sprouting root, 
Then guard your nursling from each greedy foe, 
The insidious worm, the all-devouring crow. 
A little ashes sprinkled round the spire, 
Soon steep'd in rain, will bid the worm retire; 
The feather'd robber, with his hungry maw 
Swift flies the field before your man of straw, 
A frightful image, such as schoolboys bring, 
When met to burn the pope or hang the king. 

Thrice in the season, through each verdant row, 
Wield the strong ploughshare and the faithful hoe ; 
The faithful hoe, a double task that takes. 
To till the summer corn and roast the winter cakes. 

Slow springs the blade, while check'd by chilling 
rains, 
Ere yet the sun the seat of Cancer gains; 
But when his fiercest fires emblaze the land, 
Then start the juices, then the roots expand ; 
Then, like a column of Corinthian mould, 
The stalk struts upward and the leaves unfold ; 



The busy branches all the ridges fill, 
Entwine their arms, and kiss from hill to hill. 
Here cease to vex them; all your cares are done: 
Leave the last labours to the parent sun ; 
Beneath his genial smiles, the well-dress'd field, 
When autumn calls, a plenteous crop shall yield. 

Now the strong foliage bears the standards high, 
And shoots the tall top-gallants to the sky ; 
The suckling ears the silken fringes bend, 
And, pregnant grown, their swelling coats distend; 
The loaded stalk, while still the burden grows, 
O'erhangs the space that runs between the rows; 
High as a hop-field waves the silent grove, 
A safe retreat for little thefts of love, 
When the pledged roasting-ears invite the maid 
To meet her swain beneath the new-form'd shade; 
His generous hand unloads the cumbrous hill, 
And the green spoils her ready basket fill ; 
Small compensation for the twofold bliss, 
The promised wedding, and the present kiss. 

Slight depredations these ; but now the moon 
Calls from his hollow trees the sly raccoon; 
And while by night he bears his prize away, 
The bolder squirrel labours through the day. 
Both thieves alike, but provident of time, 
A virtue rare, that almost hides their crime. 
Then let them steal the little stores they can, 
And fill their granaries from the toils of man ; 
We've one advantage where they take no part — 
With all their wiles, they ne'er have found the art 
To boil the Hasty Pudding; here we shine 
Superior far to tenants of the pine ; 
This envied boon to man shall still belong, 
Unshared by them in substance or in song. 

At last the closing season browns the plain, 
And ripe October gathers in the grain; 
Deep-loaded carts the spacious cornhouse fill ; 
The sack distended marches to the mill; 
The labouring mill beneath the burden groans, 
And showers the future pudding from the stones; 
Till the glad housewife greets the powder'd gold, 
And the new crop exterminates the old. 

CAKTO III. 

The days grow short; but though the falling sun 
To the glad swain proclaims his day's work done, 
Night's pleasing shades his various tasks prolong, 
And yield new subjects to my various song. 
For now, the corn-house fill'd, the harvest home, 
The invited neighbours to the husking come; 
A frolic scene, where work, and mirth, and play, 
Unite their charms to chase the hours away. 

Where the huge heap lies center'd in the hall, 
The lamp suspended from the cheerful wall, 
Brown, corn-fed nymphs, and strong, hard-handed 
Alternate ranged, extend in circling rows, [beaus, 
Assume their seats, the solid mass attack; 
The dry husks rustle, and the corncobs crack; 
The song, the laugh, alternate notes resound, 
And the sweet cider trips in silence round. 

The laws of husking every wight can tell, 
And sure no laws he ever keeps so well : 
For each red ear a general kiss he gains, 
With each smut ear he smuts the luckless swains ; 



JOEL BARLOW. 



57 



Bat when to some sweet maid a prize is cast, 
Red as her lips and taper as her waist, 
She walks the round and culls one favour' d beau, 
Who leaps the luscious tribute to bestow. 
Various the sport, as are the wits and brains 
Of well-pleased lasses and contending swains; 
Till the vast mound of corn is swept away, 
And he that gets the last ear wins the day. 

Meanwhile, the housewife urges all her care, 
The well-earn'd feast to hasten and prepare. 
The sifted meal already waits her hand, 
The milk is strain'd, the bowls in order stand, 
The fire flames high ; and as a pool (that takes 
The headlong stream that o'er the milldam breaks) 
Foams, roars, and rages with incessant toils, 
So the vex'd caldron rages, roars, and boils. 

First with clean salt she seasons well the food, 
Then strews the flour, and thickens all the flood. 
Long o'er the simmering fire she lets it stand; 
To stir it well demands a stronger hand ; 
The husband takes his turn : and round and round 
The ladle flies ; at last the toil is crown'd ; 
When to the board the thronging huskers pour, 
And take their seats as at the corn before. 

I leave them to their feast. There still belong 
More copious matters to my faithful song. 
For rules there are, though ne'er unfolded yet, 
Nice rules and wise, how pudding should be ate. 

Some with molasses line the luscious treat, 
And mix, like bards, the useful with the sweet. 
A wholesome dish, and well deserving praise ; 
A great resource in those bleak wintry days, 
When the chill'd earth lies buried deep in snow, 
And raging Boreas dries the shivering cow. 



'd 



thy praise shall still my notes em- 



Great source of health, the only source of joy ; 
Mother of Egypt's god — but sure, for me, 
Were I to leave my God, I 'd worship thee. 
How oft thy teats these precious hands have press'd ! 
How oft thy bounties proved my only feast! 
How oft I 've fed thee with my favourite grain ! 
And roar'd, like thee, to find thy children slain ! 

Yes. swains who know her various worth to prize, 
Ah ! house her well from winter's angry skies. 
Potatoes, pumpkins should her sadness cheer, 
Corn from your crib, and mashes from your beer; 
When spring returns, she '11 well acquit the loan, 
And nurse at once your infants and her own. 

Milk then with pudding I would always choose ; 
To this in future I confine my muse, 
Till she in haste some further hints unfold, 
Well for the young, nor useless to the old. 
First in your bowl the milk abundant take, 
Then drop with care along the silver lake 
Your flakes of pudding ; these at first w T ill hide 
Their little bulk beneath the swelling tide ; 
But when their growing mass no more can sink, 
When the soft island looms above the brink, 
Then check your hand ; you've got the portion due : 
So taught our sires, and what they taught is true. 

There is a choice in spoons. Though small appear 
The nice distinction, yet to me 'tis clear. 
The deep-bowl'd Gallic spoon, contrived to scoop 
In ample draughts the thin, diluted soup, 



Performs not well in those substantial things, 
Whose mass adhesive to the metal clir.gs; 
Where the strong labial muscles must vmbrace 
The gentle curve, and sweep the hollow space. 
With ease to enter and discharge the fre'ght, 
A bowl less concave, but still more dilate, 
Becomes the pudding best. The shape, the size, 
A secret rests, unknown to vulgar eyes. 
Experienced feeders can alone impart 
A rule so much above the lore of art. 
These tuneful lips, that thousand spoons have tried, 
With just precision could the point decide, 
Though not in song; the muse but poorly shines 
In cones, and cubes, and geometric lines ; 
Yet the true form, as near as she can tell, 
Is that small section of a goose-egg shell, 
Which in two equal portions shall divide 
The distance from the centre to the side. 
Fear not to slaver; 'tis no deadly sin: 
Like the free Frenchman, from your joyous chin 
Suspend the ready napkin ; or, like me, 
Poise with one hand your bowl upon your knee 
Just in the zenith your wise head project; 
Your full spoon, rising in a line direct, 
Bold as a bucket, heeds no drops that fall, — 
The wide-mouth' d bowl will surely catch them all! 



BURNING OF THE NEW ENGLAND 
VILLAGES.* 

Through solid curls of smoke, the bursting fires 
Climb in tall pyramids above the spires, 
Concentring all the winds ; whose forces, driven 
With equal rage from every point of heaven, 
Whirl into conflict, round the scantling pour 
The twisting flames, and through the rafters roar, 
Suck up the cinders, send them sailing far, 
To warn the nations of the raging war ; 
Bend high the blazing vortex, sw r ell'd and curl'd, 
Careering, brightening o'er the lustred world : 
Seas catch the splendour, kindling skies resound, 
And falling structures shake the smouldering 

ground. 
Crowds of wild fugitives, with frantic tread, 
Flit through the flames that pierce the midnight 

shade, 
Back on the burning domes revert their eyes, 
Where some lost friend, some perish'd infant lies. 
Their maim'd, their sick, their age-enfeebled sires 
Have sunk sad victims to the sateless fires ; 
They greet with one last look their tottering walls, 
See the blaze thicken, as the ruin falls, 
Then o'er the country train their dumb despair, 
And far behind them leave the dancing glare ; 
Their own crush'd roofs still lend a trembling light, 
Point their long shadows and direct their flight. 
Till, wandering wide, they seek some cottage door, 
Ask the vile pittance due the vagrant poor ; 
Or, faint and faltering on the devious road, 
They sink at last and yield their mortal load. 

* This and the following extracts are from the " Colum 
biad." 



58 



JOEL BARLOW. 



TO FREEDOM. 

Sun of the moral world ! effulgent source 
Of man's best wisdom and his steadiest force, 
Soul-searching Freedom ! here assume thy stand, 
And radiate hence to every distant land ; 
Point out and prove how all the scenes of strife, 
The shock of states, the impassion'd broils of life, 
Spring from unequal sway ; and how they fly 
Before the splendour of thy peaceful eye ; 
Unfold at last the genuine social plan, 
The mind's full scope, the dignity of man, 
Bold nature bursting through her long disguise, 
And nations daring to be just and wise. 
Yes ! righteous Freedom, heaven and earth and sea 
Yield or withhold their various gifts for thee ; 
Protected Industry beneath thy reign 
Leads all the virtues in her filial train ; 
Courageous Probity, with brow serene, 
And Temperance calm presents her placid mien ; 
Contentment, Moderation, Labour, Art, 
Mould the new man and humanize his heart ; 
To public plenty private ease dilates, 
Domestic peace to harmony of states. 
Protected Industry, careering far, 
Detects the cause and cures the rage of war, 
And sweeps, with forceful arm, to their last graves, 
Kings from the earth and pirates from the waves. 



MORGAN AND TELL. 

Mokgan in front of his bold riflers towers, 
His host of keen-eyed marksmen, skill'd to pour 
Their slugs unerring from the twisted bore. 
No sword, no bayonet they learn to wield, 
They gall the flank, they skirt the battling field, 
Cull out the distant foe in full horse speed, 
Couch the long tube, and eye the silver bead, 
Turn as he turns, dismiss the whizzing lead, 
And lodge the death-ball in his heedless head. 
So toil'd the huntsman Tell. His quivering dart, 
Press'd by the bended bowstring, fears to part, 
Dread the tremendous task, to graze but shun 
The tender temples of his infant son ; 
As the loved youth (the tyrant's victim led) 
Bears the poised apple tottering on his head. 
The sullen father, with reverted eye, 
Now marks the satrap, now the bright-hair'd boy ; 
His second shaft impatient lies, athirst 
To mend the expected error of the first, 
To pierce the monster, mid the insulted crowd, 
And steep the pangs of nature in his blood. 
Deep doubling toward his breast, well poised and 

slow, 
Curve the strain'd horns of his indignant bow ; 
His left arm straightens as the dexter bends, 
And his nerved knuckle with the gripe distends ; 
Soft slides the reed back with the stiff drawn strand, 
Till the steel point has reach'd his steady hand ; 
Then to his keen fix'd eye the shank he brings ; 
Twangs the loud cord, the feather'd arrow sings, 



Picks off the pippin from the smiling boy, 

And Uri's rocks resound with shouts of joy. 

Soon by an equal dart the tyrant bleeds ; 

The cantons league, the work of fate proceeds ; 

Till Austria's titled hordes, with their own gore, 

Fat the fair fields they lorded long before; 

On Gothard's height while Freedom first unfurl'd 

Her infant banner o'er the modern world. 



THE ZONES OF AMERICA. 

Where Spring's coy steps in cold Canadia 

stray, 
And joyless seasons hold unequal sway, 
He saw the pine its daring mantle rear, 
Break the rude blast, and mock the brumal year, 
Shag the green zone that bounds the boreal skies, 
And bid all southern vegetation rise. 
Wild o'er the vast, impenetrable round 
The untrod bowers of shadowy nature frown'd ; 
Millennial cedars wave their honours wide, 
The fir's tall boughs, the oak's umbrageous pride, 
The branching beach, the aspen's trembling shade 
Veil the dim heaven, and brown the dusky glade. 
For in dense crowds these sturdy sons of earth, 
In frosty regions, claim a stronger birth ; 
Where heavy beams the sheltering dome requires, 
And copious trunks to feed its wintry fires. 
But warmer suns, that southern zones emblaze, 
A cool, thin umbrage o'er their woodland raise ; 
Floridia's shores their blooms around him spread, 
And Georgian hills erect their shady head ; 
Whose flowery shrubs regale the passing air 
With all the untasted fragrance of the year. 
Beneath tall trees, dispersed in loose array, 
The rice-grown lawns their humble garb display ; 
The infant maize, unconscious of its worth, 
Points the green spire and bends the foliage 

forth ; 
In various forms unbidden harvests rise, 
Aud blooming life repays the genial skies. 
Where Mexic hills the breezy gulf defend, 
Spontaneous groves with richer burdens bend : 
Anana's stalk its shaggy honours yields ; 
Acassia's flowers perfume a thousand fields ; 
Their cluster'd dates the mast-like palms unfold ; 
The spreading orange waves a load of gold ; 
Connubial vines o'ertop the larch they climb ; 
The long-lived olive mocks the moth of time ; 
Pomona's pride, that old Grenada claims, 
Here smiles and reddens in diviner flames ; 
Pimento, citron scent the sky serene ; 
White, woolly clusters fringe the cotton's green; 
The sturdy fig, the frail, deciduous cane, 
And foodful cocoa fan the sultry plain. 
Here, in one view, the same glad branches bring 
The fruits of autumn and the flowers of spring ; 
No wintry blasts the unchanging year deform, 
Nor beasts unshelter'd fear the pinching storm ; 
But vernal breezes o'er the blossoms rove, 
And breathe the ripen'd juices through the grove. 



RICHARD ALSOP. 



[Born 1759. Died 1815.] 



Richard Alsop was a native of Middletown, 
Connecticut, where he resided during the greater 
part of his life. He commenced writing for the 
gazettes at a very early age, but was first known 
to the public as the author of satires on public 
characters and events, entitled "The Echo," "The 
Political Greenhouse," etc., printed in periodicals 
at New York and Hartford, and afterward col- 
lected and published in an octavo volume, in 
1807. In these works he was aided by Trum- 
bull, Hopkins, Theodore Dwight, and others, 
though he was himself their principal author. 
"The Echo" was at first designed to exhibit the 
wretched style of the newspaper writers, and the 
earliest numbers contain extracts from contem- 
porary journals, on a variety of subjects, "done 
into heroic verse and printed beside the originals." 
Alsop and his associates were members of the 
Federal party, and the "Echo" contained many 
ludicrous travesties of political speeches and 
essays made by the opponents of the administra- 
tion of John Adaxs. The work had much wit 
and sprightliness, and was very popular in its 
time; but, with the greater part of the characters 
and circumstances to which it related, it is now 
nearly forgotten. In 1800, Alsop published a 
"Monody on the Death of Washington," which 
was much admired; and in the following year a 
translation of the second canto of Berni's "Or- 
lando Inamorato," under the title of " The Fairy 



of the Lake," and another of the Poem of Si- 
litts Italicus on the Second Punic War. In 
1807, he translated from the Italian the " History 
of Chili," by the Abbe Molina, to which he 
added original notes, and others from the French 
and Spanish versions of the same history. At 
different periods he translated several less im- 
portant works from the Greek, Latin, Italian, 
Spanish, and French languages, and wrote a 
number of poems and essays for the periodicals. 
His last publication was "The Adventures of 
John Jewett," printed in 1815. He died on the 
twentieth of August, in that year, at Flatbush, 
Long Island, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. 
He had, for a considerable period, been writing 
"The Charms of Fancy," a poem; and besides 
this, he left manuscript fragments of a poem on 
the Conquest of Scandinavia by Odin; "Aris- 
todemus," a tragedy, from the Italian of Monti ; 
the poem of Quintus Calaber on the Trojan 
war, from the Greek, and a prose translation of a 
posthumous work by Florian. As a poet Alsop 
was often elegant, but his verse was generally 
without energy. Probably no other American of 
his time was so well acquainted with the litera- 
ture of England, France, and Italy, and few were 
more familiar with the natural sciences. He is 
said to have been deficient in strength and deci- 
sion of character, but he was amiable and ho- 
nourable, and had many friends and few enemies. 



FROM 



A MONODY ON THE DEATH 
OF WASHINGTON." 



Before the splendours of thy high renown, 
How fade the glow-worm lustres of a crown ! 
How sink, diminish'd, in that radiance lost, 
The glare of conquest and of power the boast! 
Let Greece her Alexander's deeds proclaim, 
Or Cesar's triumphs gild the Roman name; 
Stript of the dazzling glare around them cast, 
Shrinks at their crimes humanity aghast ; 
With equal claim to honour's glorious meed, 
See Attila his course of havoc lead; 
O'er Asia's realm, in one vast ruin hurl'd, 
See furious Zinges' bloody flag unfurl'd. 
On base far different from the conqueror's claim, 
Rests the unsullied column of thy fame ; 
His on the graves of millions proudly based, 
With blood cemented and with tears defaced; 
Thine on a nation's welfare fixed sublime, 
By freedom strengthen'd, and revered by time : 
He, as the comet whose portentous light 
Spreads baleful splendour, o'er the glooms of night, 
With dire amazement chills the startled breast, 
While storms and earthquakes dread its course attest; 



And nature trembles, lest in chaos hurl'd 
Should sink the tottering fragment of the world; 
Thine, like the sun, whose kind, propitious ray, 
Opes the glad morn, and lights the fields of day, 
Dispels the wintry storm, the chilling rain, 
With rich abundance clothes the fertile plain, 
Gives all creation to rejoice around, 
And light and life extends, o'er nature's utmost 

bound. 
Though shone thy life a model bright of praise, 
Not less the example bright thy death portrays ; 
When, plunged in deepest wo around thy bed, 
Each eye was fix'd, despairing sunk each head, 
While nature struggled with extremest pain, 
And scarce could life's last lingering powers retain ; 
In that dread moment, awfully serene, 
No trace of suffering marked thy placid mien, 
No groan, no murmuring plaint escaped thy tongue ; 
No longing shadows o'er thy brow were hung ; 
But, calm in Christian hope, undamp'd with fear, 
Thou sawest the high reward of virtue near. 
On that bright meed, in surest trust reposed, 
As thy firm hand thine eyes expiring closed, 
Pleased, to the will of Heaven resignd thy breath, 
And smiled, as nature's struggles closed in death. 



ST. JOHN HONEYWOOD. 



[Born 1765. Died 



St. Joins - Hoke y wood was a native of Lei- 
cester, Massachusetts, and was educated at Yale 
College. In 1785, being at that time about 
twenty years old, he removed to Schenectady, 
New York, where, during the two succeeding 
years, he was the principal of a classical school. 
In 1787 he became a law student in the office of 
Peter W. Yates, Esquire, of Albany, and on 
being admitted to the bar removed to Salem, in 
the same state, where he remained until his death, 
in September, 1798. He was one of the electors 
of President of the United States when Mr. 



Adams became the successor of General Wash- 
iKfiioif, and he held other honourable offices. 
He was a man of much professional and general 
learning, rare conversational abilities, and scru- 
pulous integrity ; and would probably have been 
distinguished as a man of letters and a jurist, had 
he lived to a riper age. The poems embraced in 
the volume of his writings published in 1801, are 
generally political, and are distinguished for wit 
and vigour. The longest in the collection was 
addressed to M. Adet, on his leaving this coun- 
try for France. 



CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS.* 

Of crimes, empoison'd source of human woes, 
Whence the black flood of shame and sorrow flows, 
How best to check the venom's deadly force, 
To stem its torrent, or direct its course, 
To scan the merits of vindictive codes, 
Nor pass the faults humanity explodes, 
I sing — what theme more worthy to engage 
The poet's song, the wisdom of the sage 1 
Ah ! were I equal to the great design, 
Were thy bold genius, blest Beccaria! mine, 
Then should my work, ennobled as my aim, 
Like thine, receive the meed of deathless fame. 
O Jay ! deserving of a purer age, 
Pride of thy country, statesman, patriot, sage, 
Beneath whose guardian care our laws assume 
A milder form, and lose their Gothic gloom, 
Read with indulgent eyes, nor yet refuse 
This humble tribute of an artless muse. 

Great is the question which the learn'd contest, 
What grade, what mode of punishment is best; 
In two famed sects the disputants decide, 
These ranged on Terror's, those on Reason's side ; 
Ancient as empire Terror's temple stood, 
Capt with black clouds, and founded deep in blood ; 
Grim despots here their trembling honours paid, 
And guilty offerings to their idol made : 
The monarch led — a servile crowd ensued, 
Their robes distain'd in gore, in gore imbrued ; 
O'er mangled limbs they held infernal feast, 
Moloch the god, and Draco's self the priest. 
Mild Reason's fane, in later ages rear'd, 
With sunbeams crown'd, in Attic grace appear'd ; 
In just proportion finish'd every part, 
With the fine touches of enlighten'd art. 
A thinking few, selected from the crowd, 
At the fair shrine with filial rev'rence bow'd; 
Tbe sage of Milan led the virtuous choir, 
To them sublime he strung the tuneful lyre : 

* This poem was found among the author's manu- 
scripts, after his decease ; and was, doubtless, unfinished. 



Of laws, of crimes, and punishments he sung, 
And on his glowing lips persuasion hung: 
From Reason's source each inference just he drew, 
While truths fresh polish'd struck the mind as new . 
Full in the front, in vestal robes array'd, 
The holy form of Justice stood display 'd : 
Firm was her eye, not vengeful, though severe, 
And e'er she frown'd she check'd the starting tear. 
A sister form, of more benignant face, 
Celestial Mercy, held the second place ; 
Her hands outspread, in suppliant guise she stood, 
And oft with eloquence resistless sued; 
But where 'twas impious e'en to deprecate, 
She sigh'd assent, and wept the wretch's fate. 

In savage times, fair Freedom ) 7 et unknown, 
The despot, clad in vengeance, fill'd the throne ; 
His gloomy caprice scrawl' d the ambiguous code, 
And dyed each page in characters of blood : 
The laws .transgress'd, the prince in judgment sat, 
And Rage decided on the culprit's fate: 
Nor stopp'd he here, but, skill'd in murderous art, 
The scepter'd brute usurp'd the hangman's part; 
With his own hands the trembling victim hew'd, 
And basely wallow'd in a subject's blood. 
Pleased with the fatal game, the royal mind 
On modes of death and cruelty refined : 
Hence the dank caverns of the cheerless mine, 
Where, shut from light, the famish'd wretches 

pine; 
The face divine, in seams unsightly sear'd, 
The eyeballs gouged, the wheel with gore besmear' d, 
The Russian knout, the suffocating flame, 
And forms of torture wanting yet a name. 
Nor was this rage to savage times confined; 
It reach'd to later years and courts refined. 
Blush, polish'd France, nor let the muse relate 
The tragic story of your Damieis-'s fate; 
The bed of steel, where long the assassin lay, 
In the dark vault, secluded from the day ; 
The quivering flesh which burning pincers tore, 
The pitch, pour'd flaming in the recent sore; 
His carcase, warm with life, convulsed with pain, 
By steeds dismember'd, dragg'd along the plain. 



ST. JOHN HONEYWOOD. 



61 



As daring quacks, unskill'd in medic lore, 
Prescribed the nostrums quacks prescribed before ; 
Careless of age or sex, whate'er befall, 
The same dull recipe must serve for all : 
Our senates thus, with reverence be it said, 
Have been too long by blind tradition led : 
Our civil code, from feudal dross refined, 
Proclaims the liberal and enlighten'd mind ; 
But till of late the penal statutes stood 
In Gothic rudeness, smear'd with civic blood ; 
What base memorials of a barbarous age, 
What monkish whimsies sullied every page ! 
The clergy's benefit, a trifling brand, 
Jest of the law, a holy sleight of hand : 
Beneath this saintly cloak what crimes abhorr'd, 
Of sable dye, were shelter'd from the lord; 
While the poor starveling, who a cent purloin'd, 
No reading saved, no juggling trick essoin'd; 
His was the servile lash, a foul disgrace, 
Through time transmitted to his hapless race; 
The fort and dure, the traitor's motley doom, 
Might blot the story of imperial Rome. 
What late disgraced our laws yet stand to stain 
The splendid annals of a George's reign. 

Say, legislators, for what end design'd 
This waste of lives, this havoc of mankind"? 
Say, by what right (one case exempt alone) 
Do ye prescribe, that blood can crimes atone 1 
If, when our fortunes frown, and dangers press, 
To act the Roman's part be to transgress ; 
For man the use of life alone commands, 
The fee residing in the grantor's hands. 
Could man, what time the social pact he seal'd, 
Cede to the state a right he never held 1 s 
For all the powers which in the state reside, 
Result from compact, actual or implied. 
Too well the savage policy we trace 
To times remote, Humanity's disgrace ; 
E'en while I ask, the trite response recurs, 
Example warns, severity deters. 
No milder means can keep the vile in awe, 
And state necessity compels the law. 
But let Experience speak, she claims our trust; 
The data false, the inference is unjust. 
Ills at a distance, men but slightly fear; 
Delusive Fancy never thinks them near: 
With stronger force than fear temptations draw, 
And Cunning thinks to parry with the law. 
" My brother swung, poor novice in his art, 
He blindly stumbled on a hangman's cart ; 
But wiser I, assuming every shape, 
As Proteus erst, am certain to escape." 
The knave, thus jeering, on his skill relies, 
For never villain deem'd himself unwise. 

When earth convulsive heaved, and, yawning 
wide, 
Engulf'd in darkness Lisbon's spiry pride, 
At that dread hour of ruin and dismay, 
'T is famed the harden' d felon prowl'd for prey ; 
Nor trembling earth, nor thunders could restrain 
His daring feet, which trod the sinking fane; 
Whence, while the fabric to its centre shook, 
By impious stealth the hallow'd vase he took. 

What time the gaping vulgar throng to see 
Some wretch expire on Tyburn's fatal tree; 



Fast by the crowd the luckier villain clings, 
And pilfers while the hapless culprit swings. 
If then the knave can view, with careless eyes, 
The bolt of vengeance darting from the skies, 
If Death, with all the pomp of Justice join'd, 
Scarce strikes a panic in the guilty mind, 
What can we hope, though every penal code, 
As Draco's once, were stamp'd in civic blood 1 

The blinded wretch, whose mind is bent on ill, 
Would laugh at threats, and sport with halters still ; 
Temptations gain more vigour as they throng, 
Crime fosters crime, and wrong engenders wrong ; 
Fondly he hopes the threaten' d fate to shun, 
Nor sees his fatal error till undone. 
Wise is the law, and godlike is its aim, 
Which frowns to mend, and chastens to reclaim, 
Which seeks the storms of passion to control, 
And wake the latent virtues of the soul ; 
For all, perhaps, the vilest of our race, 
Bear in their breasts some smother'd sparks of grace ; 
Nor vain the hope, nor mad the attempt to raise 
Those smother'd sparks to Virtue's purer blaze. 
When, on the cross accursed, the robber writhed, 
The parting prayer of penitence he breathed ; 
Cheer'd by the Saviour's smile, to grace restored, 
He died distinguish'd with his suffering Lord. 
As seeds long sterile in a poisonous soil, 
If nurs'd by culture and assiduous toil, 
May wake to life and vegttative power, 
Protrude the germ and yield a fragrant flower : 
E'en thus may man, rapacious and unjust, 
The slave of sin, the prey of lawless lust, 
In the drear prison's gloomy round confined, 
To awful solitude and toil consign'd ; 
Debarr'd from social intercourse, nor less 
From the vain world's seductions and caress, 
With late and trembling steps he measures back 
Life's narrow road, a long abandon'd track ; 
By Conscience roused, and left to keen Remorse, 
The mind at length acquires its pristine force : 
Then pardoning Mercy, with cherubic smile, 
Dispels the gloom, and smooths the brow of Toil, 
Till friendly Death, full oft implored in vain, 
Shall burst the ponderous bar and loose the chain ; 
Fraught with fresh life, an offering meet for God, 
The rescued spirit leaves the dread abode. 

Nor yet can laws, though Soiox's self should 
frame, 
Each shade of guilt discriminate and name; 
For senates well their sacred trust fulfil, 
Who general cures provide for general ill. 
Much must by his direction be supplied, 
In whom the laws the pardoning power confide; 
He best can measure every varying grade 
Of guilt, and mark the bounds of light and shade ; 
Weigh each essoin, each incident review, 
And yield to Mercy, where she claims her due : 
And wise it were so to extend his trust, 
With power to mitigate — when 'twere unjust 
Full amnesty to give — for though so dear 
The name of Mercy to a mortal's ear, 
Yet should the chief, to human weakness steel'd 
Rarely indeed to siiits for pardon yield ; 
For neither laws nor pardons can efface 
The sense of guilt and memorv of disgrace 
F 



62 



ST. JOHN HONEYWOOD. 



Say, can the man whom Justice doom'd to shame, 
With front erect, his country's honours claim'? 
Can he with cheek unblushing join the crowd, 
Claim equal rights, and have his claim allow'd'? 
What though he mourn, a penitent sincere ; 
Though every dawn be usher'd with a tear ; 
The world, more prone to censure than forgive, 
Quick to suspect, and tardy to believe, 
Will still the hapless penitent despise, 
And watch his conduct with invidious eyes: 
But the chief end of justice once achieved, 
The public weal secured, a soul reprieved, 
'Twere wise in laws, 'twere generous to provide 
Some place where blushing penitence might hide ; 
Yes, 'twere humane, 'twere godlike to protect 
Returning virtue from the world's neglect 
And taunting scorn, which pierce with keener pains 
The feeling mind, than dungeons, racks, and chains : 
Enlarge their bounds; admit a purer air; 
Dismiss the servile badge and scanty fare; 
The stint of labour lessen or suspend, 
Admit at times the sympathizing friend. 

Repentance courts the shade ; alone she roves 
By ruin'd towers and night-embrowning groves ; 
Or midst dark vaults, by Melancholy led, 
She holds ideal converse with the dead : 
Lost to the world and each profaner joy, 
Her solace tears, and prayer her best employ. 



A RADICAL SONG OF 1786. 

Huzza, my Jo Bunkers ! no taxes we'll pay; 
Here's a pardon for Wheeler, Shays, Parsons, 

and Day ;* 
Put green boughs in your hats, and renew the old 

cause ; 
Stop the courts in each county, and bully the laws : 
Constitutions and oaths, sir, we mind not a rush; 
Such trifles must yield to us lads of the bush. 
New laws and new charters our books shall display, 
Composed by conventions and Counsellor Grey. 

Since Boston and Salem so haughty have grown, 
We '11 make them to know we can let them alone. 
Of Glasgow or Pelham we '11 make a seaport, 
And there we'll assemble our General Court: 
Our governor, now, boys, shall turn out to work, 
And live, like ourselves, on molasses and pork ; 
In Adams or Greenwich he '11 live like a peer 
On three hundred pounds, paper money, a year. 

Grand jurors, and sheriffs, and lawyers we '11 spurn, 
As judges, we'll all take the bench in our turn, 
And sit the whole term, without pension or fee, 
Nor C us king or Sewal look graver than we. 
Our wigs, though they 're rusty, are decent enough ; 
Our aprons, though black, are of durable stuff; 

* Names of the leaders of the insurrection that arose, 
in 1786, in the state of Massachusetts, chiefly in the coun- 
ties of Hampshire, Berkshire, and Worcester; which, 
after convulsing the state for about a year, was finally 
quelled by a military force under the command of Gene- 
ral Lincoln and General Shepherd. The leaders fled 
from the state, and were afterwards pardoned. See 
Minot's History of the Insurrection in Massachusetts. 



Array'd in such gear, the laws we'll explain, 
That poor people no more shall have cause to com- 
plain. 

To Congress and impost we'll plead a release ; 
The French we can beat half-a-dozen a piece ; 
We want not their guineas, their arms, or alliance ; 
And as for the Dutchmen, we bid them defiance. 
Then huzza, my Jo Bunkers ! no taxes we'll pay; 
Here's a pardon for Wheeler, Shats, Parsons, 

and Day; 
Put green boughs in your hats, and renew the old 

cause ; 
Stop the courts in each county, and bully the laws. 



REFLECTIONS ON SEEING A BULL 
SLAIN IN THE COUNTRY. 

The sottish clown who never knew a charm 
Beyond the powers of his nervous arm. 
Proud of his might, with self-importance full, 
Or climbs the spire, or fights the maddening bull ; 
The love of praise, impatient of control, 
O'erflows the scanty limits of his soul ; 
In uncouth jargon, turbulently loud, 
He bawls his triumphs to the wondering crowd : 
" This well-strung arm dispensed the deadly blow, 
FelPd the proud bull and sunk his glories low :" 
Not thoughts more towering fill'd Pelides' breast, 
When thus to Greece his haughty vaunts express'd : 
" I sack'd twelve ample cities on the main, 
And six lay smoking on the Trojan plain ;" 
Thus full and fervid throbb'd the pulse of pride, 
When " Vent, vidi, vici," Cjesar cried. 
Each vain alike, and differing but in names; 
These poets flatter — those the mob acclaims ; 
Impartial Death soon stops the proud career, 
And bids Legendre rot with Dttmottrier. 
The God whose sovereign care o'er all extends, 
Sees whence their madness springs, and where it 

ends; 
From his blest height, with just contempt, looks 

down 
On thundering heroes and the swaggering clown : 
But if our erring reason may presume 
The future to divine, more mild his doom 
Whose pride was wreck'd on vanquished brutes 

alone, 
Than his whose conquests made whole nations 

groan. 
Can Ganges' sacred wave, or Lethe's flood, 
Wash clear the garments smear' d with civic blood '? 
What hand from heaven's dread register shall tear 
The page where, stamp'd in blood, the conqueror's 

crimes appear 1 ? 



IMPROMPTU ON AN ORDER TO KILL 
THE DOGS IN ALBANY. 

'T is done ! the dreadful sentence is decreed ! 
The town is mad, and all the dogs must bleed ! 
Ah me ! what boots it that the dogs are slain, 
Since the whole race of puppies yet remain ! 



WILLIAM CLIFFTON. 



Born 1772. Died 1799.] 



The father of William Cliffto:n" was a 
wealthy member of the society of Friends, in 
Philadelphia. The poet, from his childhood, had 
little physical strength, and was generally a suf- 
ferer from disease; but his mind was vigorous 
and carefully educated, and had he lived to a 
mature age, he would probably have won an en- 
during reputation as an author. His life was 
marked by few incidents. He made himself ac- 
quainted with the classical studies pursued in the 
universities, and with music, painting, and such 
field-sports as he supposed he could indulge in 
with most advantage to his health. He was 
considered an amiable and accomplished gen- 
tleman, and his society was courted alike by 



the fashionable and the learned. He died in 
December, 1799, in the twenty-seventh year of 
his age. 

The poetry of Clifftox has more energy of 
thought and diction, and is generally more cor- 
rect and harmonious, than any which had been 
previously written in this country. Much of it 
is satirical, and relates to persons and events of 
the period in which he lived; and the small 
volume of his writings published after his death 
doubtless contains some pieces which would have 
been excluded fro' a an edition prepared by him- 
self, for this reason, and because they were un- 
finished and not originally intended to meet the 
eye of the world. 



TO WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ.* 

Iy these cold shades, beneath these shifting skies, 
Where Fancy sickens, and where Genius dies ; 
Where few and feeble are the muse's strains, 
And no fine frenzy riots in the veins, 
There still are found a few to whom belong 
The fire of virtue and the soul of song; 
Whose kindling ardour still can wake the strings, 
When learning triumphs, and when Gifford sings. 
To thee the lowliest bard his tribute pays, 
His little wild-flower to thy wreath conveys; 
Pleased, if permitted round thy name to bloom, 
To boast one effort rescued from the tomb. 

While this delirious age enchanted seems 
With hectic Fancy's desultory dreams; 
While wearing fast away is every trace 
Of Grecian vigour, and of Roman grace, 
With fond delight, we yet one bard behold, 
As Horace polish'd, and as Perseus bold, 
Reclaim the art, assert the muse divine, 
And drive obtrusive dulness from the shrine. 
Since that great day which saw the Tablet rise, 
A thinking block, and whisper to the eyes, 
No time has been that touch'd the muse so near, 
No Age when Learning had so much to fear, 
As now, when love-lorn ladies light verse frame, 
And every rebus-weaver talks of Fame. 

When Truth in classic majesty appear'd, 
And Greece, on high, the dome of science rear'd, 
Patience and perseverance, care and pain 
Alone the steep, the rough ascent could gain : 
None but the great the sun-clad summit found ; 
The weak were baffled, and the strong were crown'd. 



♦ Prefixed to William Cobbett's edition of the "Ba- 
riad and Maeviad," published in Philadelphia, in 1799. 



The tardy transcript's nigh-wrought page confined 
To one pursuit the undivided mind. 
No venal critic fatten'd on the trade ; 
Books for delight, and not for sale were made ; 
Then shone, superior, in the realms of thought, 
The chief who govern'd, and the sage who taught: 
The drama then with deathless bays was wreath'd, 
The statue quicken'd, and the canvass breathed. 
The poet, then, with unresisted art, 
Sway'd even- impulse of the captive heart. 
Touch'd with a beam of Heaven's creative mind, 
His spirit kindled, and his taste refined : 
Incessant toil inform'd his rising youth ; 
Thought grew to thought, and truth attracted truth, 
Till, all complete, his perfect soul display'd 
Some bloom of genius which could never fade. 
So the sage oak, to Nature's mandate true, 
Advanced but slow, and strengthen'd as it grew! 
But when, at length, (full many a season o'er,) 
Its virile head, in pride, aloft it bore ; 
When steadfast were its roots, and sound its heart, 
It bade defiance to the insect's art, 
And, stonn and time resisting, still remains 
The never-dying glory of the plains. 

Then, if some thoughtless Bavius dared appear, 
Short was his date, and limited his sphere ; 
He could but please the changeling mob a day, 
Then, like his noxious labours, pass away : 
So, near a forest tall, some worthless flower 
Enjoys the triumph of its gaudy hour, 
Scatters its little poison through the skies, 
Then droops its empty, hated head, and dies. 

Still, as from famed Ilyssus' classic shore, 
To Mincius' banks, the muse her laurel bore, 
The sacred plant to hands divine was given, 
And deathless Mako nursed the boon of Heaven 
Exalted bard ! to hear thy gentler voice, 
The vallej^s listen, and their swains rejoice; 



64 



WILLIAM CLIFFTON. 



But when, on some wild mountain's awful form, 
We hear thy spirit chanting to the storm, 
Of battling chiefs, and armies laid in gore, 
We rage, we sigh, we wonder, and adore. 
Thus Rome with Greece in rival splendour shone, 
But claim'd immortal satire for her own; 
While Horace pierced, full oft, the wanton breast 
With sportive censure, and resistless jest; 
And that Etrurian, whose indignant lay 
Thy kindred genius can so well display, 
With many a well-aim'd thought, and pointed line, 
Drove the bold villain from his black design. 
For, as those mighty masters of the lyre, 
With temper'd dignity, or quenchless ire, 
Through all the various paths of science trod, 
Their school was Nature and their teacher God. 
Nor did the muse decline till, o'er her head, 
The savage tempest of the north was spread; 
Till arm'd with desolation's bolt it came, 
And wrapp'd her temple in funereal flame. 

But soon the arts once more a dawn diffuse, 
And Daxte hail'd it with his morning muse; 
Petrarch and Boccace join'd the choral lay, 
And Arno glisten'd with returning day. 
Thus science rose ; and, all her troubles pass'd, 
She hoped a steady, tranquil reign at last; 
But Faustus came : (indulge the painful thought,) 
Were not his countless volumes dearly bought] 
For, while to every clime and class they flew, 
Their worth diminish'd as their numbers grew. 
Some pressman, rich in Homer's glowing page, 
Could give ten epics to one wondering age; 
A single thought supplied the great design, 
And clouds of Iliads spread from every line. 
Nor Homer's glowing page, nor Virgil's fire 
Could one lone breast with equal flame inspire, 
But, lost in books, irregular and wild, 
The poet wonder'd, and the critic smiled : 
The friendly smile, a bulkier work repays ; 
For fools will print, while greater fools will praise. 

Touch'd with the mania, now, what millions rage 
To shine the laureat blockheads of the age. 
The dire contagion creeps through every grade ; 
Girls, coxcombs, peers, and patriots drive the trade : 
And e'en the hind, his fruitful fields forgot, 
For rhyme and misery leaves his wife and cot. 
Ere to his breast the wasteful mischief spread, 
Content and plenty cheer'd his little shed ; 
And, while no thoughts of state perplex'd his mind, 
His harvests ripening, and Pastora kind, 
He laugh'd at toil, with health and vigour bless'd, 
For days of labour brought their nights of rest: 
But now in rags, ambitious for a name, 
The fool of faction, and the dupe of fame, 
His conscience haunts him with his guilty life, 
J lis starving children, and his ruin'd wife. 
Thus swarming wits, of all materials made, 
Their Gothic hands on social quiet laid, 
And, as they rave, unmindful of the storm, 
Call lust, refinement; anarchy, reform. 



No love to foster, no dear friend to wrong, 
Wild as the mountain flood, they drive along : 
And sweep, remorseless, every social bloom 
To the dark level of an endless tomb. 

By arms assail'd we still can arms oppose, 
And rescue learning from her brutal foes ; 
But when those foes to friendship make pretence, 
And tempt the judgment witb the baits of sense, 
Carouse with passion, laugh at God's control, 
And sack the little empire of the soul, 
What warning voice can save 1 Alas ! 't is o'er, 
The age of virtue will return no more ; 
The doating world, its manly vigour flown, 
Wanders in mind, and dreams on folly's throne. 
Come then, sweet bard, again the cause defend, 
Be still the muses' and religion's friend ; 
Again the banner of thy wrath display, 
And save the world from Darwin's tinsel lay. 
A soul like thine no listless pause should know ; 
Truth bids thee strike, and virtue guides the blow 
From every conquest still more dreadful come, 
Till dulness fly, and folly's self be dumb. 



MARY WILL SMILE. 



The morn was fresh, and pure the gale, 

When Mary, from her cot a rover, 
Pluck' d many a wild rose of the vale 

To bind the temples of her lover. 
As near his little farm she stray'd, 

Where birds of love were ever pairing, 
She saw her William in the shade, 

The arms of ruthless war preparing. 
"Though now," he cried, "I seek the hostile plain, 
Marx shall smile, and all be fair again." 

She seized his hand, and "Ah!" she cried, 

" Wilt thou, to camps and war a stranger, 
Desert thy Mart's faithful side, 

And bare thy life to every danger? 
Yet, go, brave youth ! to arms away ! 

My maiden hands for fight shall dress thee, 
And when the drum beats far away, 

I'll drop a silent tear, and bless thee. 
Return'd with honour, from the hostile plain, 
Mary will smile, and all be fair again. 

"The bugles through the forest wind, 

The woodland soldiers call to battle : 
Be some protecting angel kind, 

And guard thy life when cannons rattle !" 
She sung — and as the rose appears 

In sunshine, when the storm is over, 
A smile beam'd sweetly through her tears — 

The blush of promise to her lover. 
Return'd in triumph from the hostile plain, 
All shall be fair, and Mart smile again. 



ROBERT TREAT PAINE 

LBorn, 1773. Died, 1811.] 



This writer was once ranked by our American 
critics among the great masters of English verse ; 
and it was believed that his reputation would en- 
dure as long as the language in which he wrote. 
The absurd estimate of his abilities shows the 
wretched condition of taste in his time, and per- 
haps caused some of the faults in his later works. 

Robert Treat Paine, junior,* was born at 
Taunton, Massachusetts, on the ninth of Decem- 
ber, 1773. His father, an eminent lawyer, held 
many honourable offices under the state and na- 
tional governments, and was one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence. The family hav- 
ing removed to Boston, when he was about seven 
years old, the poet received his early education in 
that city, and entered Harvard University in 1788. 
His career here was brilliant and honourable ; no 
member of his class was so familiar with the an- 
cient languages, or with elegant English literature ; 
and his biographer assures us that he was person- 
ally popular among his classmates and the offi- 
cers of the university. When he was graduated, 
" he was as much distinguished for the opening 
virtues of his heart, as for the vivacity of bin wit, 
the vigour of his imagination, and the variety of 
his knowledge. A liberality of sentiment and a 
contempt of selfishness are usual concomitants, and 
in him were striking characteristics. Urbanity of 
manners and a delicacy of feeling imparted a charm 
to his benignant temper and social disposition." 

While in college he had won many praises by 
his poetical " exercises," and on the completion of 
his education he was anxious to devote himself to 
literature as a profession. His father, a man of 
singular austerity, had marked out for him a dif- 
ferent career, and obtained for him a clerkship in 
a mercantile house in Boston. But he was in no 
way fitted for the pursuits of business ; and after 
a few months he abandoned the counting-room, 
to rely upon his pen for the means of living. In 
1794 he established the "Federal Orrery," a po- 
litical and literary gazette, and conducted it two 
years, but without industry or discretion, and there- 
fore without profit. Soon after leaving the uni- 
versity, he had become a constant visiter of the 
theatre, then recently established in Boston. His 
intimacy with persons connected with the stage 
led to his marriage with an actress ; and this to 
his exclusion from fashionable society, and a dis- 
agreement with his father, which lasted until his 
death. 

He was destitute of true courage, and of that 



* He was originally called Thomas Paine ; but on the 
death of an elder brother, in 1801. his name was changed 
by an act of the Massachusetts legislature to that of his 
father. 



kind of pride which arises from a consciousness of 
integrity and worth. When, therefore, he found 
himself unpopular with the town, he no longer en- 
deavoured to deserve regard, but neglected his per- 
sonal appearance, became intemperate, and aban- 
doned himself to indolence. The office of " mas- 
ter of ceremonies" in the theatre, an anomalous 
station, created for his benefit, still yielded him a 
moderate income, and, notwithstanding the irreg- 
ularity of his habits, he never exerted his poetical 
abilities without success. For his poems and other 
productions he obtained prices unparalleled in this 
country, and rarely equalled by the rewards of the 
most popular European authors. For the "In- 
vention of Letters," written at the request of the 
President of Harvard University, he received fif- 
teen hundred dollars, or more than five dollars a 
line. " The Ruling Passion," a poem recited be- 
fore the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was little less 
profitable ; and he was paid seven hundred and 
fifty dollars for a song of half a dozen stanzas, en- 
titled " Adams and Liberty." 

His habits, in the sunshine, gradually improved, 
and his friends who adhered to him endeavoured 
to wean him from dissipation, and to persuade him 
to study the law, and establish himself in an hon- 
ourable position in society. They were for a time 
successful ; he entered the office of the Honourable 
Theophilus Parsons, of Newburyport ; applied 
himself diligently to his studies ; was admitted to 
the bar, and became a popular advocate. No law- 
yer ever commenced business with more brilliant 
prospects ; but bis indolence and recklessness re- 
turned ; his business was neglected ; his reputa 
tion decayed ; and, broken down and disheartened 
by poverty, disease, and the neglect of his old as- 
sociates, the evening of his life presented a melan- 
choly contrast to its morning, when every sign 
gave promise of a bright career. In his last years, 
says his biographer, " without a library, wandering 
from place to place, frequently uncertain whence 
or whether he could procure a meal, his thirst for 
knowledge astonishingly increased ; neither sick- 
ness nor penury abated his love of books and in- 
structive conversation." He died in " an attic 
chamber of his father's house," on the eleventh of 
November, 1811, in the thirty-eighth year of his 
age. 

Dr. Johnson said of Dryden, of whom Paine 
was a servile but unsuccessful imitator, that " his 
delight was in wild and daring sallies of sentiment, 
in the irregular and eccentric violence of wit ;" that 
he " delighted to tread upon the brink of meaning, 
where light and darkness begin to mingle ; to ap- 
proach the precipice of absurdity, and hover over 
the abyss of unideal vacancy." The censure is 
f2 65 



66 



ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 



more applicable to the copy than the original. 
There was no freshness in Paink's writings; his 
subjects, his characters, his thoughts, were all com- 
monplace and familiar. His mind was fashioned 
by books, and not by converse with the world. He 
had a brilliant fancy, and a singular command of 
language ; but he was never content to be simple 
and natural. He endeavoured to be magnificent 
and striking ; he was perpetually searching for con- 
ceits and extravagances ; and in the multiplicity of 
his illustrations and ornaments, he was unintelli- 
gible and tawdry. From no other writer could so 
many instances of the false sublime be selected. 
He never spoke to the heart in its own language. 
Pai^e wrote with remarkable facility. It is 
related of him by his biographers, that he had 
finished "Adams and Liberty," and exhibited it to 
some gentlemen at the house of a friend. His host 
pronounced it imperfect, as the name of Washii^g- 
tojc was omitted, and declared that he should not 
approach the sideboard, on which bottles of wine 
had just been placed, until he had written an ad- 



ditional stanza. The poet mused a moment, called 
for a pen, and wrote the following lines, which are, 
perhaps, the best in the song : 

Should the tempest of war overshadow our laud, 

Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder; 
For, unmoved, at its portal would Washington stand, 
And repulse with his breast the assaults of the thunder ! 
His sword from the sleep 
Of its scabbard would leap, 
And conduct, with its point, every flash to the deep ! 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

He had agreed to write the " opening address," 
on the rebuilding of the Boston Theatre, in 1798. 
HoDGKixsoisr, the manager, called on him in the 
evening, before it was to be delivered, and upbraid- 
ed him for his negligence ; the first line of it being 
yet unwritten. " Pray, do not be angry," said 
Pai^e, who was dining with some literary friends ; 
" sit down and take a glass of wine." — "No, sir," 
replied the manager ; " when you begin to write, 
I will begin to drink." Pai^e took his pen, at a 
side-table, and in two or three hours finished the 
address, which is one of the best he ever wrote. 



ADAMS AND LIBERTY. 

Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought 
For those rights, which unstain'd from your sires 
had descended, 
May you long taste the blessings your valour has 
bought, 
And your sons reap the soil which their fathers 
defended. 
Mid the reign of mild Peace 
May your nation increase, 
With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece ; 
And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves, 
While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls 
its waves. 

In a clime whose rich vales feed the marts of the 
world, 
Whose shores are unshaken by Europe's com- 
motion, 
The trident of commerce should never be hurl'd, 
To incense the legitimate powers of the ocean. 
But should pirates invade, 
Though in thunder array'd, 
Let your cannon declare the free charter of trade. 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

The fame of our arms, of our laws the mild sway, 

Had justly ennobled our nation in story, 
'Till the dark clouds of faction obscured our young 
day, 
And envelop'd the sun of American glory. 
But let traitors be told, 
Who their country have sold, 
And barter'd their God for his image in gold, 
That ne'er will the sons, &c. 

While France her huge limbs bathes recumbent in 
blood, 
And society's base threats with wide dissolution, 
May Peace, like the dove who return'd from the 
flood, 



Find an ark of abode in our mild constitution. 
But though peace is our aim, 
Yet the boon we disclaim, 
If bought by our sovereignty, justice, or fame. 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

'Tis the fire of the flint each American warms: 

Let Rome's haughty victors beware of collision ; 
Let them bring all the vassals of Europe in arms; 
We 're a world by ourselves, and disdain a di- 
vision. 
While, with patriot pride, 
To our laws we 're allied, 
No foe can subdue us, no faction divide. 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

Our mountains are crowned with imperial oak, 
Whose roots, like our liberties, ages have nour- 
ished ; 
But long e'er our nation submits to the yoke, 
Not a tree shall be left on the field where it 
flourished. 
Should invasion impend, 
Every grove would descend 
From the hilltops they shaded our shores to defend. 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

Let our patriots destroy Anarch's pestilent worm, 
Lest our liberty's growth should be checked by 
corrosion ; 
Then let clouds thicken round us ; we heed not 
the storm ; 
Our realm fears no shock, but the earth's own 
explosion. 
Foes assail us in vain, 
Though their fleets bridge the main, 
For our altars and laws with our lives we '11 main- 
tain. 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

Should the tempest of war overshadow our land, 
Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple 
asunder ; 



ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 



67 



For, unmoved, at its portal would Washington 

stand, 
And repulse, with his breast, the assaults of the 
thunder ! 
His sword from the sleep 
Of its scabbard would leap, 
And conduct with its point every flash to the deep ! 
For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 

Let Fame to the world sound America's voice ; 
No intrigues can her sons from their government 
sever ; 
Her pride is her Adapts ; her laws are his choice, 
And shall flourish till Liberty slumbers forever. 
Then unite heart and hand, 
Like Leonidas' band, 
And swear to the God of the ocean and land, 
That ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves, 
While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls 
its waves ! 



FROM A « MONODY ON THE DEATH OF 
SIR JOHN MOORE." 

His heart elate, with modest valour bold, 
Beat with fond rage to vie with chiefs of old. 
Great by resolve, yet by example warm'd, 
Himself the model of his glory form'd. 
A glowing trait from every chief he caught : 
He paused like Fabius, and like Cesar fought. 
His ardent hope survey'd the heights of fame, 
Deep on its rocks to grave a soldier's name ; 
And o'er its cliffs to bid the banner wave, 
A Briton fights, to conquer and to save 

Inspired on fields, with trophied interest graced, 
He sigh'd for glory, where he mused from taste. 
For high emprise his dazzling helm was plumed, 
And all the polish'd patriot-hero bloom'd. 
Arm'd as he strode, his glorying country saw 
That fame was virtue, and ambition law; 
In him beheld, with fond delight, conspire [fire. 
Her Mariiiorough's fortune and her Sidney's 
Like Calvi's rock, with clefts abrupt deform'd, 
His path to fame toil'd up the breach he storm'd ; 
Till, o'er the clouds the victor chief was seen, 
Sublime in terror, and in height serene. 

His equal mind so well could triumph greet, 
He gave to conquest charms that soothed defeat. 
The battle done, his brow, with thought o'ercast, 
Benign as Mercy, smiled on perils past. 
The death-choked fosse, the batter'd wall, inspired 
A sense, that sought him, from the field retired. 
Suspiring Pity touch'd that godlike heart, 
To which no peril could dismay impart ; 
And melting pearls in that stern eye could shine, 
That lighten'd courage down the thundering line. 
So mounts the sea-bird in the boreal sky, 
And sits where steeps in beetling ruin lie ; 
Though warring whirlwinds curl the Norway seas, 
And the rocks tremble, and the torrents freeze ; 
Yet is the fleece, by beauty's bosom press'd, 
The down that warms the storm-beat eider's breast ; 
Mid floods of frost, where Winter smites the deep, 
Are fledged the plumes on which the Graces sleep. 



In vain thy cliffs, Hispania, lift the sky, 
Where Cesar's eagles never dared to fly ! 
To rude and sudden arms while Freedom springs. 
Napoleon's legions mount on bolder wings. 
In vain thy sons their steely nerves oppose, 
Bare to the rage of tempests and of foes ; 
In vain, with naked breast, the storm defy 
Of furious battle and of piercing sky : 
Five waning reigns had marked, in long decay, 
The gloomy glory of thy setting day ; 
While bigot power, with dark and dire disgrace, 
Oppress'd the valour of thy gallant race. 
No martial phalanx, led by veteran art, 
Combined thy vigour, or confirmed thy heart : 
Thy bands dispersed, like Rome in wild defeat, 
Fled to the mountains, to entrench retreat 

Illustrious Moore, by foe and famine press'd, 
Yet by each soldier's proud affection bless'd, 
Unawed by numbers, saw the impending host, 
With front extending, lengthen down the coast. 
" Charge ! Britons, charge !" the exulting chief ex- 
claims : 
Swift moves the field ; the tide of armour flames ; 
On, on they rush ; the solid column flies, 
And shouts tremendous, as the foe defies. 
While all the battle rung from side to side, 
In death to conquer was the warrior's pride. 
Where'er the war its unequal tempest pour'd, 
The leading meteor was his glittering sword ! 
Thrice met the fight, and thrice the vanquished Gaul 
Found the firm line an adamantine wall. 
Again repulsed, again the legions drew, 
And Fate's dark shafts in volley 'd shadows flew. 
Now storm'd the scene where soul could soul attest, 
Squadron to squadron join'd, and breast to breast; 
From rank to rank the intrepid valour glow'd, 
From rank to rank the inspiring champion rods 
Loud broke the war-cloud, as his charger sped ; 
Pale the curved lightning quiver'd o'er his head ; 
Again it bursts; peal, echoing peal, succeeds; 
The bolt is launch'd ; the peerless soldier bleeds ! 
Hark ! as he falls, Fame's swelling clarion cries, 
" Britannia triumphs, though her hero dies!" 
The grave he fills is all the realm she yields, 
And that proud empire deathless honor shields. 
No fabled phoenix from his bier revives ; 
His ashes perish, but his country lives. 

Immortal dead ! with musing awe thy foes 
Tread not the hillock where thy bones repose ! 
There, sacring mourner, see, Britannia spreads 
A chaplet, glistening with the tears she sheds ; 
With burning censer glides around thy tomb, 
And scatters incense where thy laurels bloom ; 
With rapt devotion sainted vigil keeps — 
Shines with Religion, and with Glory weeps ! 
Sweet sleep the brave ! in solemn chantshall sound 
Celestial vespers o'er thy sacred ground ! 
Long ages hence, in pious twilight seen, 
Shall choirs of seraphs sanctify thy green; 
At curfew-hour shall dimly hover there, 
And charm, with sweetest dirge, the listening air ! 
With homage tranced, shall every pensive mind 
Weep, while the requiem passes on the wind ! 
Till, sadly swelling Sorrow's softest notes, 
It dies in distance, while its echo floats ! 



WILLIAM MUNFORD. 

[Bom, 1775. Died, 1825.] 



Wiliiam Munford, the translator of the "Il- 
iad," was born in the county of Mecklenburg, in 
Virginia, on the fifteenth of A ugust, 1775. His fa- 
ther, Colonel Robert Munforp., was honourably- 
distinguished in affairs during the Revolution, and 
afterward gave much attention to literature. Some 
of his letters, to be found in collections relating to 
the time, are written with grace and vigour, and 
he was the author of several dramatic pieces, of 
considerable merit, which, with a few minor po- 
ems, were published by his son, the subject of the 
present article, at Petersburg, in 1 798. In his best 
comedy, " The Candidates," in three acts, he ex- 
poses to contempt the falsehood and corruption by 
which it was frequently attempted to influence the 
elections. In " The Patriots," in five acts, he con- 
trasts, probably with an eye to some instance in 
Virginia, a real and pretended love of country. 
He had commenced a translation of Ovid's " Met- 
amorphoses" into English verse, and had finished 
the first book, when death arrested his labours. 
He was a man of wit and humour, and was re- 
spected for many social virtues. His literary ac- 
tivity is referred to thus particularly, because I 
have not seen that the pursuits and character of 
the father, have been noticed by any of the writers 
upon the life of the son, which was undoubtedly 
in a very large degree influenced by them. 

William Munford was transferred from an 
academy at Petersburg, to the college of William 
and Mary, when only twelve years of age. In a 
letter written soon after he entered his fourteenth 
year, we have some information in regard to his 
situation and prospects. "I received from na- 
ture," he says, " a weakly constitution and a sick- 
ly body ; and I have the unhappiness to know that 
my poor mother is in want. I am absent from 
her and my dear sisters. Put this in the scale of 
evil. I possess the rare and almost inestimable 
blessing of a friend in Mr. Wythe and in John 
Randolph ; I have a mother in whose heart I 
have a large share ; two sisters, whose affections 
I flatter myself are fixed upon me ; and fair pros- 
pects before me, provided I can complete my edu- 
cation, and am not destitute of the necessaries 
of life. Put these in the scale of good." This 
was a brave letter for a boy to write under such 
circumstances. 

Mr. Wythe here referred to was afterward the 
celebrated chancellor. He was at this time pro- 
fessor of law in the college, and young Munforr 
lived in his family ; and, sharing the fine enthusi- 
asm with which the retired statesman regarded the 
literature of antiquity, he became an object of his 
warm affection. His design to translate the " Il- 
iad" was formed at an early period, and it was 
probably encouraged by Mr. Wythe, who per- 



sonally instructed him in ancient learning. In 
1792, when Mr. Wythe was made chancellor, and 
removed to Richmond, Mr. Munford accompa- 
nied him, but he afterward returned to the college, 
where he had graduated with high honours, to at- 
tend to the law lectures of Mr. St. Georre Tuck- 
er. In his twentieth year he was called to the bar, 
in his native county, and his abilities and industry 
soon secured for him a respectable practice. He 
rose rapidly in his profession, and in the public 
confidence, and in 1797 was chosen a member of 
the House of Delegates, in which he continued 
until 1802, when he was elected to the senate, 
which he left after four years, to enter the Privy 
Council, of which he was a conspicuous member 
until 1811. He then received the place of clerk 
of the House of Delegates, which he retained un- 
til his death. This occurred at Richmond, where 
he had resided for nineteen years, on the twenty- 
first of July, 1825. In addition to his ordinary 
professional and political labours, he reported the 
decisions of the Virginia Supreme Court of Ap- 
peals, preparing six annual volumes without as- 
sistance, and four others, afterward, in connexion 
with Mr. W. W. Henry. He possessed in a 
remarkable degree the affectionate respect of the 
people of the commonwealth ; and the House of 
Delegates, upon his death, illustrated their regard 
for his memory by appointing his eldest son to the 
office which he had so long held, and which has 
thus for nearly a quarter of a century longer con- 
tinued in his family. 

The only important literary production of Mr. 
Munford is his Homer. This was his life-la- 
bour. The amazing splendour of the Tale of Troy 
captivated his boyish admiration, and the cultiva- 
tion of his own fine mind enabled him but to see 
more and more its beauty and grandeur. It is 
not known at what time he commenced his ver- 
sion, but a large portion of it had been written in 
1811, and the work was not completed until a 
short time before he died. In his modest preface 
he says : " The author of this translation was in- 
duced to undertake it by fond admiration of the 
almost unparalleled sublimity and beauty of the 
original ; neither of which peculiar graces of Ho- 
mer's muse has, he conceives, been sufficiently 
expressed in the smooth and melodious rhymes 
of Pope. It is true that the fine poem of that 
elegant writer, which was the delight of my boy- 
ish days, and will always be read by me with un- 
common pleasure, appears in some parts more 
beautiful than even the work of Homer himself; 
but frequently it is less beautiful ; and seldom does 
it equal the sublimity of the Greek." He had not 
seen Cowper's " Iliad" until his own was consid- 
erably advanced, and it does not appear that he 



WILLIAM MUNFORD. 



09 



was ever acquainted with Chapman's or Sothe- 
by's. He wrote, too, before the Homeric poetry 
had received the attention of those German schol- 
ars whose masterly criticisms have given to its 
literature an entirely new character. But he had 
studied the " Iliad" until his own mind was thor- 
oughly imbued with its spirit ; he approached his 
task with the fondest enthusiasm ; well equipped 
with the best learning of his day ; a style fash- 
ioned upon the most approved models : dignified, 
various, and disciplined into uniform elegance ; 
and a judicial habit of mind, joined with a consci- 



entious determination to present the living Homer, 
as he was known in Greece, to the readers of our 
time and language. 

His manuscript remained twenty years in the 
possession of his family, and was finally published 
in two large octavo volumes, in Boston, in 1846. 
It received the attention due from our scholars to 
such a performance, and the general judgment ap- 
pears to have assigned it a place near to Chap- 
man's and Cowper's in fidelity, and between 
Cowper's and Pope's in elegance, energy, and 
all the best qualities of an English poem. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE "ILIAD." 

THE MEETING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE. 

To her the mighty Hector made reply : 
" All thou hast said employs my thoughtful mind. 
But from the Trojans much I dread reproach, 
And Trojan dames whose garments sweep the 
If, like a coward, I should shun the war ; [ground, 
Nor does my soul to such disgrace incline, 
Since to be always bravest I have learn'd, 
And with the first of Troy to lead the fight ; 
Asserting so my father's lofty claim 
To glory, and my own renown in arms. 
For well I know, in heart and mind convinced, 
A day will come when sacred Troy must fall, 
And Prtam, and the people of renown'd 
Spear-practised Priam ! Yet for this, to me 
Not such concern arises ; not the woes 
Of all the Trojans, not my mother's griefs, 
Nor royal Priam's nor my brethren's deaths, 
Many and brave, who slain by cruel foes 
Will be laid low in dust, so wring my heart 
As thy distress, when some one of the Greeks 
In brazen armour clad, shall drive thee hence, 
Thy days of freedom gone, a weeping slave ! 
Perhaps at Argos thou mayst ply the loom, 
For some proud mistress ; or mayst water bring, 
From Mepsa's or Hyperia's fountain, sad 
And much reluctant, stooping to the weight 
Of sad necessity : and some one, then, 
Seeing thee weep, will say, ' Behold the wife 
Of Hector, who was first in martial might 
Of all the warlike Trojans, when they fought 
Around the walls of Ilion !' So will speak 
Some heedless passer-by, and grief renew'd 
Excite in thee, for such a husband lost, 
Whose arm might slavery's evil day avert. 
Rut me may then a heap of earth conceal 
Within the silent tomb, before I hear 
Thy shrieks of terror and captivity." 

This said, illustrious Hector stretch'dhis arms 
To take his child ; but to the nurse's breast 
The babe clung crying, hiding in her robe 
His little face, affrighted to behold 
His father's awful aspect ; fearing too 
The brazen helm, and crest with horse-hair crown'd, 
Which, nodding dreadful from its lofty cone, 
Alarm'd him. Sweetly then the father smiled, 
And sweetly smiled the mother ! Soon the chief 
Removed the threatening helmet from his head, 
And placed it on the ground, all beaming bright ; 



Then having fondly kiss'd his son beloved 
And toss'd him playfully, he thus to Jove 
And all the immortals pray'd : " O grant me, Jove, 
And other powers divine, that this my son 
May be, as I am, of the Trojan race 
In glory chief. So ! let him be renown'd 
For warlike prowess and commanding sway 
With power and wisdom join'd, of Ilion king ! 
And may the people say, ' This chief excels 
His father much, when from the field of fame 
Triumphant he returns, bearing aloft 
The bloody spoils, some hostile hero slain, 
And his fond mother's heart expands with joy !" 
He said, and placed his child within the arms 
Of his beloved spouse. She him received, 
And softly on her fragrant bosom laid, 
Smiling with tearful eyes. To pity moved, 
Her husband saw : with kind consoling hand 
He wiped the tears away, and thus he spake : 
"My dearest love ! grieve not thy mind for me 
Excessively. No man can send me hence, 
To Pluto's hall, before the appointed time ; 
And surely none of all the human race, 
Base or e'en brave, has ever shunn'd his fate — 
His fate foredoom'd, since first he saw the light. 
But now, returning home, thy works attend, 
The loom and distaff, and direct thy maids 
In household duties, while the war shall be 
Of men the care ; of all, indeed, but most 
The care of me, of all in Ilion born." 



EMBARKATION OF THE GREEKS. 

When with food and drink 
All were supplied, the striplings crown'd with wine 
The foaming bowls, and handed round to each, 
In cups, a portion to libations due. 
They, all day long, with hymns the god appeased ; 
The sons of Greece melodious pseans sang 
In praise of great Apollo — he rejoiced 
To hear that pleasant song — and when the sun 
Descended to the sea, and darkness came, 
They near the cables of their vessels slept. 
Soon as the rosy-finger' d queen appear'd, 
Aurora, lovely daughter of the dawn, 
Toward the camp of Greece they took their way, 
And friendly Phoebus gave propitious gales. 
They raised the mast, and stretch'd the snowy sheet, 
To catch the breeze which fill'd the swelling sail. 
Around the keel the darken'd waters roar, 
As swift the vessel flies. The billows dark 
She quickly mounting, stemm'd the watery way. 



JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 



[Bora 1779.] 



Mr. Paulding is known by his numerous novels 
and other prose writings, much better than by his 
poetry ; yet his early contributions to our poetical 
literature, if they do not bear witness that he pos- 
sesses, in an eminent degree, " the vision and the 
faculty divine," are creditable for their patriotic 
spirit and moral purity. 

He was born in the town of Pawling, — the 
original mode of spelling his name, — in Duchess 
county, New York, on the 22d of August, 1779, 
and is descended from an old and honourable 
family, of Dutch extraction. 

His earliest literary productions were the papers 
entitled " Salmagundi," the first series of which, 
in two volumes, were written in conjunction with 
Washington Irving, in 1807. These were suc- 
ceeded, in the next thirty years, by the following 
works, in the order in which they are named: 
John Bull and Brother Jonathan, in one volume ; 
The Lay of a Scotch Fiddle, a satirical poem, in 
one volume ; The United States and England, in 
one volume ; Second Series of Salmagundi, in two 



volumes ; Letters from the South, in two volumes ; 
The Backwoodsman, a poem, in one volume; 
Koningsmarke, or Old Times in the New World, 
a novel, in two volumes ; John Bull in America, 
in one volume ; Merry Tales of the Wise Men of 
Gotham, in one volume ; The Traveller's Guide, 
or New Pilgrim's Progress, in one volume ; The 
Dutchman's Fireside, in two volumes ; Westward 
Ho ! in two volumes ; Slavery in the United States, 
in one volume ; Life of Washington, in two vo- 
lumes ; The Book of St. Nicholas, in one volume ; 
and Tales, Fables, and Allegories, originally pub- 
lished in various periodicals, in three volumes. 
Beside these, and some less pretensive works, 
he has written much in the gazettes on political 
and other questions agitated in his time. 

Mr. Paulding has held various honourable 
offices in his native state ; and in the summer of 
1838, he was appointed, by President Van Buren, 
Secretary of the Navy. He continued to be a 
member of the cabinet until the close of Mr. Van 
Buren's administration, in 1841. 



ODE TO JAMESTOWN. 

Old cradle of an infant world, 

In which a nestling empire lay, 
Struggling a while, ere she unfurl'd 
Her gallant wing and soar'd away ; 
All hail ! thou birth-place of the glowing west, 
Thou seem'st the towering eagle's ruin'd nest ! 

What solemn recollections throng, 

What touching visions rise, 
As, wandering these old stones among, 
I backward turn mine eyes, 
And see the shadows of the dead flit round, 
Like spirits, when the last dread trump shall sound ! 

The wonders of an age combined, 

In one short moment memory supplies ; 
They throng upon my waken'd mind, 
As time's dark curtains rise. 
The volume of a hundred buried years, 
Condensed in one bright sheet, appears. 

I hear the angry ocean rave, 

I see the lonely little barque 

Scudding along the crested wave, 

Freighted like old Noah's ark, 

As o'er the drowned earth 't was hurl'd, 

With the forefathers of another world. 

I see a train of exiles stand, 
Amid the desert, desolate, 
The fathers of my native land, 
The daring pioneers of fate, 
Who braved the perils of the sea and earth, 
And gave a boundless empire birth. 



I see the sovereign Indian range 

His woodland empire, free as air; 
I see the gloomy forest change, 
The shadowy earth laid bare ; 
And, where the red man chased the bounding deer, 
The smiling labours of the white appear. 

I see the haughty warrior gaze 

In wonder or in scorn, 
As the pale faces sweat to raise 
Their scanty fields of corn, 
While he, the monarch of the boundless wood, 
By sport, or hair-brain'd rapine, wins his food. 

A moment, and the pageant's gone ; 

The red men are no more ; 
The pale-faced strangers stand alone 
Upon the river's shore ; 
And the proud wood-king, who their arts disdain'd, 
Finds but a bloody grave where once he reign'd. 

The forest reels beneath the stroke 

Of sturdy woodman's axe ; 
The earth receives the white man's yoke, 
And pays her willing tax 
Of fruits, and flowers, and golden harvest fields, 
And all that nature to blithe labour yields. 

Then growing hamlets rear their heads, 

And gathering crowds expand, 
Far as my fancy's vision spreads, 
O'er many a boundless land, 
Till what was once a world of savage strife, 
Teems with the richest gifts of social life. 



JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 



71 



Empire to empire swift succeeds, 

Each happy, great, and free; 
One empires still another breeds, 
A giant progeny, 
Destined their daring race to run, 
Each to the regions of yon setting sun. 

Then, as I turn my thoughts to trace 

The fount whence these rich waters sprung, 
I glance towards this lonely place, 
And find it, these rude stones among. 
Here rest the sires of millions, sleeping round, 
The Argonauts, the golden fleece that found. 

Their^ names have been forgotten long; 
The stone, but not a word, remains ; 
They cannot live in deathless song, 
Nor breathe in pious strains. 
Yet this sublime obscurity, to me 
More touching is, than poet's rhapsody. 

They live in millions that now breathe ; 

They live in millions yet unborn, 
And pious gratitude shall wreathe 
As bright a crown as e'er was worn, 
And hang it on the green-leaved bough, 
That whispers to the nameless dead below. 

No one that inspiration drinks ; 

No one that loves his native land ; 
No one that reasons, feels, or thinks, 
Can mid these lonely ruins stand, 
Without a moisten'd eye, a grateful tear 
Of reverent gratitude to those that moulder here. 

The mighty shade now hovers round — 

Of him whose strange, yet bright career, 
Is written on this sacred ground 
In letters that no time shall sere ; 
Who in the old world smote the turban'd crew, 
And founded Christian empires in the new. 

And she ! the glorious Indian maid, 

The tutelary of this land, 
The angel of the woodland shade, 
The miracle of God's own hand, 
Who join'd man's heart to woman's softest grace, 
And thrice redeem'd the scourges of her race. 

Sister of charity and love, 

Whose life-blood was soft Pity's tide, 
Dear goddess of the sylvan grove, 
Flower of the forest, nature's pride, 
He is no man who does not bend the knee, 
And she no woman who is not like thee ! 

Jamestown, and Plymouth's hallow 'd rock 

To me shall ever sacred be — 
I care not who my themes may mock, 
Or sneer at them and me. 
I envy not the brute who here can stand, 
Without a thrill for his own native land. 

And if the recreant crawl her earth, 

Or breathe Virginia's air, 
Or, in New England claim his birth, 
From the old pilgrims there, 
He is a bastard, if he dare to mock 
Old Jamestown's shrine, or Plymouth's famous rock. 



PASSAGE DOWN THE OHIO.* 

As down Ohio's ever ebbing tide, 
Oarless and sailless, silently they glide, 
How still the scene, how lifeless, yet how fair 
Was the lone land that met the stranger there ! 
No smiling villages or curling smoke 
The busy haunts of busy men bespoke ; 
No solitary hut, the banks along, 
Sent forth blithe labour's homely, rustic song ; 
No urchin gamboll'd on the smooth, white sand, 
Or hurl'd the skipping-stone with playful hand, 
While playmate dog plunged in the clear blue wave, 
And swam, in vain, the sinking prize to save. 
Where now are seen, along the river side, 
Young, busy towns, in buxom, painted pride, 
And fleets of gliding boats with riches crown'd, 
To distant Orleans or St. Louis bound. 
Nothing appear'd but nature unsubdued, 
One endless, noiseless woodland solitude, 
Or boundless prairie, that aye seem'd to be 
As level and as lifeless as the sea ; 
They seem'd to breathe in this wide world alone, 
Heirs of the earth — the land was all their own ! 

'T was evening now : the hour of toil was o'er, 
Yet still they durst not seek the fearful shore, 
Lest watchful Indian crew should silent creep, 
And spring upon and murder them in sleep ; 
So through the livelong night they held their way, 
And 't was a night might shame the fairest day ; 
So still, so bright, so tranquil was its reign, 
They cared not though the day ne'er came again. 
The moon high wheel'd the distant hills above, 
Silver'd the fleecy foliage of the grove, 
That as the wooing zephyrs on it fell, 
Whisper'd it loved the gentle visit well 
That fair-faced orb alone to move appear'd, 
That zephyr was the only sound they heard. 
No deep-mouth'd hound the hunter's haunt betray 'd, 
No lights upon the shore or waters play'd, 
No loud laugh broke upon the silent air, 
To tell the wanderers, man was nestling there 
All, all was still, on gliding bark and shore, 
As if the earth now slept to wake no more. 



EVENING. 

'T was sunset's hallow'd time — and such an eve 
Might almost tempt an angel heaven to leave. 
Never did brighter glories greet the eye, 
Low in the warm and ruddy western sky : 
Nor the light clouds at summer eve unfold 
More varied tints of purple, red, and gold. 
Some in the pure, translucent, liquid breast 
Of crystal lake, fast anchor'd seem'd to rest, 
Like golden islets scatter'd far and wide, 
By elfin skill in fancy's fabled tide, 
Where, as wild eastern legends idly feign, 
Fairy, or genii, hold despotic reign. 

* This, and the two following extracts, are from the 
"Backwoodsman." 



JAMES KIRKE PAULDING. 



Others, like vessels gilt with burnish'd gold, 

Their flitting, airy way are seen to hold, 

All gallantly equipp'd with streamers gay, 

While hands unseen, or chance directs their way ; 

Around, athwart, the pure ethereal tide, 

"With swelling purple sail, they rapid glide, 

Gay as the bark where Egypt's wanton queen 

Reclining on the shaded deck was seen, 

At which as gazed the uxorious Roman fool, 

The subject world slipt from his dotard rule. 

Anon, the gorgeous scene begins to fade, 

And deeper hues the ruddy skies invade ; 

The haze of gathering twilight nature shrouds, 

And pale, and paler wax the changeful clouds. 

Then sunk the breeze into a breathless calm ; 

The silent dews of evening dropp'd like balm ; 

The hungry night-hawk from his lone haunt hies, 

To chase the viewless insect through the skies ; 

The bat began his lantern-loving flight, 

The lonely whip-poor-will, our bird of night, 

Ever unseen, yet ever seeming near, 

His shrill note quaver' d in the startled ear ; 

The buzzing beetle forth did gayly hie, 

With idle hum, and careless, blundering eye ; 

The little trusty watchman of pale night, 

The firefly, trimm'd anew his lamp so bright, 

And took his merry airy circuit round 

The sparkling meadow's green and fragrant bound, 

Where blossom'd clover, bathed in palmy dew, 

In fair luxuriance, sweetly blushing grew. 



CROSSING THE ALLEGHANIES. 

As look'd the traveller for the world below, 
The lively morning breeze began to blow ; 
The magic curtain, roll'd in mists away, 
And a gay landscape smiled upon the day. 
As light the fleeting vapours upward glide, 
Like sheeted spectres on the mountain side, 
New objects open to his wondering view 
Of various form, and combinations new. 
A rocky precipice, a waving wood, 
Deep, winding dell, and foaming mountain flood, 
Each after each, with coy and sweet delay, 
Broke on his sight, as at young dawn of day, 
Bounded afar by peak aspiring bold, 
Like giant capp'd with helm of burnish'd gold. 
So when the wandering grandsire of our race 
On Ararat had found a resting-place, 
At first a shoreless ocean met his eye, 
Mingling on every side with one blue sky; 
But as the waters, every passing day, 
Sunk in the earth or roll'd in mists away, 
Gradual, the lofty hills, like islands, peep 
From the rough bosom of the boundless deep, 
Then the round hillocks, and the meadows green, 
Each after each, in freshen' d bloom are seen, 
Till, at the last, a fair and fmish'd whole 
Combined to win the gazing patriarch's soul. 
Yet, oft he look'd, I ween, with anxious eye, 
In lingering hope somewhere, perchance, to spy, 



Within the silent world, some living thing, 
Crawling on earth, or moving on the wing, 
Or man, or beast — alas ! was neither there 
Nothing that breathed of life in earth or air ; 
'T was a vast, silent, mansion rich and gay, 
Whose occupant was drown'd the other day ; 
A churchyard, where the gayest flowers oft bloom 
Amid the melancholy of the tornb ; 
A charnel-house, where all the human race 
Had piled their bones in one wide resting-place ; 
Sadly he turn'd from such a sight of wo, 
And sadly sought the lifeless world below. 



THE OLD MAN'S CAROUSAL. 

Drink ! drink ! to whom shall we drink 1 
To friend or a mistress 1 Come, let me think ! 
To those who are absent, or those who are here 1 
To the dead that we loved, or the living still dear 1 
Alas ! when I look, I find none of the last ! 
The present is barren — let 's drink to the past. 

Come ! here 's to the girl with a voice sweet and low, 
The eye all of fire and the bosom of snow, 
Who erewhile in the days of my youth that are fled, 
Once slept on my bosom, and pillow'd my head ! 
Would you know where to find such a delicate prize ? 
Go seek in yon churchyard, for there she lies. 

And here 's to the friend, the one friend of my youth, 
With a head full of genius, a heart full of truth, 
Who travell'd with me in the sunshine of life, 
And stood by my side in its peace and its strife ! 
Would you know where to seek a blessing so rare 1 
Go drag the lone sea, you may find him there. 

And here 's to a brace of twin cherubs of mine, 
With hearts like their mother's, as pure as this wine, 
Who came but to see the first act of the play, 
Grew tired of the scene, and then both went away. 
Would you know where this brace of bright 

cherubs have hied 1 
Go seek them in heaven, for there they abide. 

A bumper, my boys ! to a gray-headed pair, 
Who watched o'er my childhood with tenderest care, 
God bless them, and keep them, and may they look 

down, 
On the head of their son, without tear, sigh, or frown! 
Would you know whom I drink to ? go seek mid 

the dead, 
You will find both their names on the stone at 

their head. 

And here 's — but, alas ! the good wine is no more, 
The bottle is emptied of all its bright store ; 
Like those we have toasted, its spirit is fled, 
And nothing is left of the light that it shed. 
Then, a bumper of tears, boys ! the banquet here 

ends, 
With a health to our dead, since we've no living 

friends. 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON 



[Born, 1779. Died, 1843.] 



Mr. Allstoist was born in South Carolina, of a 
family which has contributed some eminent names 
to our annals, though none that sheds more lustre 
upon the parent stock than his own. When very- 
young, by the advice of physicians, he was sent to 
Newport, Rhode Island, where he remained until 
he entered Harvard College in 1796. In his boy- 
hood he delighted to listen to the wild tales and 
traditions of the negroes upon his father's planta- 
tion; and while preparing for college, and after 
his removal to Cambridge, no books gave him so 
much pleasure as the most marvellous and terrible 
creations of the imagination. At Newport he be- 
came acquainted with Malboxe, the painter, and 
was thus, perhaps, led to the choice of his profes- 
sion. He began to paint in oil before he went to 
Cambridge, and while there divided his attention 
between his pencil and bis books. Upon being 
graduated he returned to South Carolina, to make 
arrangements for prosecuting his studies in Eu- 
rope. He had friends who offered to assist him 
with money, and one of them, a Scottish gentle- 
man named Bowman, who had seen and admired 
a head which he had painted of Peter hearing the 
cock crow, pressed him to accept an annuity of one 
hundred pounds while he should remain abroad ; 
but he declined it, having already sold his paternal 
estate for a sum sufficient to defray his looked- 
for expenses ; and, with his friend Malboive, em- 
barked for England in the summer of 1801. 

Soon after his arrival in London, he became a 
student of the Royal Academy, then under the 
presidency of our countryman, West, with whom 
he contracted an intimate and lasting friendship. 
His abilities as an artist, brilliant conversation, and 
gentlemanly manners, made him a welcome guest 
at the houses of the great painters of the time ; 
and within a year from the beginning of his resi- 
dence in London, he was a successful exhibitor at 
Somerset House, and a general favourite with the 
most distinguished members of his profession. 

In 1804, having been three years in England, 
he accompanied John Vaotehitn to Paris. Af- 
ter passing a few months in that capital, he pro- 
ceeded to Italy, where he remained four years. 
Among his fellow-students and intimate asso- 
ciates here, were Vanderlyst and the Danish 
sculptor Thorwaldsest. Another friend with 
whom he now became acquainted, was Cole- 
ridge. In one of his letters he says : « To no 
other man do I owe so much, intellectually, as to 
Mr. Coleridge, with whom I became acquainted 
in Rome, and who has honoured me with his 
friendship for more than five-and-twenty years. 
He used to call Rome the silent city ; but I never 
could think of it as such, while with him ; for 

meet him when or where I would, the fountain of 
10 



his mind was never dry, but, like the far-reaching 
aqueducts that once supplied this mistress of the 
world, its living stream seemed specially to flow 
for every classic ruin over which we wandered. 
And when I recall some of our walks under the 
pines of the villa Borghese, I am almost tempted 
to dream that I had once listened to Plato in the 
groves of the Academy." 

In 1809 Allston returned to America, and 
was soon after married at Boston to a sister of Dr. 
Changing. In 1811 he went a second time to 
England. His reputation as a painter was now 
well established, and he gained by his picture of 
the " Dead Man raised by the Bones of Elisha"* a 
prize of two hundred guineas, at the British In- 
stitution, where the first artists in the world were 
his competitors. A long and dangerous illness 
succeeded his return to London, and he removed 
to the village of Clifton, where he wrote " The 
Sylphs of the Seasons," and some of the other 
poems included in a volume which he published in 
1813. Within two weeks after the renewal of his 
residence in the metropolis, in the last-mentioned 
year, his wife died, very suddenly ; and the event, 
inducing the deepest depression and melancholy, 
caused a temporary suspension of his labours. 

In 1818 he accompanied Leslie to Paris, and 
in the autumn of the following year came back to 
America, having been previously elected an asso- 
ciate of the English Royal Academy. In 1830 
he married a sister of Richard H. Dana, and 
the reDiainder of his life was tranquilly passed at 
Cambridgeport, near Boston, where he was sur- 
rounded by warm and genial friends, in assiduous 
devotion to his art. He died very suddenly, on 
the night of the eighth of July, 1843. 

As a painter Allston had no superior, perhaps 
not an equal, in his age. He differed from his 
contemporaries, as he said of Moxaldi, « no less 
in kind than in degree. If he held any thing in 
common with others, it was with those of age* 
past, with the mighty dead of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. From them he had learned the language of 
his art, but his thoughts, and their turn of expres- 
sion, were his own." Among his principal works 
are « The Dead Man restored to Life by Elisha ;" 
the " Angel liberating Peter from Prison;" "Jacob's 
Dream ;" « Elijah in the Desert ;" the « Trium- 
phant Song of Miriam ;" « The Angel Uriel in the 
Sun ;" « Saul and the Witch of Endor ;" « Spala- 
tro's Vision of the bloody Hand ;" « Gabriel setting 
the Guard of the Heavenly Host ;" « Anne Page 
and Slender;" "Rosalie;" "Donna Marcia in the 
Robber's Cave ;" and " Belshazzar's Feast, or the 



* This work he subsequently sold to the Penns}'lvania 
Academy of Fine Arts, for thirty -five hundred dollars. 
G 73 



74 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



Handwriting on the Wall." The last work, upon 
which he had been engaged at intervals for nearly 
twenty years, he left unfinished. 

Besides the volume of poems already mentioned, 
and many short pieces which have since been given 
to the public, Mr. Allstox was the author of 
"Monaldi," a story of extraordinary power and 
interest, in which he displays a deep sensibility to 
beauty, and philosophic knowledge of human pas- 
sion. He wrote also a series of discourses on art, and 
various essays and poems, which are unpublished. 

Although Allstox owed his chief celebrity to 
his paintings, which will preserve for his name a 
place in the list of the greatest artists of all the 
nations and ages, his literary works alone would 
have given him a high rank among men of genius. 
A great painter, indeed, is of necessity a poet, 
though he may lack the power to express fittingly 
his conceptions in language. Allstok had in 
remarkable perfection all the faculties required for 
either art "The Sylphs of the Seasons," his 
longest poem, in which he describes the scenery 



of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and the 
effects of each season on the mind, show that he 
regarded nature with a curious eye, and had 
power to exhibit her beauties with wonderful dis- 
tinctness and fidelity. "The Two Painters" is 
an admirable satire, intended to ridicule attempts 
to reach perfection in one excellency in the art of 
painting, to the neglect of every other; the "Paint 
King" is a singularly wild, imaginative story ; and 
nearly all his minor poems are strikingly original 
and beautiful. It was in his paintings, however, 
that the power and religious grandeur of his ima- 
gination were most strongly developed. 

When this work was originally published, I 
dedicated it to Mr. Allston, with whom I had the 
happiness to be personally acquainted, addressing 
him as " the eldest of the living poets, and the most 
illustrious of the painters" of our country. I retain 
the dedication in this edition, as an expression of 
the admiration and reverence in which I, with all 
who knew him, continue to hold, his genius and 
character. 



THE PAINT KING. 

Fair Ellen was long the delight of the young, 

No damsel could with her compare ; [tongue, 
Her charms were the theme of the heart and the 
And bards without number in ecstasies sung 
The beauties of Ellen the fair. 

Yet cold was the maid ; and though legions advanced, 

All drill'd by Ovidean art, 
And languish'd, and ogled, protested and danced, 
Like shadows they came, and like shadows they 

From the hard polish'd ice of her heart, [glanced 

Yet still did the heart of fair Ellen implore 

A something that could not be found ; 
Like a sailor she seem'd on a desolate shore, 
With nor house, nor a tree, nor a sound but the roar 
Of breakers high dashing around. 

From object to object still, still would she veer, 
■ Though nothing, alas, could she find ; [clear, 
Like the moon, without atmosphere, brilliant and 
Yet doom'd, like the moon, with no being to cheer 
The bright barren waste of her mind. 

But rather than sit like a statue so still 

When the rain made her mansion a pound, 
Up and down would she go, like the sails of a mill, 
And pat every stair, like a woodpecker's bill, 
From the tiles of the roof to the ground. 

One morn, as the maid from her casement inclined, 
Passed a youth, with a frame in his hand. 

The casement she closed — not the eye of her mind ; 

For, do all she could, no, she could not be blind ; 
Still before her she saw the youth stand. 

« Ah, what can he do," said the languishing maid, 

" Ah, what with that frame can he do 1" 
And she knelt to the goddess of secrets and pray'd, 
When the youth pass'd again, and again he display'd 
The frame and a picture to view. 



« Oh, beautiful picture !" the fair Ellen cried, 

" I must see thee again or I die." 
Then under her white chin her bonnet she tied, 
And after the youth and the picture she hied, 

When the youth, looking back, met her eye. 

« Fair damsel," said he, (and he chuckled the while,) 

"This picture I see you admire : 
Then take it, I pray you, perhaps 'twill beguile 
Some moments of sorrow ; (nay, pardon my smile) 

Or, at least, keep you home by the fire." 

Then Ellen the gift with delight and surprise 
From the cunning young stripling received, 
But she knew not the poison that enter'd her e3 T es, 
When sparkling with rapture they gazed on her 
Thus, alas, are fair maidens deceived ! [prize — 

'T was a youth o'er the form of a statue inclined, 

And the sculptor he seem'd of the stone ; 
Yet he languish'd as though for its beauty he pined, 
And gazed as the eyes of the statue so blind 
Eeflected the beams of his own. 

'T was the tale of the sculptor Pygmalion of old ; 

Fair Ellen remember'd and sigh'd ; 
" Ah, couldst thou but lift from that marble so cold, 
Thine eyes too imploring, thy arms should enfold, 

And press me this day as thy bride." 

She said : when, behold, from the canvas arose 

The youth, and he stepp'd from the frame : 
With a furious transport his arms did enclose 
The love-plighted Ellen : and, clasping, he froze 
The blood of the maid with his flame ! 

She turn'd and beheld on each shoulder a wing. 

"Oh, Heaven!" cried she, "who art thou 1 ?" 
From the roof to the ground did his fierce answer 

ring, 
As, frowning, he thunder'd " I am the Paint King! 

And mine, lovely maid, thou art now !" 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



Then high from the ground did the grim monster lift 

The loud-screaming maid like a blast ; 
And he sped through the air like a meteor swift, 
While the clouds, wand' ring by him, did fearfully drift 
To the right and the left as he pass'd. 

Now suddenly sloping his hurricane flight, 

With an eddying whirl he descends ; 
The air all below him becomes black as night, 
And the ground where he treads, as if moved with 
Like the surge of the Caspian, bends, [affright, 

" I am here !" said the fiend, and he thundering 

At the gates of a mountainous cave ; [knocked 

The gates open flew, as by magic unlock'd, 

While the peaks of the mount, reeling to and fro, 

Like an island of ice on the wave. [rocked 

" Oh, mercy !" cried Ellen, and swoon'd in his arms, 
But the Paint-King, he scoff 'd at her pain. 

" Prithee, love," said the monster, « what mean these 
alarms?" 

She hears not, she sees not the terrible charms, 
That work her to horror again. 

She opens her lids, but no longer her eyes 
Behold the fair youth she would woo ; 

Now appears the Paint-King in his natural guise ; 

His face, like a palette of villanous dyes, 
Black and white, red and yellow, and blue. 

On the skull of a Titan, that Heaven defied, 

Sat the fiend, like the grim giant Gog, 
While aloft to his mouth a hugh pipe he applied, 
Twice as big as the Eddystone Lighthouse, descried 
As it looms through an easterly fog. 

And anon, as he puff 'd the vast volumes, were seen, 

In horrid festoons on the wall, 
Legs and arms, heads and bodies emerging between, 
Like the drawing-room grim of the Scotch Sawney 

By the Devil dressed out for a ball. [Beane, 
" Ah me !" cried the damsel, and fell at his feet, 

"Must I hang on these walls to be dried V 
" Oh, no !" said the fiend, while he sprung from his 
" A far nobler fortune thy person shall meet ; [seat, 

Into paint will I grind thee, my bride !" 

Then, seizing the maid by her dark auburn hair, 

An oil jug he plunged her within ; 
Seven days, seven nights, with the shrieks of despair, 
Did Ellen in torment convulse the dun ah, 

All covered with oil to the chin. 

On the morn of the eighth, on a huge sable stone 

Then Ellen, all reeking, he laid ; 
With a rock for his muller he crushed every bone, 
But, though ground to jelty, still, still did she groan ; 

For life had forsook not the maid. 
Now reaching his palette, with masterly care 

Each tint on its surface he spread ; 
The blue of her eyes, and the brown of her hair, 
And the pearl and the white of her forehead so fair, 

And her lips' and her cheeks' rosy red. 

Then, stamping his foot, did the monster exclaim, 

" Now I brave, cruel fairy, thy scorn !" 
When lo ! from a chasm wide-yawning there came 
A light tiny chariot of rose-colour'd flame, 
By a team of ten glow-worms upborne. 



Enthroned in the midst on an emerald bright, 

Fair Geraldine sat without peer ; 
Her robe was a gleam of the first blush of light, 
And her mantle the fleece of a noon-cloud white, 

And a beam of the moon was her spear. 

In an accent that stole on the still charmed air 

Like the first gentle language of Eve, 
Thus spake fi'om her chariot the fairy so fair : 
" I come at the call, but, oh Paint-King, beware, 
Beware if again you deceive." 

«'Tis true," said the monster, "thou queen of my 
Thy portrait I oft have essay'd; [heart, 

Yet ne'er to the canvas could I with my art 
The least of thy wonderful beauties impart ; 
iVnd my failure with scorn you repaid. 

" Now I swear by the light of the comet-king's tail !" 

And he tower'd with pride as he spoke, 
" If again with these magical colours I fail, 
The crater of Etna shall hence be my jail, 
And my food shall be sulphur and smoke. 

" But if I succeed, then, oh, fair Geraldine ! 

Thy promise with justice I claim, 
And thou, queen of fairies, shalt ever be mine, 
The bride of my bed ; and thy portrait divine 

Shall fill all the earth with my fame." 

He spake ; when, behold, the fair Geraldine's form 
On the canvas enchantingly glow'd ; 

His touches — they flew like the leaves in a storm ; 

And the pure pearly white and the carnation warm 
Contending in harmony fiow'd. 

And now did the portrait a twin-sister seem 

To the figure of Geraldine fair : 
With the same sweet expression did faithfully teem 
Each muscle, each feature ; in short not a gleam 

Was lost of her beautiful hair. 

'T was the fairy herself ! but, alas, her blue eyes 

Still a pupil did ruefully lack ; 
And who shall describe the terrific surprise 
That seized the Paint-King when, behold, he des- 

Not a speck on Ms palette of black ! [cries 

« I am lost !" said the fiend, and he shook like a leaf; 

When, casting his eyes to the ground, 
He saw the lost pupils of Ellen with grief 
In the jaws of a mouse, and the sly little thief 

Whisk away from his sight with a bound. 

"I am lost !" said the fiend, and he fell like a stone ; 

Then rising the fairy in ire 
With a touch of her finger she loosen'd her zone, 
(While the limbs on the wall gave a terrible groan,) 

And she swell'd to a column of fire. 

Her spear, now a thunder-bolt, flash'd in the air, 

And sulphur the vault fill'd around : 
She smote the grim monster ; and now by the hair 
High-lifting, she hurl'd hini in speechless despair 
Down the depths of the chasm profound. 

Then over the picture thrice waving her spear, 

" Come forth !" said the good Geraldine ; 
When, behold, from the canvas descending, appear 
Fair Ellen, in person more lovely than e'er, 
With grace more than ever divine ! 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



THE SYLPHS OF THE SEASONS, 
a poet's dream. 

Long has it been my fate to hear 
The slave of Mammon, with a sneer, 

My indolence reprove. 
Ah, little knows he of the care, 
The toil, the hardship that I bear 
While lolling in my elbow-chair, 

And seeming scarce to move : 

For, mounted on the poet's steed, 
I there my ceaseless journey speed 

O'er mountain, wood, and stream : 
And oft, within a little day, , 

Mid comets fierce, 't is mine to stray, 
And wander o'er the milky -way 

To catch a poet's dream. 

But would the man of lucre know 
What riches from my labours flow — 

A bream is my reply. 
And who for wealth has ever pined, 
That had a world within his mind, 
Where every treasure he may find, 

And joys that never die ! 

One night, my task diurnal done, 
(For I had travell'd with the sun 

O'er burning sands, o'er snows,) 
Fatigued, I sought the couch of rest ; 
My wonted prayer to Heaven address'd ; 
But scarce had I my pillow press'd, 

When thus a vision rose : — 

Mefhought, within a desert cave, 
Cold, dark, and solemn as the grave, 

I suddenly awoke. 
It seem'd of sable night the cell, 
Where, save when from the ceiling fell 
An oozing drop, her silent spell 

No sound had ever broke. 

There motionless I stood alone, 

Like some strange monument of stone 

Upon a barren wild ; 
Or like (so solid and profound 
The darkness seem'd that wall'd me round) 
A man that's buried under ground, 

Where pyramids are piled. 

Thus fix'd, a dreadful hour I pass'd, 
And now I heard, as from a blast, 

A voice pronounce my name : 
Nor long upon my ear it dwelt, 
When round me 'gan the air to melt, 
And motion once again I felt 

Quick circling o'er my frame. 

Again it call'd ; and then a ray, 
That seem'd a gushing fount of day, 

Across the cavern stream' d. 
Half-struck with terror and delight, 
I hail'd the little blessed light, 
And follow' d till my aching sight 

An orb of darkness seem'd. 



Nor long I felt the blinding pain ; 
For soon upon a mountain plain 

I gazed with wonder new. 
There high a castle rear'd its head ; 
And far below a region spread, 
Where every season seem'd to shed 

Its own peculiar hue. 

Now, at the castle's massy gate, 
Like one that's blindly urged by fate, 

A bugle-horn I blew. 
The mountain-plain it shook around, 
The vales return'd a hollow sound, 
And, moving with a sigh profound, 

The portals open flew. 

Then entering, from a glittering hall 
I heard a voice seraphic call, 

That bade me " Ever reign ! 
All hail !" it said in accent wild, 
" For thou art Nature's chosen child, 
Whom wealth nor blood has e'er defiled, 

Hail, lord of this domain !" 

And now I paced a bright saloon, 
That seem'd illumined by the moon, 

So mellow was the light. 
The walls with jetty darkness teem'd, 
While down them crystal columns stream'd, 
And each a mountain torrent seem'd, 

High-flashing through the night. 

Rear'd in the midst, a double throne 
Like burnish'd cloud of evening shone ; 

While, group'd the base around, 
Four damsels stood of fairy race ; 
Who, turning each with heavenly grace 
Upon me her immortal face, 

Transfix'd me to the ground. 

And thus the foremost of the train : 

" Be thine the throne, and thine to reign 

O'er all the varying year ! 
But ere thou rulest, the Fates command, 
That of our chosen rival band 
A Sylph shall win thy heart and hand, 

Thy sovereignty to share. 

"For we, the sisters of a birth, 
Do rule by turns the subject earth 

To serve ungrateful man ; 
But since our varied toils impart 
No joy to his capricious heart, 
'Tis now ordain'd that human art 

Shall rectify the plan." 

Then spake the Sylph of Spring serene, 
" 'T is I thy joyous heart, I ween, 

With sympathy shall move : 
For I with living melody 
Of birds in choral symphony, 
First waked thy soul to poesy, 

To piety and love. 

" When thou, at call of vernal breeze, . 
And beckoning bough of budding trees, 
Hast left thy sullen fire ; 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 77 


And stretch'd thee in some mossy dell, 


" That mid the noontide, sunny haze 


And heard the browsing wether's bell. 


Did in thy languid bosom raise 


Blithe echoes rousing from their cell 


The raptures of the boy ; 


To swell the tinkling choir : 


When, waked as if to second birth, 




Thy soul through every pore look'd forth, 


" Or heard from branch of flowering thorn 


And gazed upon the beauteous earth 


The song of friendly cuckoo warn 


With myriad eyes of joy : 


The tardy-moving swain ; 




Hast bid the purple swallow hail ; 


" That made thy heart, like HIS above, 


And seen him now through ether sail, 


To flow with universal love 


Now sweeping downward o'er the vale, 


For every living thing. 


And skimming now the plain ; 


And, ! if I, with ray divine, 


" Then, catching with a sudden glance 


Thus tempering, did thy soul refine, 
Then let thy gentle heart be mine, 
And bless the Sylph of Spring." 


The bright and silver-clear expanse 
Of some broad river's stream, 


Beheld the boats adown it glide, 


And next the Sylph of Summer fair ; 


And motion wind again the tide, 


The while her crisped, golden hair 


Where, chain'd in ice by winter's pride, 


Half-veil'd her sunny eyes : 


Late roll'd the heavy team : 


" Nor less may I thy homage claim, 


" Or, lured by some fresh-scented gale 


At touch of whose exhaling flame 


That woo'd the moored fisher's sail 


The fog of Spring, that chill'd thy frame, 


To tempt the mighty main, 


In genial vapour flies. 


Hast watch'd the dim, receding shore, 
Now faintly seen the ocean o'er, 
Like hanging cloud, and now no more 
To bound the sapphire plain ; 


" Oft, by the heat of noon oppress'd 
With flowing hair and open vest, 

Thy footsteps have I won 
To mossy couch of welling grot, 


" Then, wrapt in night, the scudding bark, 


Where thou hast bless'd thy happy lot, 


(That seem'd, self-poised amid the dark, 


That thou in that delicious spot 


Through upper air to leap,) 


Mayst see, not feel, the sun : 


Beheld, from thy most fearful height, 
The rapid dolphin's azure light 




« Thence tracing from the body's change, 


Cleave, like a living meteor bright, 
The darkness of the deep: 


In curious philosophic range, 
The motion of the mind ; 


And how from thought to thought it flew, 


"'Twas mine the warm, awakening hand 


Still hoping in each vision new 


That made thy grateful heart expand, 


The fairy land of bliss to view, 


And feel the high control 


But ne'er that land to find. 


Of Him, the mighty Power that moves 




Amid the waters and the groves, 


" And then* as grew thy languid mood, 


And through his vast creation proves 


To some embowering, silent wood 


His omnipresent soul. 


I led thy careless way ; 




Where high from tree to tree in air 


" Or, brooding o'er some forest rill, 


Thou saw'st the spider swing her snare, 


Fringed with the early daffodil, 


So bright ! — as if, entangled there, 


And quivering maiden-hair, 


The sun had left a ray : 


When thou hast mark'd the dusky bed, 




With leaves and water-rust o'erspread, 


. "Or lured thee to some beetling steep, 


That seem'd an amber light to shed 


To mark the deep and quiet sleep 


On all was shadow'd there ; 


That wrapt the tarn below ; 




And mountain blue and forest green 


" And thence, as by its murmur call'd, 


Inverted on its plane serene, 
Dim gleaming through the filmy sheen 
That glazed the painted show ; 


The current traced to where it brawl'd 


Beneath the noontide ray ; 
And there beheld the checker'd shade 


Of waves, in many a sinuous braid, 


" Perchance, to mark the fisher's skiff 


That o'er the sunny channel play'd, 


Swift from beneath some shadowy cliff 


With motion ever gay : 


Dart, like a gust of wind ; 




And, as she skimm'd the sunny lake, 


" 'T was I to these the magic gave, 


In many a playful wreath her wake 
Far-trailing, like a silvery snake, 
With sinuous length behind. 


That made thy heart, a willing slave, 


To gentle Nature bend ; 
And taught thee how with tree and flower, 


And whispering gale, and dropping shower, 


"Not less, when hill, and dale, and heath 


In converse sweet to pass the hour, 


Still Evening wrapt in mimic death, 


As with an early friend : 


Thy spirit true I proved : 
g2 



78 WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 


Around thee as the darkness stole, 


" With these I may not urge my suit. 


Before thy wild, creative soul 


Of Summer's patient toil the fruit, 


I bade each fairy vision roll 


For mortal purpose given ; 


Thine infancy had loved. 


Nor may it fit my sober mood 


" Then o'er the silent, sleeping land, 


To sing of sweetly murmuring flood, 
Or dyes of many-colour'd wood, 


Thy fancy, like a magic wand, 


That mock the bow of heaven. 


Forth call'd the elfin race : 




And now around the fountain's brim 


"But, know, 't was mine the secret power 


In circling dance they gayly skim ; 


That wak'd thee at the midnight hour 


And now upon its surface swim, 


In bleak November's reign : 


And water-spiders chase ; 


'T was I the spell around thee cast, 


" Each circumstance of sight or sound 


When thou didst hear the hollow blast 


Peopling the vacant air around 


In murmurs tell of pleasures past, 


With visionary life: 


That ne'er would come again : 


For if amid a thicket stirr'd, 


" And led thee, when the storm was o'er, 


Or flitting bat, or wakeful bird, 


To hear the sullen ocean roar, 


Then straight thy eager fancy heard 
The din of fairy strife ; 


By dreadful calm oppress'd ; 
Which still, though not a breeze was there, 


« Now, in the passing beetle's hum 


Its mountain-billows heav'd in air, 


The elfin army's goblin drum 


As if a living thing it were, 


To pigmy battle sound ; 


That strove in vain for rest. 


And now, where dripping dew-drops plash 
On waving grass, their bucklers clash, 
And now their quivering lances flash, 


" 'T was I, when thou, subdued by wo, 
Didst watch the leaves descending slow, 


Wide-dealing death around : 


To each a moral gave ; 




And as they moved in mournful train, 


« Or if the moon's effulgent form 


With rustling sound, along the plain, 


The passing clouds of sudden storm 


Taught them to sing a seraph's strain 


In quick succession veil ; 


Of peace within the grave. 


Vast serpents now, their shadows glide, 




And, coursing now the mountain's side, 


" And then, upraised thy streaming eye, 


A band of giants huge, they stride 


I met thee in the western sky 


O'er hill, and wood, and dale. 


In pomp of evening cloud ; 




That, while with varying form it roll'd, 


" And still on many a service rare 


Some wizard's castle seem'd of gold, 


Could I descant, if need there were, 


And now a crimson'd knight of old, 


My firmer claim to bind. 


Or king in purple proud. 


But rest I most my high pretence 




On that, my genial influence, 


" And last, as sunk the setting sun, 


Which made the body's indolence 


And Evening with her shadows dun 


The vigour of the mind." 


The gorgeous pageant past, 




'T was then of life a mimic show, 


And now, in accents deep and low, 


Of human grandeur here below, 


Like voice of fondly-cherish'd wo, 


Which thus beneath the fatal blow 


The Sylph of Autumn sad : 


Of Death must fall at last. 


" Though I may not of raptures sing, 




That graced the gentle song of Spring, 


" 0, then with what aspiring gaze 


Like Summer, playful pleasures bring, 


Didst thou thy tranced vision raise 


Thy youthful heart to glad ; 


To yonder orbs on high, 


. 


And think how wondrous, how sublime 


" Yet still may I in hope aspire 
Thy heart to touch with chaster fire, 

And purifying love : 
For I with vision high and holy, 


'T were upwards to their spheres to climb, 
And live, beyond the reach of Time, 
Child of Eternity !" 


And spell of quickening melancholy, 


And last the Sylph of Winter spake ; 


Thy soul from sublunary folly 


The while her piercing voice did shake 


First raised to worlds above. 


The castle-vaults below. 




" 0, youth, if thou, with soul refin'd, 
Hast felt the triumph pure of mind, 


" What though be mine the Measures fair 


Of purple grape and yellow pear, 


And learn'd a secret joy to find 
In deepest scenes of wo ; 


And fruits of various hue, 
And harvests rich of golden grain, 


That dance in waves along the plain 


" If e'er with fearful ear at eve 


To merry song of reaping swain, 


Hast heard the wailing tempests grieve 


Beneath the welkin blue ; 


Through chink of shatter'd wall ; 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



79 



The while it conjured o'er thy brain 
Of wandering ghosts a mournful tram, 
That low in fitful sobs complain 
Of Death's untimely call : 

" Or feeling, as the storm increased, 
The love of terror nerve thy breast, 

Didst venture to the coast ; 
To see the mighty war-ship leap 
From wave to wave upon the deep, 
Like chamois goat from steep to steep, 

Till low in valley lost ; 

" Then, glancing to the angry sky, 
Behold the clouds with fury fly 

The lurid moon athwart ; 
Like armies huge in battle, throng, 
And pour in volleying ranks along, 
While piping winds in martial song 

To rushing war exhort : 

" O, then to me thy heart be given, 
To me, ordain'd by Him in heaven 

Thy nobler powers to wake. 
And ! if thou, with poet's soul, 
High brooding o'er the frozen pole, 
Hast felt beneath my stern control 

The desert region quake : 

" Or from old Hecla's cloudy height, 
When o'er the dismal, half-year's night 

He pours his sulphurous breath, 
Hast known my petrifying wind 
Wild ocean's curling billows bind, 
Like bending sheaves by harvest hind, 

Erect in icy death ; 

" Or heard adown the mountain's steep 
The northern blast with furious sweep 

Some cliff dissever'd dash ; 
And seen it spring with dreadful bound 
From rock to rock, to gulf profound, 
While echoes fierce from caves resound 

The never-ending crash : 

" If thus, with terror's mighty speH 
Thy soul inspired, was wont to swell, 

Thy heaving frame expand ; 
O, then to me thy heart incline ; 
For know, the wondrous charm was mine, 
That fear and joy did thus combine 

In magic union bland. 

" Nor think confined my native sphere 
To horrors gaunt, or ghastly fear, 

Or desolation wild : 
For I of pleasures fair could sing, 
That steal from life its sharpest sting, 
And man have made around it cling, 

Like mother to her child. 

" When thou, beneath the clear blue sky, 
So calm, no cloud was seen to fly, 

Hast gazed on snowy plain, 
Where Nature slept so pure and sweet, 
She seem'd a corse in winding-sheet, 
Whose happy soul had gone to meet 

The blest, angelic train : 



" Or mark'd the sun's declining ray 
In thousand varying colours play 

O'er ice-incrusted heath, 
In gleams of orange now, and green, 
And now in red and azure sheen, 
Like hues on dying dolphin seen, 

Most lovely when in death; 

" Or seen, at dawn of eastern light 
The frosty toil of fays by night 

On pane of casement clear, 
Where bright the mimic glaciers shine, 
And Alps, with many a mountain pine, 
And armed knights from Palestine 

In winding march appear : 

"'Twas I on each enchanting scene 
The charm bestow'd that banished spleen 

Thy bosom pure and light. 
But still a noble?' power I claim ; 
That power allied to poets' fame, 
Which language vain has dared to name — 

The soul's creative might. 

« Though Autumn grave, and Summer fair, 
And joyous Spring demand a share 

Of Fancy's hallow'd power, 
Yet these I hold of humbler kind, 
To grosser means of earth confined, 
Through mortal sense to reach the mind, 

By mountain, stream, or flower. 

"But mine, of purer nature still, 
Is that which to thy secret will 

Did minister unseen, 
Unfelt, unheard ; when every sense 
Did sleep in drowsy indolence, 
And silence deep and night intense 

Enshrouded every scene ; 

" That o'er thy teeming brain did raise 
The spirits of departed days 

Through all the varying year ; 
And images of things remote, 
And sounds that long had ceased to float, 
With every hue, and every note, 

As living now they were : 

« And taught, thee from the motley mass 
Each harmonizing part to class, 

(Like Nature's self employ'd ;) 
And then, as work'd thy wayward will, 
From these, with rare combining skill, 
With new-created worlds to fill 

Of space the mighty void. 

" then to me thy heart incline ; 
To me, whose plastic powers combine 

The harvest of the mind ; 
To me, whose magic coffers bear 
The spoils of all the toiling year, 
That still in mental vision wear 

A lustre more refined." 

She ceased — And now, in doubtful mood, 
All motionless and mute I stood, 
Like one by charm oppress'd : 



80 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



By turns from each to each I roved, 
And each by turns again I loved; 
For ages ne'er could one have proved 
More lovely than the rest. 

" blessed band, of birth divine, 
What mortal task is like to mine !" — 

And further had I spoke, 
When, lo ! there pour'd a flood of light 
So fiercely on my aching sight, 
I fell beneath the vision bright, 

And with the pain awoke. 



AMERICA TO GREAT BRITAIN.* 

Ai/l hail ! thou noble land, 

Our fathers' native soil ! 
stretch thy mighty hand, 
Gigantic grown by toil, 
O'er the vast Atlantic wave to our shore ; 
For thou, with magic might, 
Canst reach to where the light 
Of Phoebus travels bright 
The world o'er ! 

The genius of our clime, 

From his pine-embattled steep, 
Shall hail the great sublime ; 
While the Tritons of the deep 
With their conchs the kindred league shall proclaim- 
Then let the world combine — 
O'er the main our naval line, 
Like the milky-way, shall shine 
Bright in fame ! 

Though ages long have pass'd 

Since our fathers left their home, 
Their pilot in the blast, 

O'er untravell'd seas to roam, — 
Yet lives the blood of England in our veins ! 
And shall we not proclaim 
That blood of honest fame, 
Which no tyranny can tame 
By its chains ] 

While the language free and bold 
Which the bard of Avon sung, 
In which our Milton told 

How the vault of heaven rung, 
When Satan, blasted, fell with his host j 
While this, with reverence meet, 
Ten thousand echoes greet, 
From rock to rock repeat 
Round our coast ; 

While the manners, while the arts, 

That mould a nation's 'soul, 
Still cling around our hearts, 
Between let ocean roll, 
Our joint communion breaking with the sun : 
Yet, still, from either beach, 
The voice of blood shall reach, 
More audible than speech, 
"We are one!" 

* This poem was first published in Coleridge's " Sy- 
billine Leaves," in 1810. 



THE SPANISH MAID. 

Five weary months sweet Inez number'd 
From that unfading bitter day 
When last she heard the trumpet bray 
That call'd her Isidor away — 

That never to her heart has slumber'd ; 

She hears it now, and sees, far bending 
Along the mountain's misty side, 
His plumed troop, that, waving wide, 
Seems like a rippling, feathery tide, 

Now bright, now with the dim shore blending ; 

She hears the cannon's deadly rattle — 
And fancy hurries on to strife, 
And hears the drum and screaming fife 
Mix with the last sad cry of life, 

0, should he — should he fall in battle! 

Yet still his name would live in story, 
And every gallant bard in Spain 
Would fight his battles o'er again. 
And would not she for such a strain 

Resign him to his country's glory 1 

Thus Inez thought, and pluck'd the flower 
That grew upon the very bank 
Where first her ear bewilder'd drank 
The plighted vow — where last she sank 

In that too bitter parting hour. 

But now the sun is westward sinking ; 
And soon amid the purple haze, 
That showers from his slanting rays, 
A thousand loves there meet her gaze, 

To change her high heroic thinking. 

Then hope, with all its crowd of fancies, 
Before her flits and fills the air ; 
And, deck'd in victory's glorious gear, 
In vision Isidor is there. 

Then how her heart mid sadness dances ! 

Yet little thought she, thus forestalling 
The coming joy, that in that hour 
The future, like the colour'd shower 
That seems to arch the ocean o'er, 

Was in the living present falling. 

The foe is slain. His sable charger 

All fleck'd with foam comes bounding on , 
The wild Morena rings anon, 
And on its brow the gallant Don, 

And gallant steed grow larger, larger ; 

And now he nears the mountain-hollow; 
The flowery bank and little lake 
Now on his startled vision break — 
And Inez there. — He 's not awake — 

Ah, what a day this dream will follow ! 

But no — he surely is not dreaming. 
Another minute makes it clear. 
A scream, a rush, a burning tear 
From Inez' cheek, dispel the fear 

That bliss like his is only seeming. 




; inn gipjiMEsm m^EWt 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



81 



ON GREENOUGH'S GROUP OF THE 
ANGEL AND CHILD. 

I stood alone; nor word, nor other sound, 
Broke the mute solitude that closed me round ; 
As when the air doth take her midnight sleep, 
Leaving the wintry stars her watch to keep, 
So slept she now at noon. But not alone 
My spirit then: a light within me shone 

That was not mine ; and feelings undefined, 
And thoughts flow'd in upon me not my own. 
'T was that deep mystery — for aye unknown — 

The living presence of another's mind. 

Another mind was there — the gift of few — 

That by its own strong will can all that's true 

In its own nature unto others give, 

And mingling life with life, seem there to live. 

I felt it now in mine ; and oh ! how fair, 

How beautiful the thoughts that met me there — 

Visions of Love, and Purity, and Truth ! 
Though form distinct had each,they seem'd,as'twere, 
Imbodied all of one celestial air — 

To beam for ever in coequal youth. 

And thus I Iearn'd — as in the mind they moved — 
These stranger Thoughts the one the other loved ; 
That Purity loved Truth, because 'twas true, 
And Truth, because 'twas pure, the first did woo; 
While Love, as pure and true, did love the twain; 
Then Love was loved of them, for that sweet chain 

That bound them all. Thus sure, as passionless, 
Their love did grow, till one harmonious strain 
Of melting sounds they seem'd; then, changed again, 

One angel form they took — Self-Happiness. 

This angel form the gifted Artist saw, 
That held me in his spell. 'T was his to draw 
The veil of sense, and see the immortal race, 
The Forms spiritual, that know not place. 
He saw it in the quarry, deep in earth, 
And stay'd it by his will, and gave it birth 

E'en to the world of sense ; bidding its cell, 
The cold, hard marble, thus in plastic girth 
The shape ethereal fix, and body forth 

A being of the skies — with man to dwell. 

And then another form beside it stood ; 
'T was one of this our earth — though the warm blood 
Had from it pass'd — exhaled as in a breath 
Drawn from its lips by the cold kiss of Death. 
Its little " dream of human life" had fled ; 
And yet it seem'd not number'd with the dead, 

But one emerging to a life so bright 
That, as the wondrous nature o'er it spread, 
Its very consciousness did seem to shed 

Rays from within, and clothe it all in light. 

Now touch'd the Angel Form its little hand, 

Turning upon it with a look so bland, 

And yet so full of majesty, as less 

Than holy natures never may impress — 

And more than proudest guilt unmoved may brook. 

The Creature of the Earth now felt that look, 

And stood in blissful awe — as one above 
Who saw his name in the Eternal Book, 
And Him that open'd it ; e'en Him that took 

The Little Child, and bless'd it in his love. 
11 



SONNETS. 

ON A FALLING GROUP IN THE LAST JTJDG 
MENT OP MICHAEL ANGELO. 

How vast, how dread, o'erwhelming is the thought 

Of space interminable ! to the soul 

A circling weight that crushes into naught 

Her mighty faculties ! a wond'rous whole, 

Without or parts, beginning, or an end ! 

How fearful then on desp'rate wings to send 

The fancy e'en amid the waste profound ! 

Yet, born as if all daring to astound, 

Thy giant hand, Axgelo, hath hurl'd 

E'en human forms, with all their mortal weight, 

Down the dread void — fall endless as their fate ! 

Already now they seem from world to world 

For ages thrown ; yet doom'd, another past, 

Another still to reach, nor e'er to reach the last ! 



ON REMBRANT : OCCASIONED BY HIS PICTURE 
OF JACOB'S DREAM. 

As in that twilight, superstitious age, 

When all beyond the narrow grasp of mind 

Seem'd fraught with meanings of supernal kind, 

When e'en the learned philosophic sage, 

Wont with the stars thro' boundless space to range, 

Listen'd with reverence to the changeling's tale ; 

E'en so, thou strangest of all beings strange ! 

E'en so thy visionary scenes I hail; 

That like the rambling of an idiot's speech, 

No image giving of a thing on earth, 

Nor thought significant in reason's reach, 

Yet in their random shadowings give birth 

To thoughts and things from other worlds that come, 

And fill the soul, and strike the reason dumb. 



ON THE PICTURES BY RUBEN?. IN THE LUX- 
EMBOURG GALLERY. 

There is a charm no vulgar mind can reach, 
No critic thwart, no mighty master teach ; 
A charm how mingled of the good and ill ! 
Yet still so mingled that the mystic whole 
Shall captive hold the struggling gazer's will, 
Till vanquish'd reason own its full control. 
And such, O Rcbexs, thy mysterious art, 
The charm that vexes, yet enslaves the heart ! 
Thy lawless style, from timid systems free, 
Impetuous rolling like a troubled sea, 
High o'er the rocks of reason's lofty verge 
Impending hangs ; yet, ere the foaming surge 
Breaks o'er the bound, the refluent ebb of taste 
Back from the shore impels the wat'ry waste. 



TO MY YF.NERABLE FRIEND THE PRESIDENT 
OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 

From one unused in pomp of words to raise 
A courtly monument of empty praise, 
Where self, transpiring through the flimsy pile, 
Betrays the builder's ostentatious guile, 
Accept, O West, these unaffected lays, 
Which genius claims and grateful justice pays. 
Still green in age, thy vig'rous powers impart 
The youthful freshness of a blameless heart : 
For thine, unaided by another's pain, 
The wiles of envy, or the sordid train 



82 



WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 



Of selfishness, has been the manly race 
Of one who felt the purifying grace 
Of honest fame ; nor found the effort vain 
E'en for itself to love thy soul-ennobling art. 



ON SEEING THE PICTURE OF .EOLUS, 
PELIGRIXO TIBALDI. 



BY 



Full well, Tibaldi, did thy kindred mind 

The mighty spell of Boitaroti own. 

Like one who, reading magic words, receives 

The gift of intercourse with worlds unknown, 

'T was thine, deciph'ring Nature's mystic leaves, 

To hold strange converse with the viewless wind ; 

To see the spirits, in imbodied forms, 

Of gales and whirlwinds, hurricanes and storms. 

For, lo ! obedient to thy bidding, teems 

Fierce into shape their stern, relentless lord : 

His form of motion ever-restless seems ; 

Or, if to rest inclined his turbid soul, 

On Hecla's top to stretch, and give the word 

To subject winds that sweep the desert pole. 



ON THE DEATH OF COLERIDGE. 

A k d thou art gone,most loved,most honour'dFriend! 
No — never more thy gentle voice shall blend 
With air of earth its pure ideal tones — 
Binding in one, as with harmonious zones, 
The heart and intellect. And I no more 
Shall with thee gaze on that unfathom'd deep, 
The human soul; as when, push'd off the shore, 
Thy mystic bark would through the darkness sweep, 
Itself the while so bright ! For oft we seem'd 
As on some starless sea — all dark above, 
All dark below — yet, onward as we drove, 
To plough up light that ever round us stream'd. 
But he who mourns is not as one bereft 
Of all he loved : thy living truths are left. 



THE TUSCAN MAID. 

How pleasant and how sad the turning tide 
Of human life, when side by side 
The child and youth begin to glide 
Along the vale of years ; 
The pure twin-being for a little space, 
With lightsome heart, and yet a graver face, 
Too young for wo, though not for tears. 

This turning tide is Ursulixa's now ; 
The time is mark'd upon her brow ; 
Now every thought and feeling throw 
Their shadows on her face ; 
And so are every thought and feeling join'd, 
'T were hard to answer whether heart or mind 
Of either were the native place. 

The things that once she loved are still the same : 
Yet now there needs another name 
To give the feeling which they claim, 
While she the feeling gives ; 
She cannot call it gladness or delight; 
And yet there seems a richer, lovelier light 
On e'en the humblest thing that lives. 



She sees the mottled moth come twinkling by, 

And sees it sip the flowret nigh ; 

Yet not, as once, with eager cry 
She grasps the pretty thing; 
Her thoughts now mingle with its tranquil mood — 
So poised in air, as if on air it stood 

To show its gold and purple wing. 

She hears the bird without a wish to snare, 
But rather on the azure air 
To mount, and with it wander there 
To some untrodden land ; 
As if it told her in its happy song 
Of pleasures strange, that never can belong 
To aught of sight or touch of hand. 

Now the young soul her mighty power shall prove, 
And outward things around her move, 
Pure ministers of purer love, 
And make the heart her home ; 
Or to the meaner senses sink a slave, 
To do their bidding, though they madly crave 
Through hateful scenes of vice to roam. 

But, Ursuli^a, thine the better choice; 
Thine eyes so speak, as with a voice : 
Thy heart may still in earth rejoice 
And all its beauty love ; 
But no, not all this fair, enchanting earth, 
With all its spells, can give the rapture birth 
That waits thy conscious soul above. 



ROSALIE. 

0, pocr upon my soul again 
That sad, unearthly strain, 

That seems from other worlds to plain ; 

Thus falling, falling from afar, 

As if some melancholy star 

Had mingled with her light her sighs, 
And dropped them from the skies. 

No — never came from aught below 

This melody of wo, 
That makes my heart to overflow 
As from a thousand gushing springs 
Unknown before ; that with it brings 
This nameless light — if light it be — 

That veils the world I see. 

For all I see around me wears 

The hue of other spheres; 
And something blent of smiles and tears 
Comes from the very air I breathe. 
O, nothing, sure, the stars beneath, 
Can mould a sadness like to this — 
So like angelic bliss. 

So, at that dreamy hour of day, 
When the last lingering ray 

Stops on the highest cloud to play — 

So thought the gentle Rosalie 

As on her maiden revery 

First fell the strain of him who stole 
In music to her soul. 



LEVI FRISBIE. 



[Born 17S4. Died 1822.] 



Professor Frisbie was the son of a respect- 
able clergyman at Ipswich, Massachusetts. He 
entered Harvard University in 1 798, and was gradu- 
ated in 1802. His father, like most of the cler- 
gymen of New England, was a poor man, and 
unable fully to defray the costs of his son's edu- 
cation ; and Mr. Frisbie, while an under-graduate, 
provided in part for his support by teaching a 
school during vacations, and by writing as a clerk. 
His friend and biographer, Professor Andrews 
Norton, alludes to this fact as a proof of the 
falsity of the opinion that wealth constitutes the 
only aristocracy in our country. Talents, united 
with correct morals, and good manners, pass un- 
questioned all the artificial barriers of society, and 



their claim to distinction is recognised more wil- 
lingly than any other. 

Soon after leaving the university, Mr. Frtsbte 
commenced the study of the law ; but an affection 
of the eyes depriving him of their use for the 
purposes of study, he abandoned his professional 
pursuits, and accepted the place of Latin tutor in 
Harvard University. In 1811, he was made Pro- 
fessor of the Latin Language, and in 1817, Profes- 
sor of Moral Philosophy. The last office he held 
until he died, on the 19th of July, 1822. He was 
an excellent scholar, an original thinker, and a 
pure-minded man. An octavo volume, containing 
a memoir, some of his philosophical lectures, and 
a few poems, was published in 1823. 



A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

I 'ix tell you, friend, what sort of wife, 
Whene'er I scan this scene of life, 

Inspires my waking schemes, 
And when I sleep, with form so light, 
Dances before my ravish'd sight, 

In sweet aerial dreams. 

The rose its blushes need not lend, 
Nor yet the lily with them blend, 

To captivate my eyes. 
Give me a cheek the heart obeys, 
And, sweetly mutable, displays 

Its feelings as they rise ; 

Features, where, pensive, more than gay, 
Save when a rising smile doth play, 

The sober thought you see ; 
Eyes that all soft and tender seem, 
And kind affections round them beam, 

But most of all on me; 

A form, though not of finest mould, 
Where yet a something you behold 

Unconsciously doth please ; 
Manners all graceful without art, 
That to each look and word impart 

A modesty and ease. 

But still her air, her face, each charm 
Must speak a heart with feeling warm, 

And mind inform the whole; 
With mind her mantling cheek must glow, 
Her voice, her beaming eye must show 

An all-inspiring soul. 

Ah ! could I such a being find, 
And were her fate to mine but join'd 
By Hymen's silken tie, 



To her myself, my all I 'd give, 
For her alone delighted live, 
For her consent to die. 

Whene'er by anxious care oppress'd, 
On the soft pillow of her breast 

My aching head I 'd lay ; 
At her sweet smile each care should cease, 
Her kiss infuse a balmy peace, 

And drive my griefs away. 

In turn, I 'd soften all her care, 
Each thought, each wish, each feeling 
share ; 

Should sickness e'er invade, 
My voice should soothe each rising sigh, 
My hand the cordial should supply ; 

I 'd watch beside her bed. 

Should gathering clouds our sky deform, 
My arms should shield her from the storm ; 

And, were its fury hurl'd, 
My bosom to its bolts I 'd bare ; 
In her defence undaunted dare 

Defy the opposing world. 

Together should our prayers ascend ; 
Together would we humbly bend, 

To praise the Almighty name ; 
And when I saw her kindling eye 
Beam upwards in her native sky, 

My soul should catch the flame. 

Thus nothing should our hearts divide, 
But on our years serenely glide, 

And all to love be given ; 
And, when life's little scene was o'er, 
"We 'd part to meet and part no more, 

But live and love in heaven. 



SAMUEL WOODWORTH. 



[Born, 1785. Died, 1842.] 



Mr. Woodworth was a native of Scituate, in 
Massachusetts. After learning in a country town 
the art of printing, he went to New York, where 
he was editor of a newspaper during our second 
war with England. He subsequently published 
a weekly miscellany entitled « The Ladies' Lite- 
rary Gazette," and in 1823, associated with Mr. 
George P. Morris, he established " The New 
York Mirror," long the most popular journal of 
literature and art in this country. For several 
years before his death he was an invalid, and in 
this period a large number of the leading gentle- 
men of New York acted as a committee for a 
complimentary benefit given for him at the Park 
Theatre, the proceeds of which made more plea- 
sant his closing days. He died in the month of 
December, 1842, in the fifty-seventh year of his 
age, much respected by all who knew him, for his 



modesty and integrity as well as for his literary 
abilities. 

Mr. Wood worth wrote many pieces for the 
stage, which had a temporary popularity, and two 
or three volumes of songs, odes, and otber poems, 
relating chiefly to subjects of rural and domestic 
life. He dwelt always with delight upon the 
scenes of his childhood, and lamented that he was 
compelled to make his home amid the strife and 
tumult of a city. He was the poet of the " com- 
mon people," and was happy in the belief that 
" The Bucket" was read by multitudes who never 
heard of " Thanatopsis." Some of his pieces have 
certainly much merit, in their way, and a selection 
might be made from his voluminous writings that 
would be very honourable to his talents and his 
feelings. There has been no recent edition of any 
of his works. 



THE BUCKET. 

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood. 

When fond recollection presents them to view ! 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood. 

And every loved spot which my infancy knew! 
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it. 

The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell, 
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it, 

And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well — 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss-cover'd bucket which hung in the well. 

That moss-cover'd vessel I hail'd as a treasure, 

For often at noon, when return'd from the field, 
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure, 

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. 
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing, 

And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell ; 
Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing, 

And dripping with coolness,it rose from the well — 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss-cover'd bucket, arose from the well. 

How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it, 

As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips ! 
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, 

The brightest that beauty or revelry sips. 
And now, far removed from the loved habitation, 

The tear of regret will intrusively swell, 
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation, 

And sighs for the bucket that hangs in the well — 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss-cover'd bucket that hangs in the well ! 



THE NEEDLE. 

The gay belles of fashion may boast of excelling 

In waltz or cotillion, at whist or quadrille ; 
And seek admiration by vauntingly telling 

Of drawing, and painting, and musical skill ; 
But give me the fair one, in country or city, 

Whose home and its duties are dear to her heart, 
Who cheerfully warbles some rustical ditty, 

While plying the needle with exquisite art. 
The bright little needle — the swift-flying needle, 

The needle directed by beauty and art. 

If Love have a potent, a magical token, 

A talisman, ever resistless and true — 
A charm that is never evaded or broken, 

A witchery certain the heart to subdue — 
'Tis this — and his armoury never has furnish'd 

So keen and unerring, or polish'd a dart ; 
Let Beauty direct it, so pointed and burnish'd, 

And Oh ! it is certain of touching the heart. 
The bright little needle— the swift-flying needlej 

The needle directed by beauty and art. 

Be wise, then, ye maidens, nor seek admiration 

By dressing for conquest, and flirting with all ; 
You never, whate'er be your fortune or station, 

Appear half so lovely at rout or at ball, 
As gaily convened at a work-cover'd table, 

Each cheerfully active and playing her part, 
Beguiling the task with a song or a fable, 

And plying the needle with exquisite art. 
The bright little needle — the swift-flying needle, 

The needle directed by beauty and art. 

81 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



[Born 1785.] 



The author of the "Airs of Palestine," is a 
native of Litchfield, Connecticut, and was born on 
the sixth of April, 1785. His great-grandfather, the 
Reverend James Pierpoxt, was the second minis- 
ter of New Haven, and one of the founders of Yale 
College ; his grandfather and his father were men 
of intelligence and integrity; and his mother, 
whose maiden name was Elizabeth Collins, 
had a mind thoroughly imbued with the religious 
sentiment, and was distinguished for her devotion 
to maternal duties. In the following lines, from 
one of his recent poems, he acknowledges the in- 
fluence of her example and teachings on his own 
character : 

" She led me first to God ; 
Her words and prayers were my young spirit's dew. 

For, when she used to leave 

The fireside, every eve, 
I knew it was for prayer that she withdrew. 

"That dew, that bless'd my youth,— 

Her holy love, her truth, 
Her spirit of devotion, and the tears 

That she could not suppress, — 

Hath never ceased to bless 
My soul, nor will it, through eternal years. 

'■ How often has the thought 

Of my mourn'd mother brought 
Peace to my troubled spirit, and new power 

The tempter to repel! 

Mother, thou knowest well 
That thou hast blessed me since thy mortal hour!" 

Mr. Pierpont entered Yale College when fifteen 
years old, and was graduated in the summer of 
1804. During a part of 1805, he assisted the 
Reverend Doctor Backxs, in an academy of which 
he was principal previous to his election to the 
presidency of Hamilton College ; and in the au- 
tumn of the same year, following the example of 
many young men of New England, he went to 
the southern states, and was for nearly four years 
a private tutor in the family of Colonel William 
Allston, of South Carolina, spending a portion 
of his time in Charleston, and the remainder on 
the estate of Colonel Allston, on the Waccamaw, 
near Georgetown. Here he commenced his legal 
studies, which he continued after his return to his 
native state in 1809, in the school of Justices 
Reeve and Gould; and in 1812, he was ad- 
mitted to the bar, in Essex county, Massachusetts. 
Soon after the commencement of the second war 
with Great Britain, being appointed to address 
the Washington Benevolent Society of Newbu- 
ry port, his place of residence, he delivered and 
afterward published "The Portrait," the earliest 
of the poems in the recent edition of his works. 

In consequence of the general prostration of 
business in New England during the war, and of 



his health, which at this time demanded a more 
active life, he abandoned the profession of law, 
and became interested in mercantile transactions, 
first in Boston, and afterward in Baltimore; but 
these resulting disastrously, in 1816, he sought a 
solace in literary pursuits, and in the same year 
published "The Airs of Palestine." The first 
edition appeared in an octavo volume, at Balti- 
more ; and two other editions were published in 
Boston, in the following year. 

The "Airs of Palestine" is a poem of about 
eight hundred lines, in the heroic measure, in which 
the influence of music is shown by examples, prin- 
cipally from sacred history. The religious sub- 
limity of the sentiments, the beauty of the language, 
and the finish of the versification, placed it at once, 
in the judgment of all competent to form an opinion 
on the subject, before any poem at that time pro- 
duced in America. As a work of art, it would be 
nearly faultless, but for the occasional introduction 
of double rhymes, a violation of the simple dignity 
of the ten-syllable verse, induced by the intention 
of the author to recite it in a public assembly. 
He says in the preface to the third edition, that he 
was "aware how difficult even a good speaker 
finds it to rehearse heroic poetry, for any length 
of time, without perceiving in his hearers the 
somniferous effects of a regular cadence," and 
"the double rhyme was, therefore, occasionally 
thrown in, like a ledge of rocks in a smoothly 
gliding river, to break the current, which, without 
it, might appear sluggish, and to vary the melody, 
which might otherwise become monotonous." The 
following passage, descriptive of a moonlight scene 
in Italy, will give the reader an idea of its manner : 

" On Arno's bosom, as he calmly flows, 
And his cool arms round Vallombrosa throws. 
Rolling his crystal tide through classic vales, 
Alone,— at night,— the Italian boatman sails. 
Hieh o'er Mont' Alto walks, in maiden pride, 
Night's queen ;— he sees her image on that tide, 
Now, ride the wave that curls its infant crest 
Around his prow, then rippling sinks to rest ; 
Now, glittering dance around his eddying oar, 
Whose every sweep is echo'd from the shore ; 
Now, far before him, on a liquid bed 
Of waveless water, rest her radiant head. 
How mild the empire of that virgin queen ! 
How dark the mountain's shade ! how still the scene ! 
Hush'd by her silver sceptre, zephyrs sleep 
On dewy leaves, that overhang the deep, 
Nor dare to whisper through the boughs, nor stir 
The valley's willow, nor the mountain's fir, 
Nor make the pale and breathless aspen quiver, 
Nor brush, with ruffling wind, that glassy river. 

"Hark! — 'tis a convent's bell : its midnight chime j 
For music measures even the march of time : — 
O'er bending trees, that fringe the distant shore, 
Gray turrets rise : — the eye can catch no more. 
The boatman, listening to the tolling bell, 
Suspends his oar : — a low and solemn swell, 
H 85 



86 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



From the deep shade, that round the cloister lies, 
Rolls through the air, and on the water dies. 
What melting song wakes the cold ear of Night? 
A funeral dirge, that pale nuns, robed in white, 
Chant round a sister's dark and narrow bed, 
To charm the parting spirit of the dead. 
Triumphant is the spell! with raptured ear, 
That uncaged spirit hovering, lingers near; — 
Why should she mount ? why pant for brighter bliss ? 
A lovelier scene, a sweeter song, than this !" 

Soon after the publication of the " Airs of Pales- 
tine," Mr. Pierpoxt entered seriously upon the 
study of theology, first by himself, in Baltimore, 
and afterward as a member of the theological 
school connected with Harvard College. He left 
that seminary in October, 1818, and in April, 1819, 
was ordained as minister of the Hollis Street Uni- 
tarian Church, in Boston, as successor to the Re- 
verend Doctor Holiet, who had recently been 
elected to the presidency of the Transylvania Uni- 
versity, in Kentucky. 

In 1835 and 1S36, in consequence of impaired 
health, he spent a year abroad, passing through 
the principal cities in England, France, and Italy, 
and extending his tour into the East, visiting 
Smyrna, the ruins of Ephesus, in Asia Minor, 
Constantinople, and Athens, Corinth, and some 
of the other cities of Greece ; of his travels in 
which, traces will occasionally be found in some 
of the short poems which he has written since his 
return. 

Mr. Pierpoxt has written in almost every metre, 



and many of his hymns, odes, and other brief poems, 
are remarkably spirited and melodious. Seve- 
ral of them, distinguished alike for energy of 
thought and language, were educed by events con- 
nected with the moral and religious enterprises of 
the time, nearly all of which are indebted to his 
constant and earnest advocacy for much of their 
prosperity. 

In the preface to the collection of his poems pub- 
lished in 1840, he says, " It gives a true, though an 
all too feeble expression of the author's feeling and 
faith, — of his love of right, of freedom, and man, 
and of his correspondent and most hearty hatred 
of every thing that is at war with them ; and of 
his faith in the providence and gracious promises 
of God. Nay, the book is published as an expres- 
sion of his faith in man,- his faith that every line, 
written to rebuke high-handed or under-handed 
wrong, or to keep alive the fires of civil and reli- 
gious liberty, — written for solace in affliction, for 
support under trial, or as an expression, or for the 
excitement of Christian patriotism or devotion ; or 
even with no higher aim than to throw a little 
sunshine into the chamber of the spirit, while it 
is going through some of the wearisome passages 
of life's history, — will be received as a proof of 
the writer's interest in the welfare of his fellow- 
men, of his desire to serve them, and consequently 
of his claim upon them for a charitable judgment, 
at least, if not even for a respectful and grateful 
remembrance." 



"PASSING AWAY." 

Was it the chime of a tiny bell, 

That came so sweet to my dreaming ear, — 
Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell 

That he winds on the beach, so mellow and clear, 
When the winds and the waves lie together asleep, 
And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep, 
She dispensing her silvery light, 
And he, his notes as silvery quite, 
While the boatman listens and ships his oar, 
To catch the music that comes from the shore ? — 

Hark ! the notes, on my ear that play, 

Are set to words : — as they float, they say, 
» Passing away ! passing away !" 

But no ; it was not a fairy's shell, 

Blown on the beach, so mellow and clear ; 
Nor was it the tongue of a silver bell, 
Striking the hour, that fill'd my ear, 
As I lay in my dream ; yet was it a chime 
That told of the flow. of the stream of time. 
For a beautiful clock from the ceiling hung, 
And a plump little girl, for a pendulum, swung ; 
(As you've sometimes seen, in a little ring 
That hangs in his cage, a Canary bird swing ;) 
And she held to her bosom a budding bouquet, 
And, as she enjoy 'd it, she seem'd to say, 
" Passing away ! passing away !" 



0, how bright were the wheels, that told 

Of the lapse of time, as they moved round slow ! 
And the hands, as they swept o'er the dial of gold, 

Seemed to point to the girl below. 
And lo ! she had changed : — in a few short hours 
Her bouquet had become a garland of flowers, 
That she held in her outstretched hands, and flung 
This way and that, as she, dancing, swung 
In the fulness of grace and womanly pride, 
That told me she soon was to be a bride ; — 
Yet then, when expecting her happiest day, 
In the same sweet voice I heard her say, 

" Passing away ! passing away !" 

While I gazed at that fair one's cheek, a shade 
Of thought, or care, stole softly over, 

Like that by a cloud in a summer's day made, 
Looking down on afield of blossoming clover. 

The rose yet lay on ner cheek, but its flush 

Had something lost of its brilliant blush ; 

And the light in her eye, and the light on the 
wheels, 
That marched so calmly round above her, 

Was a little dimm'd, — as when evening steals 
Upon noon's hot face : — Yet one couldn't but 
love her, 

For she look'd like a mother, whose first babe lay 
Rock'd on her breast, as she swung all day ; — 
And she seem'd, in the same silver tone to say, 
" Passing away ! passing away !" * 



- 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



While yet I look'd, what a change there came ! 

Her eye was quench'd, and her cheek was wan : 
Stooping and staff 'd was her wither'd frame, 

Yet, just as busily, swung she on ; 
The garland beneath her had fallen to dust ; 
The wheels above her were eaten with rust ; 
The hands, that over the dial swept, 
Grew crooked and tarnish'd, but on they kept, 
And still there came that silver tone 
From the shrivell'd lips of the toothless crone,— 

(Let me never forget till my dying day 

The tone or the burden of her lay,) — 

« Passing away ! passing away!" 



FOR THE CHARLESTOWN CENTEN- 
NIAL CELEBRATION. 

Two hundred years ! two hundred years ! 

How much of human power and pride, 
What glorious hopes, what gloomy fears 

Have sunk beneath their noiseless tide ! 

The red man at his horrid rite, 

Seen by the stars at night's cold noon, 

His bark canoe, its track of light 
Left on the wave beneath the moon ; 

His dance, his yell, his council-fire, 

The altar where his victim lay, 
His death-song, and his funeral pyre, 

That still, strong tide hath borne away. 

And that pale pilgrim band is gone, 

That on this shore with trembling trod, 

Ready to faint, yet bearing on 
The ark of freedom and of God. 

And war — that since o'er ocean came, 
And thunder'd loud from yonder hill, 

And wrapp'd its foot in sheets of flame, 
To blast that ark — its storm is still. 

Chief, sachem, sage, bards, heroes, seers, 

That live in story and in song, 
Time, for the last two hundred years, 

Has raised, and shown, and swept along. 

'T is like a dream when one awakes, 

This vision of the scenes of old ; 
'T is like the moon when morning breaks, 

'T is like a tale round watchfires told. 

Then what are we 1 then what are we 1 
Yes, when two hundred years have roll'd 

O'er our green graves, our names shall be 
A morning dream, a tale that's told. 

God of our fathers, in whose sight 
The thousand years that sweep away 

Man and the traces of his might 

Are but the break and close of day — 

Grant us that love of truth sublime, 
That love of goodness and of thee, 

That makes thy children in all time 
To share thine own eternity. 



MY CHILD. 

I cannot make him dead ! 

His fair sunshiny head 
Is ever bounding round my study chair ; 

Yet, when my eyes, now dim 

With tears, I turn to him, 
The vision vanishes — he is not there ! 

I walk my parlour floor, 

And, through the open door, 
I hear a footfall on the chamber stair ; 

I 'm stepping toward the hall 

To give the boy a call; 
And then bethink me that — he is not there ! 

I thread the crowded street ; 

A satchell'd lad I meet, 
With the same beaming eyes and colour'd hair : 

And, as he's running by, 

Follow him with my eye, 
Scarcely believing that — he is not there ! 

I know his face is hid 

Under the coffin lid ; 
Closed are his eyes ; cold is his forehead ; 

My hand that marble felt ; 

O'er it in prayer I knelt ; 
Yet my heart whispers that— he is not there ! 

I cannot make him dead ! 

When passing by the bed, 
So long watch'd over with parental care, 

My spirit and my eye 

Seek it inquiringly, 
Before the thought comes that — he is not there ! 

When, at the cool, gray break 

Of day, from sleep I wake, 
With my first breathing of the morning air 

My soul goes up, with joy, 

To Him who gave my boy, 
Then comes the sad thought that — he is not there ! 

When at the day's calm close, 

Before we seek repose, 
I 'm with his mother, offering up our prayer, 

Whate'er I may be saying, 

I am, in spirit, praying 
For our boy's spirit, though — he is not there ! 

Not there ! — Where, then, is he 1 

The form I used to see 
Was but the raiment that he used to wear. 

The grave, that now doth press 

Upon that cast-off dress, 
Is but his wardrobe lock'd ; — he is not there ! 

He lives ! — In all the past 

He lives; nor, to the last, 
Of seeing him again will I despair ; 

In dreams I see him now ; 

And, on his angel brow, 
I see it written, « Thou shalt see me there ! " 

Yes, we all live to God! 

Father, thy chastening rod 
So help us, thine afflicted ones, to bear, 

That, in the spirit land, 

Meeting at thy right hand, 
'T will be our heaven to find that — he is there ! 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



FOR A CELEBRATION OF THE MASSA- 
CHUSETTS MECHANICS' CHARITA- 
JBLE ASSOCIATION. 

Loud o'er thy savage child, 

O God, the night-wind roar'd, 
As, houseless, in the wild 
He bow'd him and adored. 
Thou saw'st him there, 
As to the sky 
He raised his eye 
In fear and prayer. 

Thine inspiration came ! 

And, grateful for thine aid, 
An altar to thy name 

He built beneath the shade : 
The limbs of larch 
That darken'd round, 
He bent and bound 
In many an arch ; 

Till in a sylvan fane 

Went up the voice of prayer, 
And music's simple strain 
Arose in worship there. 
The arching boughs, 
The roof of leaves 
That summer weaves, 
O'erheard his vows. 

Then beam'd a brighter day ; 

And Salem's holy height 
And Greece in glory lay 
Beneath the kindling light. 
Thy temple rose 
On Salem's hill, 
While Grecian skill 
Adorn'd thy foes. 

Along those rocky shores, 

Along those olive plains, 
Where pilgrim Genius pores 
O'er Art's sublime remains, 
Long colonnades 
Of snowy white 
Look'd forth in light 
Through classic shades. 

Forth from the quarry stone 

The marble goddess sprung ; 
And, loosely round her thrown, 
Her marble vesture hung ; 
And forth from cold 
And sunless mines 
Came silver shrines 
And gods of gold. 

The Star of Bethlehem burn'd ! 

And where the Stoic trod, 
The altar was o'erturn'd, 

Raircd "to an unknown God." 
And now there are 
No idol fanes 
On all the plains 
Beneath that star. 



To honour thee, dread Power ! 

Our strength and skill combine: 
And temple, tomb, and tower 
Attest these gifts divine. 
A swelling dome 
For pride they gild, 
For peace they build 
An humbler home. 

By these our fathers' host 
Was led to victory first, 
When on our guardless coast 
The cloud of battle burst ; 
Through storm and spray, 
By these controll'd, 
Our natives hold 
Their thundering way. 

Great Source of every art ! 

Our homes, our pictured halls, 
Our throng'd and busy mart, 
That lifts its granite walls, 
And shoots to heaven 
Its glittering spires, 
To catch the fires 
Of morn and even ; 

These, and the breathing forms 

The brush or chisel gives, 
With this when marble warms, 
With that when canvass lives ; 
These all combine 
In countless ways 
To swell thy praise, 
For all are thine. 



HER CHOSEN SPOT. 

While yet she lived, she walked alone 
Among these shades. A voice divine 

Whisper'd, " This spot shall be thine own ; 
Here shall thy wasting form recline, 
Beneath the shadow of this pine." 

"Thy will be done!" the sufferer said. 

This spot was hallow'd from that hour ; 
And, in her eyes, the evening's shade 
And morning's dew this green spot made 

More lovely than her bridal bower. 

By the pale moon — herself more pale 
And spirit-like — these walks she trod ; 

And, while no voice, from swell or vale, 
Was heard, she knelt upon this sod 
And gave her spirit back to God. 

That spirit, with an angel's wings, 

Went up from the young mother's bed : 

So, heavenward, soars the lark and sings. 

She's lost to earth and earthly things ; 
But "weep not, for she is not dead, 

She sleepeth !" Yea, she sleepeth here, 
The first that in these grounds hath slept. 

This grave, first water'd with the tear 
That child or widow'd man hath wept, 
Shall be by heavenly watchmen kept. 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



89 



The babe that lay on her cold breast — 
A rosebud dropp'd on drifted snow — 
Its young hand in its father's press'd, 
Shall learn that she, who first caress'd 
Its infant cheek, now sleeps below. 

And often shall he come alone, 

When not a sound but evening's sigh 
Is heard, and, bowing by the stone 
That bears his mother's name, with none 
But God and guardian angels nigh, 

Shall say, " This was my mother's choice 
For her own grave : O, be it mine ! 

Even now, methinks, I hear her voice 
Calling me hence, in the divine 
And mournful whisper of this pine." 



THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 

The Pilgrim Fathers, — where are they 1 — 

The waves that brought them o'er 
Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray 

As they break along the shore : 
Still roll in the bay, as they roll'd that day 

When the Mayflower moor'd below, 
When the sea around was black with storms, 

And white the shore with snow. 

The mists, that wrapp'd the Pilgrim's sleep, 

Still brood upon the tide ; 
And his rocks yet keep their watch by the deep, 

To stay its waves of pride. 
But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale 

When the heavens look'd dark, is gone ; — 
As an angel's wing, through an opening cloud, 

Is seen, and then withdrawn. 

The Pilgrim exile, — sainted name ! 

The hill, whose icy brow 
Rejoiced, when he came, in the morning's flame, 

In the morning's flame burns now. 
And the moon's cold light, as it lay that night 

On the hill-side and the sea, 
Still lies where he laid his houseless head ; — 

But the Pilgrim, — where is he 1 

The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest ; 

When summer 's throned on high, 
And the world's warm breast is in verdure dress'd, 

Go, stand on the hill where they lie. 
The earliest ray of the golden day 

On that hallow'd spot is cast ; 
And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, 

Looks kindly on that spot last. 

The Pilgrim spirit has not fled ; 
It walks in noon's broad light ; 
And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, 

With their holy stars, by night. 
It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, 

And shall guard this ice-bound shore, 
Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, 
Shall foam and freeze no more. 
12 



PLYMOUTH DEDICATION HYMN. 

The winds and waves were roaring ; 

The Pilgrims met for prayer ; 
And here, their God adoring, 

They stood, in open air. 
When breaking day they greeted, 

And when its close was calm, 
The leafless woods repeated 

The music of their psalm. 

Not thus, God, to praise thee, 

Do we, their children, throng ; 
The temple's arch we raise thee 

Gives back our choral song. 
Yet, on the winds that bore thee 

Their worship and their prayers, 
May ours come up before thee 

From hearts as true as theirs ! 

What have we, Lord, to bind us 

To this, the Pilgrims' shore ! — 
Their hill of graves behind us, 

Their watery way before, 
The wintry surge, that dashes 

Against the rocks they trod, 
Their memory, and their ashes, — 

Be thou their guard, God ! 

We would not, Holy Father, 

Forsake this hallow'd spot, 
Till on that shore we gather 

Where graves and griefs are not ; 
The shore where true devotion 

Shall rear no pillar'd shrine, 
And see no other ocean 

Than that of love divine. 



THE EXILE AT REST. 

His falchion fiash'd along the Nile ; 

His hosts he led through Alpine snows ; 
O'er Moscow's towers, that shook the while, 

His eagle flag unroll'd — and froze. 
Here sleeps he now alone : not one 

Of all the kings whose crowns he gave, 
Nor sire, nor brother, wife, nor son, 

Hath ever seen or sought his grave. 
Here sleeps he now alone ; the star 

That led him on from crown to crown 
Hath sunk ; the nations from afar 

Gazed as it faded and went down. 
He sleeps alone : the mountain cloud 

That night hangs round him, and the breath 
Of morning scatters, is the shroud 

That wraps his mortal form in death. 
High is his couch ; the ocean flood 

Far, far below hy storms is curl'd, 
As round him heaved, while high ho stood, 

A stormy and inconstant world. 
Hark ! Comes there from the Pyramids, 

And from Siberia's wastes of snow, 
And Europe's fields, a voice that bids 

The world he awed to mourn him 1 No : 



90 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



The only, the perpetual dirge 

That's heard there, is the seabird's cry, 
The mournful murmur of the surge, 

The cloud's deep voice, the wind's low sigh. 



JERUSALEM. 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 

How glad should I have been, 
Could I, in my lone wanderings, 

Thine aged walls have seen ! — 
Could I have gazed upon the dome 

Above thy towers that swells, 
And heard, as evening's sun went down, 

Thy parting camels' bells : — 

Could I have stood on Olivet, 

Where once the Saviour trod, 
And, from its height, look'd down upon 

The city of our God ; 
For is it not, Almighty God, 

Thy holy city still, — 
Though there thy prophets walk no more,- 

That crowns Moriah's hill 1 

Thy prophets walk no more, indeed, 

The streets of Salem now, 
Nor are their voices lifted up 

On Zion's sadden'd brow; 
Nor are their garnish'd sepulchres 

With pious sorrow kept, 
Where once the same Jerusalem, 

That kill'd them, came and wept. 

But still the seed of Abraham: 

With joy upon it look, 
And lay their ashes at its feet, 

That Kedron's feeble brook 
Still washes, as its waters creep 

Along their rocky bed, 
And Israel's Gob is worshipp'd yet 

Where Zion lifts her head. 

Yes; every morning, as the day 

Breaks over Olivet, 
The holy name of Aeeah comes 

From every minaret ; 
At every eve the mellow call 

Floats on the quiet air, 
« Lo, Gob is Gob ! Before him come, 

Before him come, for prayer !" 

I know, when at that solemn call 

The city holds her breath, 
That Omar's mosque hears not the name 

Of Him of Nazareth ; ' 
But Abraham's Gob is worshipp'd there 

Alike by age and youth, 
And worshipp'd, — hopeth charity, — 

" In spirit and in truth." 

Yea, from that day when Saxem knelt 

And bent her queenly neck 
To turn who was, at once, her priest 

And king, — Meichisebek, 



To this, when Egypt's Abraham* 

The sceptre and the sword 
Shakes o'er her head, her holy men 

Have bow'd before the Lord. 

Jerusalem, I would have seen 

Thy precipices steep, 
The trees of palm that overhang 

Thy gorges dark and deep, 
The goats that cling along thy cliffs, 

And browse upon thy rocks, 
Beneath whose shade lie down, alike, 

Thy shepherds and their flocks. 

I would have mused, while night hung out 

Her silver lamp so pale, 
Beneath those ancient olive trees 

That grow in Kedron's vale, 
Whose foliage from the pilgrim hides 

The city's wall sublime, 
Whose twisted arms and gnarled trunks 

Defy the scythe of time. 

The garden of Gethsemane 

Those aged olive trees 
Are shading yet, and in their shade 

I would have sought the breeze, 
That, like an angel, bathed the brow, 

And bore to heaven the prayer 
Of Jesus, when in agony, 

He sought the Father there. 

I would have gone to Calvary, 

And, where the Marys stood, 
Bewailing loud the Crucified, 

As near him as they could, 
I would have stood, till night o'er earth 

Her heavy pall had thrown, 
And thought upon my Saviour's cross, 

And learn'd to bear my own. 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 

Thy cross thou bearest now ! 
An iron yoke is on thy neck, 

And blood is on thy brow ; 
Thy golden crown, the crown of truth, 

Thou didst reject as dross, 
And now thy cross is on thee laid — 

The crescent is thy cross ! 

It was not mine, nor will it be, 

To see the bloody rod 
That scourgeth thee, and long hath scourged, 

Thou city of our Gob ! 
But round thy hill the spirits throng 

Of all thy murder'd seers, 
And voices that went up from it 

Are ringing in my ears,— 

Went up that day, when darkness fell 

From all thy firmament, 
And shrouded thee at noon ; and when 

Thy temple's vail was rent, 
And graves of holy men, that touch'd 

Thy feet, gave up their dead : — 
Jerusalem, thy prayer is heard, 

His beoob is on tht heab! 

* This name is now generally written Ibrahim. 



^ 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



yi 



THE POWER OF MUSIC* 

Hear yon poetic pilgrimj- of the west 
Chant music's praise, and to her power attest ; 
Who now, in Florida's untrodden woods, 
Bedecks, with vines of jessamine, her floods, 
And flowery bridges o'er them loosely throws ; 
Who hangs the canvass where Atala glows, 
On the live oak, in floating drapery shrouded, 
That like a mountain rises, lightly clouded : 
Who, for the son of Outalissi, twines 
Beneath the shade of ever-whispering pines 
A funeral wreath, to bloom upon the moss 
That Time already sprinkles on the cross 
Raised o'er the grave where his young virgin sleeps, 
And Superstition o'er her victim weeps; 
Whom now the silence of the dead surrounds, 
Among Scioto's monumental mounds; 
Save that, at times, the musing pilgrim hears 
A crumbling oak fall with the weight of years, 
To swell the mass that Time and Ruin throw 
O'er chalky bones that mouldering lie below, 
By virtues unembalm'd, unstain'd by crimes, 
Lost in those towering tombs of other times ; 
For, where no bard has cherished virtue's flame, 
No ashes sleep in the warm sun of fame. 
With sacred lore this traveller beguiles 
His weary way, while o'er him fancy smiles. 
Whether he kneels in venerable groves, 
Or through the wide and green savanna roves, 
His heart leaps lightly on each breeze, that bears 
The faintest breath of Idumea's airs. 

Now he recalls the lamentable wail 
That pierced the shades of Rama's palmy vale, 
When Murder struck, throned on an infant's bier, 
A note for Satax's and for Herod's ear. 
Now on a bank, o'erhung with waving wood, 
Whose falling leaves flit o'er Ohio's flood, 
The pilgrim stands ; and o'er his memory rushes 
The mingled tide of tears and blood, that gushes 
Along the valleys where his childhood stray'd, 
And round the temples where his fathers pray'd. 
How fondly then, from all but hope exiled, 
To Zion's wo recurs religion's child ! 
He sees the tear of Judah's captive daughters 
Mingle, in silent flow, with Babel's waters; 
While Salem's harp, by patriot pride unstrung, 
Wrapp'd in the mist that o'er the river hung, 
Felt but the breeze that wanton' d o'er the billow, 
And the long, sweeping fingers of the willow. 

And could not music soothe the captive's wo? 
But should that harp be strung for Judah's foe 1 ? 

While thus the enthusiast roams along the 
stream, 
Balanced between a re very and a dream, 
Backward he springs; and through his bounding 

heart 
The cold and curdling poison seems to dart. 
For, in the leaves, beneath a quivering brake, 
Spinning his death-note, lies a coiling snake, 
Just in the act, with greenly venom'd fangs, 
To strike the foot that heedless o'er him hangs. 



Bloated with rage, on spiral folds he rides ; 
His rough scales shiver on his spreading sides ; 
Dusky and dim his glossy neck becomes, 
And freezing poisons thickens on his gums ; 
Hisparch'd and hissing throat breathes hot and dry ; 
A spark of hell lies burning on his eye : 
While, like a vapour o'er his writhing rings. 
Whirls his light tail, that threatens while it sings. 

Soon as dumb fear removes her icy fingers 
From off the heart, where gazing wonder lingers, 
The pilgrim, shrinking from a doubtful fight, 
Aware of danger, too, in sudden flight, 
From his soft flute throws music's air around, 
And meets his foe upon enchanted ground. 
See ! as the plaintive melody is flung, 
The lightning flash fades on the serpent's tongue ; 
The uncoiling reptile o'er each shining fold 
Throws changeful clouds of azure, green, and gold ; 
A softer lustre twinkles in his eye ; 
His neck is burnish'd with a glossier dye ; 
His slippery scales grow smoother to the sight, 
And his relaxing circles roll in light. 
Slowly the charm retires : with waving sides, 
Along its track the graceful listener glides ; 
While music throws her silver cloud around, 
And bears her votary off in magic folds of sound. 



From "Airs of Palestine.' 



| Chateaubriand. 



OBSEQUIES OF SPURZHEIM. 

Stranger, there is bending o'er thee 

Many an eye with sorrow wet ; 
All our stricken hearts deplore thee ; 

Who, that knew thee, can forget ? 
Who forgot that thou hast spoken ? 

Who, thine eye, — that noble frame ? 
But that golden bowl is broken, 

In the greatness of thy fame. 

Autumn's leaves shall fall and wither 

On the spot where thou shalt rest ; 
'T is in love we bear thee thither, 

To thy mourning mother's breast. 
For the stores of science brought us, 

For the charm thy goodness gave- 
To the lessons thou hast taught us, 

Can we give thee but a grave 1 

Nature's priest, how pure and fervent 

Was thy worship at her shrine ! 
Friend of man, of God the servant, 

Advocate of truths divine, — 
Taught and charm'd as by no other 

We have been, and hoped to be ; 
But, while waiting round thee, brother, 

For thy light, — 'tis dark with thee. 

Dark with thee?— No; thy Creator, 

All whose creatures and whose laws 
Thou didst love, shall give thee greater 

Light than earth's, as earth withdraws. 
To thy God, thy godlike spirit 

Back we give, in filial trust ; 
Thy cold clay, — we grieve to bear it 

To its chamber, — but we must. 



92 



JOHN PIERPONT. 



THE SEAMAN'S BETHEL.* 

Thou, who on the whirlwind ridest, 

At whose word the thunder roars, 
Who, in majesty, presidest 

O'er the oceans and their shores ; 
From those shores, and from the oceans, 

We, the children of the sea, 
Come to pay thee our devotions, 

And to give this house to thee. 

When, for business on great waters, 

We go down to sea in ships, 
And our weeping wives and daughters 

Hang, at parting, on our lips, 
This, our Bethel, shall remind us, 

That there's One who heareth prayer, 
And that those we leave behind us 

Are a faithful pastor's care. 

Visions of our native highlands, 

In our wave-rock'd dreams embalm'd, 
Winds that come from spicy islands 

When we long have lain becalm'd, 
Are not to our souls so pleasant 

As the offerings we shall bring 
Hither, to the Omnipresent, 

For the shadow of his wing. 

When in port, each day that 's holy, 

To this house we '11 press in throngs ; 
When at sea, with spirit lowly, 

We'll repeat its sacred songs. 
Outward bound, shall we, in sadness, 

Lose its flag behind the seas ; 
Homeward bound, we '11 greet with gladness 

Its first floating on the breeze. 

Homeward bound ! — with deep emotion, 

We remember, Lord, that life 
Is a voyage upon an ocean, 

Heaved by many a tempest's strife. 
Be thy statutes so engraven 

On our hearts and minds, that we, 
Anchoring in Death's quiet haven, 

All may make our home with thee. 



THE SPARKLING BOWL. 

Thou sparkling bowl ! thou sparkling bowl ! 

Though lips of bards thy brim may press, 
And eyes of beauty o'er thee roll, 

And song and dance thy power confess, 
I will not touch thee ; for there clings 
A scorpion to thy side, that stings ! 

Thou crystal glass ! like Eden's tree, 
Thy melted ruby tempts the eye, 

And, as from that, there comes from thee 
The voice, « Thou shalt not surely die." 

I dare not lift thy liquid gem ; — 

A snake is twisted round thy stem ! 

* Written for the dedication of the Seaman's Bethel, 
under the direction of the Boston Port Society, Septem- 
ber fourth, 1833. 



Thou liquid fire ! like that which glow'd 

On Meiita's surf-beaten shore, 
Thou'st been upon my guests bestow'd, 

But thou shalt warm my house no more. 
For, wheresoe'er thy radiance falls, 
Forth, from thy heat, a viper crawls ! 

What, though of gold the goblet be, 
Emboss'd with branches of the vine, 

Beneath whose burnish'd leaves we see 
Such clusters as pour'd out the wine "? 

Among those leaves an adder hangs ! 

I fear him ; — for I 've felt his fangs. 

The Hebrew, who the desert trod, 
And felt the fiery serpent's bite, 

Look'd up to that ordain' d of God, 
And found that life was in the sight. 

So, the worm-bitten 1 s fiery veins 

Cool, when he drinks what God ordains. 

Ye gracious clouds ! ye deep, cold wells ! 

Ye gems, from mossy rocks that drip ! 
Springs, that from earth's mysterious cells 

Gush o'er your granite basin's lip ! 
To you I look ; — your largess give, 
And I will drink of you, and live. 



FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY. 

Day of glory ! welcome day ! 
Freedom's banners greet thy ray ; 
See ! how cheerfully they play 

With thy morning breeze, 
On the rocks where pilgrims kneel'd, 
On the heights where squadrons wheel'd, 
When a tyrant's thunder peal'd 

O'er the trembling seas. 

God of armies! did thy "stars 
In their courses" smite his cars, 
Blast his arm, and wrest his bars 

From the heaving tide 1 
On our standard, lo ! they burn, 
And, when days like this return, 
Sparkle o'er the soldiers' urn 

Who for freedom died. 

God of peace ! — whose spirit fills 
All the echoes of our hills, 
All the murmurs of our rills, 

Now the storm is o'er ; — 
0, let freemen be our sons ; 
And let future Washijtgtoks 
Rise, to lead their valiant ones, 

Till there 's war no more. 

By the patriot's hallow'd rest, 
By the warrior's gory breast, — 
Never let our graves be press'd 

By a despot's throne ; 
By the Pilgrims' toils and cares, 
By their battles and their prayers, 
By their ashes, — let our heirs 

Bow to thee alone. 



ANDREWS NORTON. 



[Born 1786.] 



Mr. Nortox was born at Hingham, near Bos- 
ton, in 1786. He entered Harvard College in 
1800, and was graduated in 1804. He studied 
divinity, but never became a settled clergyman. 
He was for a time tutor at Bowdoin College, and 
afterward tutor and librarian in Harvard Uni- 
versity. In 1819, he became Dexter Professor of 
Sacred Literature in the latter institution. He 



resigned that office in 1830, and has since resided 
at Cambridge as a private gentleman. 

Mr. Norton is author of " The Evidences of 
the Genuineness of the Gospels," published, in an 
octavo volume, in 1837; and of several other 
theological works, in which he has exhibited rare 
scholarship and argumentative abilities. His 
poetical writings are not numerous. 



TO 



ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG 
FRIEND. 



0, st a y thy tears ! for they are blest 

Whose days are past ; whose toil is done. 

Here midnight care disturbs our rest ; 
Here sorrow dims the noonday sun. 

For labouring Virtue's anxious toil, 
For patient Sorrow's stifled sigh, 

For Faith that marks the conqueror's spoil, 
Heaven grants the recompense, to die. 

How blest are they whose transient years 
Pass like an evening meteor's flight ; 

Not dark with guilt, nor dim with tears ; 
Whose course is short, unclouded, bright. 

How cheerless were our length en'd way, 
Did heaven's own light not break the gloom 

Stream downward from eternal day, 
And cast a glory round the tomb ! 

Then stay thy tears ; the blest above 
Have hail'd a spirit's heavenly birth ; 

Sung a new song of joy and love, 

A nd why should anguish reign on earth 1 



WRITTEN AFTER THE DEATH OF 
CHARLES ELIOT. 

Farewell ! before we meet again, 

Perhaps through scenes as yet unknown, 

That lie in distant years of pain, 
I have to journey on alone ; 

To meet with griefs thou wilt not feel, 

Perchance with joys thou canst not share ; 

And when we both were wont to kneel, 
To breathe alone the silent prayer ; 

But ne'er a deeper pang to know, 

Than when I watch'd thy slow decay, 

Saw on thy cheek the hectic glow, 
And felt at last each hope give way. 



But who the destined hour may tell, 
That bids the loosen'd spirit fly 1 

E'en now this pulse's feverish swelL 
May warn me of mortality. 

But chance what may, thou wilt no more 
With sense and wit my hours beguile, 

Inform with learning's various lore, 

Or charm with friendship's kindest smile 

Each book I read, each walk I tread, 
Whate'er I feel, whate'er I see, 

All speak of hopes forever fled, 
All have some tale to tell of thee. 

I shall not, should misfortune lower, 
Should friends desert, and life decline, 

I shall not know thy soothing power, 
Nor hear thee say, " My heart is thine." 

If thou hadst lived, thy well-earn'd fame 
Had bade my fading prospect bloom, 

Had cast its lustre o'er my name, 
And stood the guardian of my tomb. 

Servant of God ! thy ardent mind, 

With lengthening years improving still, 

Striving, untired, to serve mankind, 
Had thus perform'd thy Father's will. 

Another task to thee was given ; 

'Twas thine to drink of early wo, 
To feel thy hopes, thy friendships riven, 

And bend submissive to the blow ; 

With patient smile and steady eye, 
To meet each pang that sickness gave, 

And see with lingering step draw nigh 
The form that pointed to the grave. 

Servant of God ! thou art not there ; 

Thy race of virtue is not run ; 
What blooms on earth of good anu fair, 

Will ripen in another sun. 

Dost thou, amid the rapturous glow 

With which the soul her welcome hears, 

Dost thou still think of us below, 
Of earthly scenes, of human tears 1 



94 



ANDREWS NORTON. 



Perhaps e'en now thy thoughts return 
To when in summer's moonlight walk, 

Of all that now is thine to learn, 

We framed no light nor fruitless talk. 

We spake of knowledge, such as soars 
From world to world with ceaseless flight ; 

And love, that follows and adores, 
As nature spreads before her sight. 

How vivid still past scenes appear ! 

I feel as though all were not o'er ; 
As though 't were strange I cannot hear 

Thy voice of friendship yet once more. 

But I shall hear it ; in that day 

Whose setting sun I may not view, 

When earthly voices die away, 
Thine will at last be heard anew. 

We meet again ; a little while, 

And where thou art I too shall be. 
And then, with what an angel smile 
4 Of gladness, thou wilt welcome me ! 



A SUMMER SHOWER. 

The rain is o'er — How dense and bright 

Yon pearly clouds reposing lie ! 
Cloud above cloud, a glorious sight, 

Contrasting with the deep-blue sky ! 

In grateful silence earth receives 

The general blessing ; fresh and fair, 

Each flower expands its little leaves, 
As glad the common joy to share. 

The soften'd sunbeams pour around 

A fairy light, uncertain, pale; 
The wind flows cool, the scented ground 

Is breathing odours on the gale. 

Mid yon rich clouds' voluptuous pile, 

Methinks some spirit of the air 
Might rest to gaze below a while, 

Then turn to bathe and revel there. 

The sun breaks forth — from off the scene, 
Its floating veil of mist is flung ; 

And all the wilderness of green 

With trembling drops of light is hung. 

Now gaze on nature — yet the same — 
Glowing with life, by breezes fann'd, 

Luxuriant, lovely, as she came, 

Fresh in her youth, from' God's own hand. 

Hear the rich music of that voice, 
Which sounds from all below, above ; 

She calls her children to rejoice, 

And round them throws her arms of love. 

Drink in her influence — low-born care, 
And all the train of mean desire, 

Refuse to breathe this holy air, 
And mid this living light expire. 



HYMN. 



Mr God, I thank thee ! may no thought 
E'er deem thy chastisements severe ; 

But may this heart, by sorrow taught, 
Calm each wild wish, each idle fear. 

Thy mercy bids all nature bloom ; 

The sun shines bright, and man is gay ; 
Thine equal mercy spreads the gloom 

That darkens o'er his little day. 

Full many a throb of grief and pain 
Thy frail and erring child must know ; 

But not one prayer is breathed in vain, 
Nor does one tear unheeded flow. 

Thy various messengers employ ; 

Thy purposes of love fulfil ; 
And, mid the wreck of human joy, 

May kneeling faith adore thy will ! 



TO MRS. 



ON HER DEPARTURE 



FOR EUROPE. 



Farewell ! farewell ! for many a day 
Our thoughts far o'er the sea will roam ! 

Blessings and prayers attend thy way; 
Glad welcomes wait for thee at home. 

While gazing upon Alpine snows, 
Or lingering near Italian shores ; 

Where Nature all her grandeur shows, 
Or art unveils her treasured stores ; 

When mingling with those gifted minds 
That shed their influence on our race, 

Thine own its native station finds, 

And takes with them an honour'd place ; 

Forget not, then, how dear thou art 
To many friends not with thee there ; 

To many a warm and anxious heart, 
Object of love, and hope, and prayer. 

When shall we meet again 1 — some day, 
In a bright morning, when the gale 

Sweeps the blue waters as in play ; 
Then shall we watch thy coming sail '! 

When shall we meet again, and where 1 
We trust not hope's uncertain voice ; 

To faith the future all is fair: 

She speaks assured ; " Thou shalt rejoice. 

Perhaps our meeting may be when, 
Mid new-born life's awakening glow, 

The loved and lost appear again, 

Heaven's music sounding sweet and low 



ANDREWS NORTON. 



95 



HYMN FOR THE DEDICATION OF A 
CHURCH. 

Where ancient forests round us spread, 
Where bends the cataract's ocean-fall, 

On the lone mountain's silent head, 
There are thy temples, God of all ! 

Beneath the dark-blue, midnight arch, 

Whence myriad suns pour down their rays, 

Where planets trace their ceaseless march, 
Father ! we worship as we gaze. 

The tombs thine altars are ; for there, , 
When earthly loves and hopes have fled, 

To thee ascends the spirit's prayer, 
Thou God of the immortal dead ! 

All space is holy ; for all space 

Is fill'd by thee ; but human thought 

Bums clearer in some chosen place, 

Where thy own words of love are taught. 

Here be they taught ; and may we know 
That faith thy servants knew of old ; 

Which onward bears through weal and wo, 
Till Death the gates of heaven unfold ! 

Nor we alone ; may those whose brow 
Shows yet no trace of human cares, 

Hereafter stand where we do now, 
And raise to thee still holier prayers ! 



FORTITUDE. 

Faint not, poor traveller, though thy way 
Be rough, like that thy Saviour trod ; 

Though cold and stormy lower the day, 
This path of suffering leads to God. 

Nay, sink not ; though from every limb 
Are starting drops of toil and pain ; 

Thou dost but share the lot of Him 
With whom his followers are to reign. 

Thy friends are gone, and thou, alone, 
Must bear the sorrows that assail ; 

Look upward to the eternal throne, 
And know a Friend who cannot fail. 

Bear firmly ; yet a few more days, 
And thy hard trial will be past ; 

Then, wrapt in glory's opening blaze, 
Thy feet will rest on heaven at last. 

Christian ! thy Friend, thy Master pray'd, 
When dread and anguish shook his frame 

Then met his sufferings undismay'd ; 
Wilt thou not strive to do the same ? 

! think' st thou that his Father's love 
Shone round him then with fainter rays 

Than now, when, throned all height above, 
Unceasing voices hymn his praise 1 



Go, sufferer ! calmly meet the woes 

Which God's own mercy bids thee bear; 

Then, rising as thy Saviour rose, 
Go ! his eternal victory share. 



THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR. 

Another year ! another year ! 

The unceasing rush of time sweeps on ; 
Whelm'd in its surges, disappear 

Man's hopes and fears, forever gone ! 

O, no ! forbear that idle tale ! 

The hour demands another strain, 
Demands high thoughts that cannot quail, 

And strength to conquer and retain. 

'T is midnight — from the dark-blue sky, 
The stars, which now look down on earth, 

Have seen ten thousand centuries fly, 
And given to countless changes birth. 

And when the pyramids shall fall, 
And, mouldering, mix as dust in air, 

The dwellers on this alter'd ball 

May still behold them glorious there. 

Shine on ! shine on ! with you I tread 
The march of ages, orbs of light ! 

A last eclipse o'er you may spread, 
To me, to me, there comes no night. 

! what concerns it him, whose way 
Lies upward to the immortal dead, 

That a few hairs are turning gray, 
Or one more year of life has fled 1 

Swift years ! but teach me how to bear, 
To feel and act with strength and skill, 

To reason wisely, nobly dare, 

And speed } 7 our courses as ye will. 

When life's meridian toils are done, 

How calm, how rich the twilight glow ! 

The morning twilight of a sun 

Which shines not here on things below. 

But sorrow, sickness, death, the pain 
To leave, or lose wife, children, friends ! 

What then — shall we not meet again 
Where parting comes not, sorrow ends ] 

The fondness of a parent's care, 

The changeless trust which woman gives, 
The smile of childhood, — it is there 

That all we love in them still lives. 

Press onward through each varying hour} 
Let no weak fears thy course delay ; 

Immortal being ! feel thy power, 

Pursue thy bright and endless way.' 



( JG 



ANDREWS NORTON. 



TO MRS. 



JUST AFTER HER MAR- 
RIAGE. 



Nat ! ask me not now for some proof that my 
heart 
Has learn'd the dear lesson of friendship for 
thee; 
Nay ! ask not for words that might feebly impart 
The feelings and thoughts which thy glance 
cannot see. 

Whate'er I could wish thee already is thine ; 
The fair sunshine within sheds its beams through 
thine eye ; 
And Pleasure stands near thee, and waits but a 
sign 
To all whom thou lovest at thy bidding to fly. 

Yet, hereafter, thy bosom some sadness may feel, 

Some cloud o'er thy heart its chill shadow may 

throw ; 

Then, ask if thou wilt, and my words shall reveal 

The feelings and thoughts which thou now 

canst not know 



FUNERAL HYMN. 

He has gone to his God ; he has gone to his home ; 
No more amid peril and error to roam ; 
His eyes are no longer dim; 

His feet will no more falter ; 
No grief can follow him ; 
No pang his cheek can alter. 

There are paleness, and weeping, and sighs below ; 
For our faith is faint, and our tears will flow; 
But the harps of heaven are ringing ; 

Glad angels come to greet him, 
And hymns of joy are singing, 

While old friends press to meet him. 

! honour'd, beloved, to earth unconfined, 
Thou hast soared on high, thou hast left us behind. 
But our parting is not forever, 

We will follow thee by heaven's light, 
Where the grave cannot dissever 
The souls whom God will unite. 



A WINTER MORNING. 

The keen, clear air — the splendid sight — 

We waken to a world of ice ; 
Where all things are enshrined in light, 

As by some genie's quaint device. 

'T is winter's jubilee — this day 

His stores their countless treasures yield , 
See how the diamond glances play, 

In ceaseless blaze, from tree and field. 

The cold, bare spot where late we ranged, 
The naked woods, are seen no more ; 

This earth to fairy land is changed, 
With glittering silver sheeted o'er. 

A shower of gems is strew'd around ; 

The flowers of winter, rich and rare ; 
Rubies and sapphires deck the ground, 

The topaz, emerald, all are there. 

The morning sun, with cloudless rays, 

His powerless splendour round us streams • 

From crusted boughs, and twinkling sprays, 
Fly back unloosed the rainbow beams. 

With more than summer beauty fair, 
The trees in winter's garb are shown ; 

What a rich halo melts in air, 

Around their crystal branches thrown ! 

And yesterday — how changed the view 

From what then charm'd us ; when the sky 

Hung, with its dim and watery hue, 
O'er all the soft, still prospect nign. 

The distant groves, array'd in white, 
Might then like things unreal seem, 

Just shown a while in silvery light, 
The fictions of a poet's dream ; 

Like shadowy groves upon that shore 
O'er which Elysium's twilight lay, 

By bards and sages feign'd of yore, 

Ere broke on earth heaven's brighter day. 

God of Nature ! with what might 
Of beauty, shower'd on all below, 

Thy guiding power would lead aright 
Earth's wanderer all thy love to know ! 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



[Born 1787.] 



William Dana, Esquire, was sheriff of Mid- 
dlesex during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
His only descendant at that time living, Richard 
Daxa., came to America about the middle of the 
seventeenth century, and settled at Cambridge, 
then called Newtown, near Boston. A grandson 
of this gentleman, of the same name, was the 
poet's grandfather. He was an eminent member 
of the bar of Massachusetts, and an active whig 
during the troubles in Boston immediately before 
the Revolution. He married a sister of Edxf> t d 
Trowbridge, who was one of the king's judges, 
and the first lawyer in the colony. Francis 
Daxa, the father of Richard H. Daxa, after 
being graduated at Harvard College, studied law 
with his uncle, Judge Trowbridge, and became 
equally distinguished for his professional abilities. 
He was appointed envoy to Russia during the 
Revolution, was a member of Congress, and of 
the Massachusetts Convention for adopting the 
national constitution, and afterward Chief Jus- 
tice of that Commonwealth. He married a daugh- 
tei of the Honourable Williax Ellert, of 
Rhode Island, one of the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and through her the subject 
of this sketch is lineally descended from Axxe 
Bradstreet, the wife of Governor Bradstheet, 
and daughter of Governor Dudley, who was the 
most celebrated poet of her time in America. 
Thus, it will be seen, our author has good blood 
in his veins: an honour which no one pretends to 
despise who is confident that his grandfather was 
not a felon or a boor. 

Richard Hexht Daxa was born at Cam- 
bridge, on the fifteenth of November, 1787. 
When about ten years old he went to Newport, 
Rhode Island, where he remained until a year or 
two before he entered Harvard College. His 
health, during his boyhood, was too poor to admit 
of very constant application to study ; and much 
of his time was passed in rambling along the rock- 
bound coast, listening to the roar and dashing of 
the waters, and searching for the wild and pic- 
turesque ; indicating thus early that love of na- 
ture which is evinced in nearly all his subsequent 
writings, and acquiring that perfect knowledge of 
the scenery of the sea which is shown in the 
" Buccaneer," and some of his minor pieces. On 
leaving college, in 1807, he returned to Newport, 
and passed nearly two years in studying the Latin 
language and literature, after which he went to 
Baltimore, and entered as a student the law office 
of General Robert Goodhue Harper. The ap- 
proach of the second war with Great Britain, and 
the extreme unpopularity of all persons known to 
belong to the federal party, induced him to return 
to Cambridge, where he finished his course of 
study and opened an office. He soon became a 
13 



member of the legislature, and was for a time a 
warm partisan. 

Feeble health, and great constitutional sensi- 
tiveness, the whole current of his mind and feel- 
ings, convinced him that he was unfitted for his 
profession, and he closed his office to assist his 
relative, Professor Edward T. Chahstng, in the 
management of the "North American Review," 
which had then been established about two years. 
While connected with this periodical he wrote 
several articles which (particularly one upon 
Hazlitt's British Poets) excited much atten- 
tion among the literary men of Boston and Cam- 
bridge. The Pope and Queen Axxe school was 
then triumphant, and the dicta of Jeffrey were 
law. Daxa praised Wordsworth and Cole- 
ridge, and saw much to admire in Byrox ; he 
thought poetry was something more than a recrea- 
tion; that it was something superinduced upon the 
realities of life; he believed the ideal and the 
spiritual might be as real as the visible and the 
tangible ; thought there were truths beyond the 
understanding and the senses, and not to be 
reached by ratiocination ; and indeed broached 
many paradoxes not to be tolerated then, but 
which now the same community has taken up 
and carried to an extent at that time unthought of. 

A strong party rose against these opinions, and 
Daxa had the whole influence of the university, 
of the literary and fashionable society of the city, 
and of the press, to contend against. Being in a 
minority with the " North American Club," he in 
1819 or 1820 gave up all connection with the 
Review, w r hich passed into the hands of the Eve- 
retts and others, and in 1821 began "The Idle 
Man," for which he found a publisher in Mr. 
Charles Wiley, of New York. This was read 
and admired by a class of literary men, but it was 
of too high a character for the period, and on the 
publication of the first number of the second vo- 
lume, Daxa received from Mr. WrEEY informa- 
tion that he was " writing himself into debt," and 
gave up the work. 

In 1825, he published his first poetical produc- 
tion, "The Dying Raven." in the "New York 
Review," then edited by Mr. Bryaxt;* and two 

* While Daxa was a member of the " North American 
Club," the poem entitled "Tlnnatopsis" was offered for 
publication in the Review. Our critic, with one or two 
others, read it, and concurred in the belief that it could 
not have been written by an American. There was a 
finish and completeness about it, added to the grandeur 
and beauty of the ideas, to which, it was supposed, none 
of our own writers had attained. Daxa was informed, 
however, that the author of it was a member of the Mas- 
sachusetts Senate, then in session, and he walked imme- 
diately from Cambridge to the State House in Boston to 
obtain a view of the remarkable man. A plain, middle- 
aged gentleman, with a business-like aspect, was pointed 



98 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



years after gave to the public, in a small volume, 
"The Buccaneer, and other Poems." This was 
well received, the popular taste having, in the five 
years which had elapsed since the publication of 
the " Idle Man," been considerably improved ; but 
as his publishers failed soon after it was printed, 
the poet was not made richer by his toil. In 1833 
he published his " Poems and Prose Writings," 
including "The Buccaneer," and other pieces em- 
braced in his previous volume, with some new 
poems, and the "Idle Man," except the few papers 
written for it by his friends. For this he received 
from his bookseller about enough to make up for 
the loss he had sustained by the " Idle Man." His 
case illustrates the usual extent of the rewards of 
exertion in the higher departments of literature in 
this country. Had his first work been successful, 
he would probably have been a voluminous writer. 

In 1839, he delivered in Boston and New York 
a series of lectures on English poetry, and the 
great masters of the art, which were warmly ap- 
plauded by the educated and judicious. These 
have not yet been printed. 

The longest and most remarkable of Dana's 
poems is the " Buccaneer," a story in which he 
has depicted with singular power the stronger and 
darker passions. It is based on a tradition of a 
murder committed on an island on the coast of 
New England, by a pirate, whose guilt in the end 



meets with strange and terrible retribution. In 
attempting to compress his language he is some- 
times slightly obscure, and his verse is occasionally 
harsh, but never feeble, never without meaning. 
The "Buccaneer" is followed by a poem of very 
different character, entitled "The Changes of 
Home," in which is related the affection of two 
young persons, in humble life, whose marriage is 
deferred until the lover shall have earned the 
means of subsistence ; his departure in search 
of gain ; his return in disappointment ; his second 
departure, and death in absence — a sad history, 
and one that is too often lived. " Factitious 
Life," " Thoughts on the Soul," and " The Hus- 
band's and Wife's Grave," are the longest of his 
other poems, and, as well as his shorter pieces, 
they are distinguished for high religious purpose, 
profound philosophy, simple sentiment, and pure 
and vigorous diction. 

All the writings of Daxa belong to the perma- 
nent literature of the country. His prose and 
poetry will find every year more and more readers. 
Something resembling poetry " is oftentimes borne 
into instant and turbulent popularity, while a work 
of genuine character may be lying neglected by 
all except the poets. But the tide of time flows 
on, and the former begins to settle to the bottom, 
while the latter rises slowly and steadily to the 
surface, and goes forward, for a spirit is in it." 



THE BUCCANEER. 



" Boy with thy blac berd, 
I rede that thou blin, 
And sone set the to shrive, 
With sorrow of thi syn ; 
Ze met with the merchandes 
And made tham ful bare : 
It es gude reason and right 
That ze evill misfare." 

Laurence Minot. 

The island lies nine leagues away. 

Along its solitary shore, 
Of craggy rock and sandy bay, 
No sound but ocean's roar, 
Save, where the bold, wild sea-bird makes her home, 
Her shrill cry coming through the sparkling foam. 

But when the light winds lie at rest, 

And on the glassy, heaving sea, 
The black duck, with her glossy breast, 
Sits swinging silently ; 
How beautiful ! no ripples break the reach, 
And silvery waves go noiseless up the beach. 

out to him ; a single glance was sufficient ; the legislator 
could not be the author of Thanatopsis ; and he returned 
without seeking an introduction. A slight and natural 
mistake of names had misled his informant. The real 
author being at length discovered, a correspondence en- 
sued; and Bryant being invited to deliver the Phi Beta 
Kappa poem at Cambridge, they became personally ac- 
quainted, and a friendship sprung up which has lasted 
until the present time. 



And inland rests the green, warm dell ; 

The brook comes tinkling down its side ; 
From out the trees the Sabbath bell 
Rings cheerful, far and wide, 
Mingling its sound with bleatings of the flocks, 
That feed about the vale among the rocks. 

Nor holy bell nor pastoral bleat 

In former days within the vale ; 
Flapp'd in the bay the pirate's sheet ; 
Curses were on the gale ; 
Rich goods lay on the sand, and murder'd men ; 
Pirate and wrecker kept their revels then. 

But calm, low voices, words of grace, 

Now slowly fall upon the ear ; 
A quiet look is in each face, 
Subdued and holy fear : 
Each motion gentle ; all is kindly done — 
Come, listen, how from crime this isle was won. 



Twelve years are gone since Matthew Lee 

Held in this isle unquestion'd sway ; 
A dark, low, brawny man was he ; 
His law — " It is my way." 
Beneath his thick-set brows a sharp light broke 
From small gray eyes ; his laugh a triumph spoke. 
ir. 
Cruel of heart, and strong of arm, 

Loud in his sport, and keen for spoil, 
He little reck'd of good or harm, 
Fierce both in mirth and toil ; 
Yet like a dog could fawn, if need there were : 
Speak mildly, when he would, or look in fear 



RICHARD H. DANA 



90 



Amid the uproar of the storm, 

And by the lightning's sharp, red glare, 
Were seen Lee's face and sturdy form; 
His axe glanced quick in air; 
Whose corpse at morn is floating in the sedge ] 
There's blood and hair, Mat, on thy axe's edge. 



" Nay, ask him yonder ; let him tell ; 

I make the brute, not man, my mark. 
Who walks these cliffs, needs heed him well ! 
Last night was fearful dark. 
Think ye the lashing waves will spare or feel 1 
An ugly gash ! — These rocks — they cut like steel.' 



He wiped his axe ; and, turning round, 
Said, with a cold and harden'd smile, 
" The hemp is saved — the man is drown'd. 
Wilt let him float a while 1 
Or give him Christian burial on the strand ? 
He '11 find his fellows peaceful 'neath the sand." 



Lee's waste was greater than his gain. 

" I '11 try the merchant's trade," he thought, 
« Though less the toil to kill, than feign — 
Things sweeter robb'd than bought. — 
But, then, to circumvent them at their arts !" 
Ship mann'd, and spoils for cargo, Lee departs. 



'T is fearful, on the broad-back'd waves, 

To feel them shake, and hear them roar; 
Beneath, unsounded, dreadful caves: 
Around, no cheerful shore. 
Yet mid this solemn world what deeds are done 1 
The curse goes up, the deadly sea-fight's won ; 

VIII. 

And wanton talk, and laughter heard, 

Where speaks God's deep and awful voice. 
There's awe from that lone ocean-bird ; 
Pray ye, when ye rejoice ! 
"Leave prayers to priests," cries Lee; "I'm ruler 

here ! 
These fellows know full well whom they should 
fear !" 



The ship works hard ; the seas run high ; 

Their white tops, flashing through the night, 
Give to the eager, straining eye, 
A wild and shifting light. 
" Hard at the pumps ! — The leak is gaining fast ! 
Lighten the ship ! — The devil rode that blast !" 



Ocean has swallow'd for its food 

Spoils thou didst gain in murderous glee ; 
Mat, could its waters wash out blood, 
It had been well for thee. 
Crime fits for crime. And no repentant tear 
Hast thou for sin? — Then wait thine hour of fear. 



The sea has like a plaything toss'd 

That heavy hull the livelong night. 
The man of sin — he is not lost ; 
Soft breaks the morning light. 
Torn spars and sails — her cargo in the deep — 
The ship makes port with slow and labouring 
sweep. 



Within a Spanish port she rides. 

Angry and sour'd, Lee walks her deck. 
" Then peaceful trade a curse betides ] — 
And thou, good ship, a wreck ! 
Ill luck in change ! — Ho ! cheer ye up, my men ! 
Rigg'd, and at sea, we'll to old work again!" 

XIII. 

A sound is in the Pyrenees ! 

Whirling and dark, comes roaring down 
A tide, as of a thousand seas, 
Sweeping both cowl and crown. 
On field and vineyard, thick and red it stood. 
Spain's streets and palaces are wet with blood, 



And wrath and terror shake the land ; 

The peaks shine clear in watchfire lights ; 
Soon comes the tread of that stout band — 
Bold Arthur and his knights. 
Awake ye, Merlin ! Hear the shout from Spain ! 
The spell is broke! — Arthur is come again! 



Too late for thee, thou young fair bride : 

The lips are cold, the brow is pale, 
That thou didst kiss in love and pride : 
He cannot hear thy wail, 
Whom thou didst lull with fondly murmur'd 

sound : 
His couch is cold and lonely in the ground. 



He fell for Spain — her Spain no more ; 
For he was gone who made it dear ; 
And she would seek some distant shore. 
At rest from strife and fear, 
And wait, amid her sorrows, till the day 
His voice of love should call her thence away. 



Lee feign'd him grieved, and bow'd him low. 

'T would joy his heart could he but aid 
So good a lady in her wo, 
He meekly, smoothly said. 
With wealth and servants she is soon aboard, 
And that white steed she rode beside her lord. 

XVIII. 

The sun goes down upon the sea ; 

The shadows gather round her home. 
" How like a pall are ye to me ! 
My home, how like a tomb ! 
O ! blow, ye flowers of Spain, above his head. 
Ye will not blow o'er me when I am dead." 



100 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



And now the stars are burning bright ; 

Yet still she 's looking toward the shore 
Beyond the waters black in night. 
" I ne'er shall see thee more ! 
Ye 're many, waves, yet lonely seems your flow ; 
And I 'm alone — scarce know I where to go." 



Sleep, sleep, thou sad one, on the sea ! 
The wash of waters lulls thee now ; 
His arm no more will pillow thee, 
Thy ringers on his brow. 
He is not near, to hush thee, or to save. 
The ground is his — the sea must be thy grave. 



The moon comes up ; the night goes on. 

Why, in the shadow of the mast, 
Stands that dark, thoughtful man alone 1 
Thy pledge, man ; keep it fast ! 
Bethink thee of her youth and sorrows, Lee ; 
Helpless, alone — and, then, her trust in thee. 

XXII. 

When told the hardships thou hadst borne, 

Her words to thee were like a charm. 
With uncheer'd grief her heart is worn ; 
Thou wilt not do her harm ! 
He looks out on the sea that sleeps in light, 
And growls an oath — « It is too still to-night !" 

XXIII. 

He sleeps ; but dreams of massy gold, 

And heaps of pearl. He stretch'd his hands. 
He hears a voice — " 111 man, withhold !" 
A pale one near him stands. 
Her breath comes deathly cold upon his cheek ; 
Her touch is cold. — He wakes with piercing shriek. 

XXIV. 

He wakes ; but no relentings wake 

Within his angry, restless soul. 
" What, shall a dream Mat's purpose shake ? 
The gold will make all whole. 
Thy merchant trade had nigh unmann'd thee, lad ! 
What, balk my chance because a woman's sad !" 

XXV. 

He cannot look on her mild eye ; 

Her patient words his spirit quell. 
Within that evil heart there lie 
The hates and fears of hell. 
His speech is short ; he wears a surly brow. 
There 's none will hear her* shriek. What fear 
ye now 1 

XXVI. 

The workings of the soul ye fear ; 

Ye fear the power that goodness hath ; 
Ye fear the Unseen One, ever near, 
Walking his ocean path. 
From out the silent void there comes a cry — 
" Vengeance is mine ! Thou, murderer, too, shalt 
die !" 



XXVII. 

Nor dread of ever-during wo, 

Nor the sea's awful solitude, 
Can make thee, wretch, thy crime forego. 
Then, bloody hand, — to blood ! 
The scud is driving wildly overhead ; 
The stars burn dim ; the ocean moans its dead. 

xxviii. 

Moan for the living ; moan our sins, — 

The wrath of man, more fierce than thine. 
Hark ! still thy waves ! — The work begins — 
Lee makes the deadly sign. 
The crew glide down like shadows. Eye and hand 
Speak fearful meanings through that silent band. 

XXIX. 

They're gone. — The helmsman stands alone: 

And one leans idly o'er the bow. 
Still as a tomb the ship keeps on ; 
Nor sound nor stirring now. 
Hush, hark ! as from the centre of the deep — 
Shrieks — fiendish yells ! They stab them in their 
sleep ! 

XXX. 

The scream of rage, the groan, the strife, 

The blow, the gasp, the horrid cry, 
The panting, throttled prayer for life, 
The dying's heaving sigh, 
The murderer's curse, the dead man's fix'd, still 

glare, 
And fear's and death's cold sweat — they all are 
there ! 

XXXI. 

On pale, dead men, on burning cheek, 

On quick, fierce eyes, brows hot and damp, 
On hands that with the warm blood reek, 
Shines the dim cabin lamp. 
Lee look'd. *< They sleep so sound," he, laughing, 

said, 
« They '11 scarcely wake for mistress or for maid." 



A crash ! They 've forced the door, — and then 

One long, long, shrill, and piercing scream 
Comes thrilling through the growl of men. 
'T is hers ! — God, redeem 
From worse than death, thy suffering, helpless child! 
That dreadful shriek again — sharp, sharp, and wild! 

XXXIII. 

It ceased. — With speed o' th' lightning's flash, 

A loose-robed form, with streaming hair, 
Shoots by. — A leap — a quick, short splash ! 
'T is gone ! — There 's nothing there ! 
The waves have swept away the bubbling tide. 
Bright-crested waves, how calmly on they ride f 

XXXIV. 

She's sleeping in her silent cave. 

Nor hears the stern, loud roar above, 
Nor strife of man on land or wave. 
Young thing ! her home of love 
She soon has reach'd ! — Fair, unpolluted thing ! 
They harm'd her not ! — Was dying suffering 1 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



101 



O, no ! — To live when joy was dead ; 

To go with one lone, pining thought — 
To mournful love her being wed — 
Feeling what death had wrought ; 
To live the child of wo, yet shed no tear, 
Bear kindness, and yet share no joy nor fear ; 

XXXVI. 

To look on man, and deem it strange 

That he on things of earth should brood, 
When all its throng'd and busy range 
To her was solitude — 
0, this was bitterness ! Death came and press'd 
Her wearied lids, and brought her sick heart rest. 

XXXVII. 

Why look ye on each other so, 

And speak no word? — Ay, shake the head ! 
She's gone where ye can never go, 
What fear ye from the dead ? 
They tell no tales ; and ye are all true men ; 
But wash away that blood ; then, home again !• — 

XXXVIII. 

'T is on your souls ; it will not out ! 

Lee, why so lost ? 'Tis not like thee! 
Come, where thy revel, oath, and shout ? 
" That pale one in the sea ! — 
I mind not blood. — But she — I cannot tell ! 
A spirit was 't ? — it flash'd like fires of hell ! — 



" And when it pass'd there was no tread ! 

It leap'd the deck. — Who heard the sound? 
I heard none! — Say, what was it fled? — 
Poor girl ! — And is she drown'd ? — 
Went down these depths? How dark they look, 

and cold! 
She's yonder! stop her! — Now! — there! — hold 
her, hold!" 



They gazed upon his ghastly face. 

"What ails thee, Lee ; and why that glare?" 
"Look! ha, 'tis gone, and not a trace! 
No, no, she was not there ! — 
Who of you said ye heard her when she fell ? 
'Twas strange — I'll not be fool'd — Will no one 
tell?" 

XII. 

He paused. And soon the wildness pass'd. 

Then came the tingling flush of shame. 
Remorse and fear are gone as fast. 
" The silly thing 's to blame 
To quit us so. 'T is plain she loved us not ; 
Or she 'd have stay'd a while, and shared my cot." 

XLII. 

And then the ribald laugh'd. The jest, 

Though old and foul, loud laughter drew ; 
And fouler yet came from the rest 
Of that infernal crew. 
Note, heaven, their blasphemy, their broken trust! 
Lust panders murder — murder panders lust! 



Now slowly up they bring the dead 
From out that silent, dim-lit room. 
No prayer at their quick burial said ; 
No friend to weep their doom. 
The hungry waves have seized them one by one ; 
And, swallowing down their prey, go roaring on. 



Cries Lee, "We must not bebetray'd. 

'Tis but to add another corse! 
Strange words, 't is said, an ass once bray'd : 
I '11 never trust a horse ! 
Out ! throw him on the waves alive ! He '11 swim ; 
For once a horse shall ride ; we all ride him." 

XLT. 

Such sound to mortal ear ne'er came 

As rang far o'er the waters wide. 
It shook with fear the stoutest frame: 
The horse is on the tide ! 
As the waves leave, or lift him up, his cry 
Comes lower now, and now 'tis near and high. 

XLVI. 

And through the swift wave's yesty crown 

His scared eyes shoot a fiendish light, 
And fear seems wrath. He now sinks down, 
Now heaves again to sight, 
Then drifts away ; and through the night they hear 
Far off that dreadful cry. — But morn is near. 

XLVII. 

hadst thou known what deeds were done, 

When thou wast shining far away, 
Would'st thou let fall, calm-coming sun, 
Thy warm and silent ray ? 
The good are in their graves ; thou canst not cheer 
Their dark, cold mansions : Sin alone is here. 



"The deed's complete! The gold is ours! 

There, wash away that bloody stain ! 
Pray, who 'd refuse what, fortune showers ? 
Now, lads, we '11 lot our gain. 
Must fairly share, you know, what's fairly got? 
A truly good night's work ! Who sa} r s 't was not i" 

XLIX. 

There 's song, and oath, and gaming deep, 
Hot words, and laughter, mad carouse; 
There 's naught of prayer, and little sleep ; 
The devil keeps the house ! 
"Lee cheats!" cried Jack. Lee struck him to 

the heart. 
"That's foul!" one mutter'd. — "Fool! you take 
your part ! — 

i. 

" The fewer heirs the richer, man ! 

Hold forth thy palm, and keep thy prate ! 
Our life, we read, is but a span. 
What matters, soon or late?" 
And when on shore, and asked, Did many die ' 
" Near half my crew, poor lads !" he 'd say, and sigh. 
i2 



102 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



Within our bay, one stormy night, 

The isle-men saw boats make for shore, 
With here and there a dancing light, 
That flash'd on man and oar. 
When hail'd, the rowing stopp'd, and all was dark. 
" Ha ! lantern-work ! — We '11 home ! They 're play- 
ing shark !" 

in. 
Next day. at noontime, toward the town, 

All stared and wonder'd much to see 
Mat and his men come strolling down. 
The boys shout, "Here comes Lee !" 
" Thy ship, good Lee ]" " Not many leagues from 

shore 
Our ship by chance took fire." — They learn'd no 
more. 

Mil. 

He and his crew were flush of gold. 

" You did not lose your cargo, then !" 
" Learn, where all 's fairly bought and sold, 
Heaven prospers those true men. 
Forsake your evil ways, as we forsook 
Our ways of sin, and honest courses took ! 



" Wouldst see my log-book 1 Fairly writ 

With pen of steel, and ink of blood ! 
How lightly doth the conscience sit ! 
Learn, truth's the only good." ' 
And thus, with flout, and cold and impious jeer, 
He fled repentance, if he 'scaped not fear. 



Remorse and fear he drowns in drink. 

" Come, pass the bowl, my jolly crew! 
It thicks the blood to mope and think. 
Here's merry days, though few!" 
And then he quaffs. — So riot reigns within ; 
So brawl and laughter shake that house of sin. 



Mat lords it now throughout the isle. 
His hand falls heavier than before. 
All dread alike his frown or smile. 
None come within his door, 
Save those who dipp'd their hands in blood with him ; 
Save those who laugh'd to see the white horse swim. 



" To-night 's our anniversary ; 

And, mind me, lads, we '11 have it kept 
With royal state and special glee ! 
Better with those who slept 
Their sleep that night, had he.be now, who slinks ! 
And health and wealth to him who bravely drinks !" 

LVIII. 

The words they speak, we may not speak. 

The tales they tell, we may not tell. 
Mere mortal man, forbear to seek 
The secrets of that hell ! 
Their shouts grow loud : — 'T is near mid-hour of 

night : 
What means upon the waters that red light 1 



Not bigger than a star it seems : 

And, now, 'tis like the bloody moon: 
And, now, it shoots in hairy streams 
Its light ! — 'twill reach us soon ! 
A ship ! and all on fire ! — hull, yards, and mast ! 
Her sheets are sheets of flame! — She's nearing 
fast! 

xx. 
And now she rides, upright and still, 

Shedding a wild and lurid light 
Around the cove, on inland hill, 
Waking the gloom of night. 
All breathes of terror ! men, in dumb amaze, 
Gaze on each other 'neath the horrid blaze. 



It scares the sea-birds from their nests ; 

They dart and wheel with deafening screams ; 
Now dark — and now their wings and breasts 
Flash back disastrous gleams. 
0, sin, what hast thou done on this fair earth 1 
The world, man, is wailing o'er thy birth. 



And what comes up above the wave, 

So ghastly white 1 — A spectral head ! — 
A horse's head ! — (May Heaven save 
Those looking on the dead — 
The waking dead !) There, on the sea, he stands — 
The Spectre-Horse ! — He moves ; he gains the 
sands ! 



Onward he speeds. His ghostly sides 

Are streaming with a cold, blue light. 
Heaven keep the wits of him who rides 
The Spectre-Horse to-night ! 
His path is shining like a swift ship's wake ; 
Before Lee's door he gleams like day's gray break. 



The revel now is high within ; 

It breaks upon the midnight air. 

They little think, mid mirth and din, 

What spirit waits them there. 

As if the sky became a voice, there spread 

A sound to appal the living, stir the dead. 

LXV. 

The spirit-steed sent up the neigh. 

It seem'd the living trump of hell, 
Sounding to call the damn'd away, 
To join the host that fell. 
It rang along the vaulted sky : the shore 
Jarr'd hard, as when the thronging surges roar. 



It rang in ears that knew the sound ; 

And hot, flush'd cheeks are blanch'd with tear 
And why does Lee look wildly round 1 
Thinks he the drown'd horse near? 
He drops his cup — his lips are stiff with fright. 
Nay, sit thee down ! It is thy banquet night. 






RICHARD H. DANA. 103 


XXVII. 


XXXV. 


" I cannot sit. I needs must go : 


0, thou wast born for things of love ; 


The spell is on my spirit now. 


Making more lovely in thy shine 


I go to dread — I go to wo !" 


Whate'er thou look'st on. Hosts above, 


0, who so weak as thou, 


In that soft light of thine, 


Strong man ! — His hoof upon the door-stone, see, 


Burn softer : — earth, in silvery veil, seems heaven. 


The shadow stands ! — His eyes are on thee, Lee ! — 


Thou 'rt going down ! — hast left him unforgiven ! 


1XVIII. 


XXXVI. 


Thy hair pricks up ! — " 0, 1 must bear 


The far, low west is bright no more. 


His damp, cold breath ! It chills my frame ! 


How still it is ! No sound is heard 


His eyes — their near and dreadful glare 


At sea, or all along the shore, 


Speak that I must not name!" 


But cry of passing bird. 


Thou 'rt mad to mount that horse ! — " A power 


Thou living thing — and dar'st thou come so 


within, 


near 


I must obey — cries, < Mount thee, man of sin !' " 


These wild and ghastly shapes of death and fear 1 


LXIX. 


XXXVII. 


He's now upon the spectre's back, 


Now long that thick, red light has shone 


With rein of silk, and curb of gold. 


On stern, dark rocks, and deep, still bay, 


'T is fearful speed !— the rein is slack 


On man and horse, that seem of stone, 


Within his senseless hold ; 


So motionless are they. 


Upborne by an unseen power, he onward rides, 


But now its lurid fire less fiercely burns : 


Yet touches not the shadow-beast he strides. 


The night is going — faint, gray dawn returns. 


LXX. 


XXXVIII. 


He goes with speed ; he goes with dread ! 


That spectre-steed now slowly pales ; 


And now they 're on the hanging steep ! 


Now changes like the moonlit cloud ; 


And, now ! the living and the dead, 


That cold, thin light, now slowly fails. 


They '11 make the horrid leap ! 


Which wrapp'd them like a shroud. 


The horse stops short : — his feet are on the verge. 


Both ship and horse are fading into air. — 


He stands, like marble, high above the surge. 


Lost, mazed, alone — see, Lee is standing there ! 


LXXI. 


XXXIX. 


And, nigh, the tall ship yet burns on, 


The morning air blows fresh on him : 


With red, hot spars, and crackling flame. 


The waves dance gladly in his sight ; 


From hull to gallant, nothing 's gone. 


The sea-birds call, and wheel, and skim — 


She burns, and yet's the same ! 


0, blessed morning light ! 


Her hot, red flame is beating, all the night, 


He doth not hear their joyous call ; he sees 


On man and horse, in their cold, phosphor light. 


No beauty in the wave ; nor feels the breeze. 


txxii. 


LXXX. 


Through that cold light the fearful man 


For he's accursed from all that's good ; 


Sits looking on the burning ship. 


He ne'er must know its healing power ; 


He ne'er again will curse and ban. 


The sinner on his sins must brood, 


How fast he moves the lip ! 


And wait, alone, his hour. 


And yet he does not speak, or make a sound ! 


A stranger to earth's beauty — human love ; 


What see you, Lee 1 the bodies of the drown'd ? 


There 's here no rest for him, no hope above ! 


LXXIII. 


XXXXI. 


« I look, where mortal man may not — 


The hot sun beats upon his head ; 


Into the chambers of the deep. 


He stands beneath its broad, fierce blaze, 


I see the dead, long, long forgot ; 


As stiff and cold as one that's dead : 


I see them in their sleep. 


A troubled, dreamy maze 


A dreadful power is mine, which none can know, 


Of some unearthly horror, all he knows — 


Save he who leagues his soul with death and wo." 


Of some wild horror past, and coming woes. 


LXXIV. 


LXXXII. 


Thou mild, sad mother — waning moon, 


The gull has found her place on shore ; 


Thy last, low, melancholy ray 


The sun gone down again to rest ; 


Shines toward him. Quit him not so soon ! 


And all is still but ocean's roar : 


Mother, in mercy, stay ! 


There stands the man unbless'd. 


Despair and death are with him ; ai\d canst thou, 


But, see, he moves — he turns, as asking where 


With that kind, earthward look, go leave him now ] 


His mates ! — Why looks he with that piteous stare ? 



104 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



LXXXIII. 

Go, get thee home, and end thy mirth ! 

Go, call the revellers again ! 
They 're fled the isle ; and o'er the earth 
Are wanderers like Cain. 
As he his door-stone pass'd, the air blew chill. 
The wine is on the board ; Lee, take thy fill ! 

XXXXIV. 

"There's none to meet me, none to cheer; 
The seats are empty — lights burnt out ; 
And I, alone, must sit me here : 
Would I could hear their shout !" 
He ne'er shall hear it more — more taste his wine ! 
Silent he sits within the still moonshine. 

1XXXY. 

Day came again; and up he rose, 

A weary man from his lone board ; 
Nor merry feast, nor sweet repose 
Did that long night afford. 
No shadowy-coming night, to bring him rest — 
No dawn, to chase the darkness of his breast ! 



He walks within the day's full glare 

A darken'd man. Where'er he comes, 
All shun him. Children peep and stare ; 
Then, frighten'd, seek their homes. 
Through all the crowd a thrilling horror ran. 
They point, and say, — " There goes the wicked 



LXXXVII. 

He turns and curses in his wrath 

Both man and child ; then hastes away 
Shoreward, or takes some gloomy path ; 
But there he cannot stay : 
Terror and madness drive him back to men ; 
His hate of man to solitude again. 

1XXXVIII. 

Time passes on, and he grows bold — 

His eye is fierce, his oaths are loud ; 
None dare from Lee the hand withhold ; 
He rules and scoffs the crowd. 
But still at heart there lies a secret fear; 
For now the year's dread round is drawing near. 



He swears, but he is sick at heart ; 

He laughs, but he turns deadly pale ; 
His restless eye and sudden start — 
These tell the dreadful taje 
That will be told : it needs no words from thee, 
Thou self-sold slave to fear and misery. 



Bond-slave of sin, see there — that light ! 

"Ha! take me — take me from its blaze!" 
Nay, thou must ride the steed to-night ! 
But other weary days 
And nights must shine and darken o'er thy head, 
Ere thou shalt go with him to meet the dead. 



Again the ship lights all the land ; 

Again Lee strides the spectre-beast; 
Again upon the cliff they stand. 
This once he '11 be released ! — 
Gone horse and ship; but Lee's last hope is o'er; 
Nor laugh, nor scoff, nor rage can help him more. 

xcn. 
His spirit heard that spirit say, 

" Listen ! — I twice have come to thee. 
Once more — and then a dreadful way ! 
And thou must go with me!" 
Ay, cling to earth, as sailor to the rock! 
Sea-swept, suck'd down in the tremendous shock. 

xcni. 

He goes ! — So thou must loose thy hold, 

And go with Death; nor breathe the balm 
Of early air, nor light behold, 
Nor sit thee in the calm 
Of gentle thoughts, where good men wait their 

close. 
In life, or death, where look'st thou for repose 1 

xciy. 

Who's sitting on that long, black ledge, 

Which makes so far out in the sea; 
Feeling the kelp-weed on its edge 1 
Poor, idle Matthew Lee ! 
So weak and pale 1 A year and little more, 
And bravely did he lord it round this shore ! 



And on the shingles now he sits, 

And rolls the pebbles 'neath his hands ; 
Now walks the beach ; then stops by fits, 
And scores the smooth, wet sands ; 
Then tries each cliff, and cove, and jut, that bounds 
The isle ; then home from many weary rounds. 



They ask him why he wanders so, 

From day to day, the uneven strand 1 
« I wish, I wish that I might go ! 
But I would go by land ; 
And there's no way that I can find — I 've tried 
All day and night!" — He seaward look'd, and 
sigh'd. 

XCTII. 

It brought the tear to many an eye 

That, once, his eye had made to quail. 
" Lee, go with us ; our sloop is nigh ; 
Come ! help us hoist her sail." 
He shook. " You know the spirit-horse I ride ! 
He '11 let me on the sea with none beside !" 



He views the ships that come and go, 

Looking so like to living things. 
! 't is a proud and gallant show 
Of bright and broad-spread wings, 
Making it light around them as they keep 
Their course right onward through the unsounded 
deep. 



RICHARD 


H. DANA. 105 


XCIX. 


CVII. 


And where the far-off sand-bars lift 


To-night the charmed number 's told. 


Their backs in long and narrow line, 


" Twice have I come for thee," it said. 


The breakers shout, and leap, and shift, 


"Once more, and none shall thee behold. 


And send the sparkling brine 


Come ! live one, to the dead !" — 


Into the air ; then rush to mimic strife — 


So hears his soul, and fears the coming night ; 


Glad creatures of the sea, and full of life — 


Yet sick and weary of the soft, calm light. 


c. 

But not to Lee. He sits alone; 


cviii. 

Again he sits within that room : 


No fellowship nor joy for him. 


All day he leans at that still board ; 


Borne down by wo, he makes no moan, 


None to bring comfort to his gloom, 


Though tears will sometimes dim 


Or speak a friendly word. 


That asking eye. 0, how his worn thoughts 


Weaken'd with fear, lone, haunted by remorse, 


crave — 


Poor, shatter'd wretch, there waits he that pale 


Not joy again, but rest within the grave. 


horse. 


CI. 

The rocks are dripping in the mist 


CIX. 

Not long he waits. Where now are gone 


That lies so heavy off the shore ; 


Peak, citadel, and tower, that stood 


Scarce seen the running breakers ; — list 


Beautiful, while the west sun shone 


Their dull and smother'd roar ! 


And bathed them in his flood 


Lee hearkens to their voice. — " I hear, I hear 


Of airy glory? — Sudden darkness fell ; 


Your call. — Not yet ! — I know my time is near !" 


And down they went, peak, tower, citadel. 


en. 

And now the mist seems taking shape, 


ex. 

The darkness, like a dome of stone, 


Forming a dim, gigantic ghost, — 


Ceils up the heavens. — 'T is hush as death — 


Enormous thing! — There's no escape; 


All but the ocean's dull, low moan. 


'T is close upon the coast. 


How hard Lee draws his breath ! 


Lee kneels, but cannot pray. — Why mock him so 1 


He shudders as he feels the working Power. 


The ship has clear'd the fog, Lee, see her go ! 


Arouse thee, Lee ! up ! man thee for thine hour ! 


cm. 

A sweet, low voice, in starry nights, 


CXI. 

'T is close at hand ; for there, once more, 


Chants to his ear a plaining song ; 


The burning ship. Wide sheets of flame 


Its tones come winding up the heights, 


And shafts of fire she show'd before ; — 


Telling of wo and wrong ; 


Twice thus she hither came ; — 


And he must listen, till the stars grow dim, 


But now she rolls a naked hulk, and throws 


The song that gentle voice doth sing to him. 


A wasting light ! then, settling, down she goes. 


CIV. 

0, it is sad that aught so mild 


CXII. 

And where she sank, up slowly came 


Should bind the soul with bands of fear; 


The Spectre-Horse from out the sea. 


That strains to soothe a little child, 


And there he stands ! His pale sides flame. 


The man should dread to hear ! 


He '11 meet thee shortly, Lee. 


But sin hath broke the world's sweet peace — un- 


He treads the waters as a solid floor ; 


strung 


He 's moving on. Lee waits him at the door. 


The harmonious chords to which the angels sung. 


CXIII. 


cv. 


They 're met. — « I know thou comest for me, 


In thick, dark nights he 'd take his seat 


Lee's spirit to the spectre said ; 


High up the cliffs, and feel them shake, 


" I know that I must go with thee — 


As swung the sea with heavy beat 


Take me not to the dead. 


Below — and hear it break 


It was not I alone that did the deed !" 


With savage roar, then pause and gather strength, 


Dreadful the eye of that still, spectral steed. 


And then, come tumbling in its swollen length. 


CXIV. 


CVI. 


Lee cannot turn. There is a force 


But he no more shall haunt the beach, 


In that fix'd eye, which holds him fast. 


Nor sit upon the tall cliff's crown, 


How still they stand ! — the man and horse. 


Nor go the round of all that reach, 


" Thine hour is almost past." 


Nor feebly sit him down, 


"0, spare me," cries the wretch, "thou fearful 


Watching the swaying weeds : — another day, 


one !" 


And he '11 have gone far hence that dreadful way. 
14 


" My time is full — I must not go alone." 



106 



RICHARD H. DANA. 






" I 'm weak and faint. 0, let me stay !" 

" Nay, murderer, rest nor stay for thee !" 
The horse and man are on their way ; 
He bears him to the sea. 
Hark ! how the spectre breathes through this still 

night : 
See, from his nostrils streams a deathly light ! 



He 's on the beach ; but stops not there ; 

He 's on the sea ! — that dreadful horse ! 
Lee flings and writhes in wild despair ! — 
In vain ! The spirit-corse 
Holds him by fearful spell ; — he cannot leap. 
Within that horrid light he rides the deep. 



It lights the sea around their track — 

The curling comb, and dark steel wave ; 
There, yet, sits Lee the spectre's back — 
Gone ! gone ! and none to save ! 
They 're seen no more ; the night has shut them in. 
May Heaven have pity on thee, man of sin ! 

CXVIII. 

The earth has wash'd away its stain ; 

The sealed-up sky is breaking forth, 
Mustering its glorious hosts again, 
From the far south and north ; 
The climbing moon plays on the rippling sea. 
— 0, whither on its waters rideth Lee 1 



THE OCEAN.* 

Now stretch your eye off shore, o'er waters made 
To cleanse the air and bear the world's great trade, 
To rise, and wet the mountains near the sun, 
Then back into themselves in rivers run, 
Fulfilling mighty uses far and wide, 
Through earth, in air, or here, as ocean-tide. 

Ho ! how the giant heaves himself, and strains 
And flings to break his strong and viewless chains ; 
Foams in his wrath ; and at his prison doors, 
Hark ! hear him ! how he beats and tugs and roars, 
As if he would break forth again and sweep 
Each living thing within his lowest deep. 

Type of the Infinite! I look away 
Over thy billows, and I cannot stay 
My thought upon a resting-place, or make 
A shore beyond my vision, where they break ; 
But on my spirit stretches, till it's pain 
To think ; then rests, and then puts forth again. 
Thou hold'st me by a spell ; and on thy beach 
I feel all soul ; and thoughts unmeasured reach 
Far back beyond all date. And, O ! how old 
Thou art to me. For countless years thou hast 

roll'd. 
Before an ear did hear thee, thou didst mourn, 
Prophet of sorrows, o'er a race unborn ; 
Waiting, thou mighty minister of death, 
Lonely thy work, ere man had drawn his breath. 

* From " Factitious Life." 



At last thou didst it well ! The dread command 
Came, and thou swept' st to death the breathing land ; 
And then once more, unto the silent heaven 
Thy lone and melancholy voice was given. 

And though the land is throng'd again, Sea ! 
Strange sadness touches all that goes with thee. 
The small bird's plaining note, the wild, sharp call, 
Share thy own spirit : it is sadness all ! 
How dark and stern upon thy waves looks down 
Yonder tall cliff-— he with the iron crown. 
And see ! those sable pines along the steep, 
Are come to join thy requiem, gloomy deep ! 
Like stoled monks they stand and chant the dirge 
Over the dead, with thy low beating surge. 



DAYBREAK. 

"The Pilgrim they laid in a large upper chamber, whose 
window opened towards the sun-rising: the name of the 
chamber was Peace ; where he slept till break of day, 
and then he awoke and sang."— The Pilgrim's Progress. 

Now, brighter than the host that all night long, 

In fiery armour, far up in the sky 

Stood watch, thou comest to wait the morning's 

song, 
Thou comest to tell me day again is nigh, 
Star of the dawning ! Cheerful is thine eye ; 
And yet in the broad day it must grow dim. 
Thou seem'st to look on me, as asking why 
My mourning eyes with silent tears do swim ; 
Thou bid' st me turn to God, and seek my rest in 

Him. 

Canst thou grow sad, thou say'st, as earth grows 

bright 1 
And sigh, when little birds begin discourse 
In quick, low voices, ere the streaming light 
Pours on their nests, from out the day's fresh 

source 1 
With creatures innocent thou must perforce 
A sharer be, if that thine heart be pure. 
And holy hour like this, save sharp remorse, 
Of ills and pains of life must be the cure, 
And breathe in kindred calm, and teach thee to 

endure. 

I feel its calm. But there's a sombrous hue, 
Edging that eastern cloud, of deep, dull red ; 
Nor glitters yet the cold and heavy dew ; 
And all the woods and hill-tops stand outspread 
With dusky lights, which warmth nor comfort 

shed. 
Still — save the bird that scarcely lifts its song— 
The vast world seems the tomb of all the dead — 
The silent city emptied of its throng, 
And ended, all alike, grief, mirth, love, hate, and 

wrong. 

But wrong, and hate, and love, and grief, and mirth 
Will quicken soon ; and hard, hot toil and strife, 
With headlong purpose, shake this sleeping earth 
With discord strange, and all that man calls life. 
With thousand scatter'd beauties nature 's rife ; , 



RICHARD H. DANA. 



10" 



And airs and woods and streams breathe harmonies : 
Man weds not these, but taketh art to wife ; 
Nor binds his heart with soft and kindly ties : — 
He, feverish, blinded, lives, and, feverish, sated, dies. 

It is because man useth so amiss 

Her dearest blessings, Nature seemeth sad ; 

Else why should she in such fresh hour as this 

Not lift the veil, in revelation glad, 

From her fair face 1 — It is that man is mad ! 

Then chide me not, clear star, that I repine 

When nature grieves ; nor deem this heart is bad. 

Thou look'st toward earth ; but yet the heavens 

are thine ; 
While I to earth am bound: — When will the 

heavens be mine 1 

If man would but his finer nature learn, 
And not in life fantastic lose the sense 
Of simpler things ; could nature's features stern 
Teach him be thoughtful, then, with soul intense 
I should not yearn for God to take me hence, 
But bear my lot, albeit in spirit bow'd, 
Remembering humbly why it is, and whence : 
But when I see cold man of reason proud, 
My solitude is sad — I'm lonely in the crowd. 

But not for this alone, the silent tear 
Steals to mine eyes, while looking on the morn, 
Nor for this solemn hour : fresh life is near ; — 
But all my joys ! — they died when newly born. 
Thousands will wake to joy ; while I, forlorn, 
And like the stricken deer, with sickly eye 
Shall see them pass. Breathe calm — my spirit's 

torn ; 
Ye holy thoughts, lift up my soul on high ! — 
Ye hopes of things unseen, the far-off world bring 

nigh. 

And when I grieve, 0, rather let it be 
That I — whom nature taught to sit with her 
On her proud mountains, by her rolling sea — 
Who, when the winds are up, with mighty stir 
Of woods and waters — feel the quickening spur 
To my strong spirit; — who, as my own child, 
Do love the flower, and in the ragged bur 
A beauty see — that I this mother mild 
Should leave, and go with care, and passions fierce 
and wild ! 

How suddenly that straight and glittering shaft 
Shot 'thwart the earth ! In crown of living fire 
Up comes the day ! As if they conscious quaff 'd — 
The sunny flood, hill, forest, city spire 
Laugh in the wakening light. — Go, vain desire ! 
The dusky lights are gone ; go thou thy way ! 
And pining discontent, like them, expire ! 
Be call'd my chamber, Peace, when ends the day ; 
And let me with the dawn, like Pilgrim, sing and 
pray. 



INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY.* 

O, listex, man ! 
A voice within us speaks the startling word, 
" Man, thou shalt never die !" Celestial voices 



* From the "Husband's and Wife's Grave.' 



Hymn it around our souls : according harps, 

By angel fingers touch'd when the mild stars 

Of morning sang together, sound forth still 

The song of our great immortality ! 

Thick, clustering orbs, and this our fair domain, 

The tall, dark mountains, and the deep-toned seas, 

Join in this solemn, universal song. 

— 0, listen, ye, our spirits ! drink it in 

From all the air ! 'T is in the gentle moonlight ; 

'Tis floating in day's setting glories; night, 

Wrapp'd in her sable robe, with silent step 

Comes to our bed and breathes it in our ears ; 

Night and the dawn, bright day and thoughtful eve, 

All time, all bounds, the limitless expanse, 

As one vast, mystic instrument, are touch'd 

By an unseen, living Hand, and conscious chords 

Quiver with joy in this great jubilee : 

— The dying hear it ; and as sounds of earth 

Grow dull and distant, wake their passing souls 

To mingle in this heavenly harmony. 



THE LITTLE BEACH-BIRD. 



Thou little bird, thou dweller by the sea, 
Why takest thou its melancholy voice 1 
And with that boding cry 
O'er the waves dost thou fly 1 
! rather, bird, with me 

Through the fair land rejoice ! 



Thy flitting form comes ghostly dim and pale, 
As driven by a beating storm at sea ; 
Thy cry is weak and scared, 
As if thy mates had shared 
The doom of us : Thy wail — 
What does it brinff to me 1 



Thou call'st along the sand, and haunt'st the surge, 
Restless and sad : as if, in strange accord 
With the motion and the roar 
Of waves that drive to shore, 
One spirit did ye urge — 
The Mystery — the Word. 



Of thousands, thou both sepulchre and pall, 
Old ocean, art ! A requiem o'er the dead, 
From out thy gloomy cells 
A tale of mourning tells — 
Tells of man's wo and fall, 
His sinless glory fled. 



Then turn thee, little bird, and take thy flight 
Where the complaining sea shall sadness bring 
Thy spirit never more. 
Come, quit with me the shore, 
For gladness and the light 
Where birds of summer sing. 



108 RICHARD 


H. DANA. 


THE MOSS SUPPLICATETH FOR THE 


He answer'd, earth no blessing had 


POET. 


To cure his lone and aching heart — 




That I was one, when he was sad, 


Though I am humble, slight me not, 


Oft stole him from his pain, in part. 


But love me for the Poet's sake; 


But e'en from thee, he said, I go, 


Forget me not till he's forgot ; 


To meet the world, its care and strife, 


I, care or slight, with him would take. 


No more to watch this quiet flow, 


For oft he pass'd the blossoms by, 


Or spend with thee a gentle life. 


And gazed on me with kindly look ; 


And yet the brook is gliding on, 


Left flaunting flowers and open sky, 


And I, without a care, at rest, 


And woo'd me by the shady brook. 


While back to toiling life he's gone, 


And like the brook his voice was low : 


Where finds his head no faithful breast. 


So soft, so sad the words he spoke, 


Deal gently with him, world, I pray ; 


That with the stream they seem'd to flow : 


Ye cares, like soften'd shadows come ; 


They told me that his heart was broke ; — 


His spirit, wellnigh worn away, 


They said, the world he fain would shun, 


Asks with ye but awhile a home. 


And seek the still and twilight wood — 


Oh, may I live, and when he dies 


His spirit, weary of the sun, 


Be at his feet an humble sod ; 


In humblest things found chiefest good ; — 


Oh, may I lay me where he lies, 




To die when he awakes in God ! 


That I was of a lowly frame, 




And far more constant than the flower, 


♦ 


Which, vain with many a boastful name, 




But fl utter 'd out its idle hour ; 


WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 


That I was kind to old decay, 


I look through tears on Beauty now; 


And wrapt it softly round in green, 


And Beauty's self, less radiant, looks on me, 


On naked root and trunk of gray 


Serene, yet touch'd with sadness is the brow 


Spread out a garniture and screen : — 


(Once bright with joy) I see. 


They said, that he was withering fast, 


Joy- waking Beauty, why so sad 1 


Without a sheltering friend like me ; 


Tell where the radiance of the smile is gone 


That on his manhood fell a blast, 


At which my heart and earth and skies were glad — 


And. left him bare, like yonder tree ; 


That link'd us all in one. 


That spring would clothe his boughs no more, 


It is not on the mountain's breast ; 


Nor ring his boughs with song of bird — 


It comes not to me with the dawning day ; 


Sounds like the melancholy shore 


Nor looks it from the glories of the west, 


Alone were through his branches heard. 


As slow they pass away. 


Methought, as then, he stood to trace 


Nor on those gliding roundlets bright 


The wither'd stems, there stole a tear-*— 


That steal their play among the woody shades, 


That I could read in his sad face, 


Nor on thine own dear children doth it light— 


Brother, our sorrows make us near. 


The flowers along the glades. 


And then he stretch'd him all along, 


And alter'd to the living mind 


And laid his head upon my breast, 


(The great high-priestess, with her thought-born race 


Listening the water's peaceful song, — 


Who round thine altar aye have stood and shined) 


How glad was I to tend his rest ! 


The comforts of thy face. 


Then happier grew his soothed soul. 


Why shadow'd thus thy forehead fair? 


He turn'd and watch'd the sunlight play 


Why on the mind low hangs a mystic gloom 1 


Upon my face, as in it stole, 


And spreads away upon the genial air, 


Whispering, Above is brighter day ! 


Like vapours from the tomb 1 


He praised my varied hues — the green, 


Why should ye shine, you lights above 1 


The silver hoar, the golden, brown ; 


Why, little flowers, open to the heat 1 


Said, Lovelier hues were never seen : 


No more within the heart ye filled with love 


Then gently press'd my tender down. 


The living pulses beat. 


And where I sent up little shoots, 


Well, Beauty, may you mourning stand ! 


He call'd them trees, in fond conceit : 


The fine beholding eye whose constant look 


Like silly lovers in their suits 


Was turn'd on thee is dark — and cold the hand 


He talk'd, his care awhile to cheat. 


That gave all vision took. 


I said, I'd deck me in the dews, 


Nay, heart, be still ! — Of heavenly birth 


Could I but chase away his care, 


Is Beauty sprung. — Look up ! behold the place ! 


And clothe me in a thousand hues, 


There he who reverent traced her steps oti earth 


To bring him joys that I might share. 


Now sees her face to face. 



RICHARD HENRY WILDE. 



[Born 17S9. Died 1847.] 



I believe Mr. Wilde is a native of Baltimore, 
and that he was born about the year 1789.* His 
family are of Saxon origin, and their ancient name 
was De Wilde ; but his parents were natives of 
Dublin, and his father was a wholesale hardware 
merchant and ironmonger in that city during the 
American war ; near the close of which he emi- 
grated to Maryland, leaving a prosperous business 
and a large capital in the hands of a partner, by 
whose bad management they were in a few years 
both lost. 

The childhood of Richard Hesri Wilde was 
passed in Baltimore. He was taught to read by 
his mother, and received instruction in writing 
and Latin grammar from a private tutor until he 
was about seven years old. He afterward attended 
an academy ; but his father's affairs becoming em- 
barrassed, in his eleventh year he was taken home 
and placed in a store. His constitution was at 
first tender and delicate. In his infancy he was 
not expected to live from month to month, and 
he suffered much from ill health until he was fif- 
teen or sixteen. This induced quiet, retiring, soli- 
tary, and studious habits. His mother's example 
gave him a passion for reading, and all his leisure 
was devoted to books. The study of poetry was 
his principal source of pleasure, when he was not 
more than twelve years old. 

About this time his father died ; and gathering as 
much as she could from the wreck of his property, 
his mother removed to Augusta, Georgia, and 
commenced there a small business for the support 
of her family. Here young Wilde, amid the 
Irudgery of trade, taught himself book-keeping, 
and became familiar with the works in general 
literature which he could obtain in the meagre 
libraries of the town, or from his personal friends. 

The expenses of a large family, and various 
other causes, reduced the little wealth of his 
mother ; her business became unprofitable, and he 
resolved to study law. Unable, however, to pay the 
usual fee for instruction, he kept his design a secret, 
as far as possible ; borrowed some elementary books 
from Ms friends, and studied incessantly, tasking 
himself to read fifty pages, and write five pages 
of notes, in the form of questions and answers, 
each day, besides attending to his duties in the 
store. And, to overcome a natural diffidence, in- 
creased by a slight impediment in his speech, he 
appeared frequently as an actor at a dramatic so- 
ciety, which he had called into existence for this 



* Most of the facts in this notice of Mr. Wilde were 
communicated to me by an eminent citizen of Georgia, 
who has long been intimately acquainted with him. He 
was uncertain whether Mr. W. was born before the ar- 
rival of his parents in America, but believed he was 
not. 



purpose, and to raise a fund to establish a public 
library. 

All this time his older and graver acquaintances, 
who knew nothing of his designs, naturally con- 
founded him with his thoughtless companions, 
who sought only amusement, and argued badly 
of his future life. He bore the injustice in silence, 
and pursued his secret studies for a year and a half; 
at the end of which, pale, emaciated, feeble, and 
with a consumptive cough, he sought a distant 
court to be examined, that, if rejected, the news 
of his defeat might not reach his mother. When 
he arrived, he found he had been wrongly informed, 
and that the judges had no power to admit him. 
He met a friend there, however, who was going 
to the Greene Superior Court; and, on being in- 
vited by him to do so, he determined to proceed im- 
mediately to that place. It was the March term, 
for 1809, Mr. Justice Early presiding; and the 
young applicant, totally unknown to every one, 
save the friend who accompanied him, was at in- 
tervals, during three days, subjected to a most 
rigorous examination. Justice Early was well 
known for his strictness, and the circumstance of 
a youth leaving his own circuit excited his suspi- 
cion ; but every question was answered to the 
satisfaction and even admiration of the examin- 
ing committee; and he declared that "the young 
man could not have left his circuit because he 
was unprepared." His friend certified to the 
correctness of his moral character ; he was ad- 
mitted without a dissenting voice, and returned 
in triumph to Augusta. He was at this time 
under twenty years of age. 

His health gradually improved : he applied him- 
self diligently to the study of belles lettres, and to 
his duties as an advocate, and rapidly rose to emi- 
nence ; being in a few years made attorney -gene- 
ral of the state. He was remarkable for industry 
in the preparation of his cases, sound logic, and 
general urbanity. In forensic disputation, he never 
indulged in personalities. — then too common at the 
bar, — unless in self-defence ; but, having studied 
the characters of his associates, and stored his 
memory with appropriate quotations, his ridicule 
was a formidable weapon against all who attacked 
him. 

In the autumn of 1 8 1 5. when only a fortnight over 
the age required by law. Mr. Wilde was elected a 
member of the national House of Representatives. 
At the next election, all the representatives from 
Georgia, but one, were defeated, and Mr. Wilde 
returned to the bar, where he continued, with the 
exception of a short service in Congress in 1825, 
until 1828, when he again became a representa- 
tive, and so continued until 1835. I have not 
room to trace his character as a politician very 
closely. On the occasion of the Force Bill, as it 

K 103 



1x0 



RICHARD HENRY WILDE. 



was called, he seceded from a majority of Con- 
gress, considering it a measure calculated to pro- 
duce civil war, and justified himself in a speech 
of much eloquence. His speeches on the tariff, 
the relative advantages and disadvantages of a 
small-note currency, and on the removal of the 
deposites by General Jackson, show what are 
his pretensions to industry and sagacity as a poli- 
tician.* 

Mr. Wilde's opposition to the Force Bill and 
the removal of the deposites rendered him as un- 
popular with the Jackson party in Georgia, as his 
letter from Virginia had made him with the nul- 
lifiers, and at the election of 1834 he was left out 
of Congress. This afforded him the opportunity 
he had long desired of going abroad, to recruit his 
health, much impaired by long and arduous public 
service, and by repeated attacks of the diseases in- 
cident to southern climates. He sailed for Europe 
in June, 1835, spent two years in travelling through 
England, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy, 
and settled during three years more in Florence. 
Here he occupied himself entirely with literature. 
The romantic love, the madness, and imprison- 
ment of Tasso had become a subject of curious 
controversy, and he entered into the investigation 
" with the enthusiasm of a poet, and the patience 
and accuracy of a case-hunter," and produced a 
work, published since his return to the United 
States, in which the questions concerning Tasso 
are most ably discussed, and lights are thrown upon 
them by his letters* and by some of his sonnets, 
which last are rendered into English with rare 



felicity. Having completed his work on Tasso, 
he turned his attention to the life of Dante ; and 
having learned incidentally one day, in conversa- 
tion with an artist, that an authentic portrait of 
this great poet, from the pencil of Giotto, proba- 
bly still existed in the BaTgello, (anciently both 
the prison and the palace of the republic,) on a 
wall, which by some strange neglect or inadver- 
tence had been covered with whitewash, he set on 
foot a project for its discovery and restoration, 
which, after several months, was crowned with 
complete success. This discovery of a veritable 
portrait of Dante, in the prime of his days, says 
Mr. Irving,-)- produced throughout Italy some 
such sensation as, in England, would follow the 
sudden discovery of a perfectly well-authenticated 
likeness of Shakspeare. 

Mr. Wilde returned to the United States in 
1 840, and was engaged in literary studies and in 
the practice of his profession until his death, in 
the summer of 1847, at New Orleans, where he 
held the professorship of law in the University of 
Louisiana. 

Mr. Wilde's original poems and translations 
are always graceful and correct. Those that have 
been published were mostly written while he was 
a member of Congress, during moments of relaxa- 
tion, and they have never been printed collectively. 
Specimens of his translations are excluded, by the 
plan of this work. His versions from the Italian, 
Spanish, and French languages, are among the 
most elegant and scholarly productions of their 
kind that have been published. 



ODE TO EASE. 

I never bent at Glory's shrine; 

To Wealth I never bow'd the knee ; 
Beauty has heard no vows of mine ; 

I love thee, Ease, and only thee ; 
Beloved of the gods and men, 

Sister of Joy and Liberty, 
When wilt thou visit me agen ; 
In shady wood, or silent glen, 
By falling stream, or rocky den, 
Like those where once I found thee, when, 
Despite the ills of Poverty, 
And Wisdom's warning prophecy, 
I liscen'd to thy siren voice, 
And made thee mistress of my choice ! 

I chose thee, Ease ! and Glory fled ; 
For me no more her laurels spread ; 
Her golden crown shall never shed 
Its beams of splendour on my head. 

* To show his standing in the House of Representa- 
tives, it may be proper to state, that, in 1834, he was 
voted for as Speaker, with the following result, on the 
first ballot:— R. H. Wilde, 64; J. K. Polk, 42$ J. B. 
Sutherland, 34; John Bell, 30; scattering, 32. Ulti- 
mately Mr, Bell was elected. 



And when within the narrow bed, 
To Fame and Memory ever dead, 

My senseless corpse is thrown : 
Nor stately column, sculptured bust, 
Nor urn that holds within its trust 
The poor remains of mortal dust, 

Nor monumental stone, 
Nor willow, waving in the gale, 
Nor feeble fence, with whiten'd pale, 
Nor rustic cross, memorial frail, 

Shall mark the grave I own. 
No lofty deeds in armour wrought ; 
No hidden truths in science taught ; 
No undiscover'd regions sought ; 
No classic page, with learning fraught, 
Nor eloquence, nor verse divine, 
Nor daring speech, nor high design, 
Nor patriotic act of mine 
On History's page shall ever shine : 
But, all to future ages lost, 
Nor even a wreck, tradition toss'd, 
Of what I was when valued most 
By the few friends whose love I boast, 
In after years shall float to shore, 
And serve to tell the name I bore. 

f Knickerbocker Magazine, October, 1841. 



RICHARD HENRY WILDE. 



Ill 



I chose thee, Ease ! and Wealth withdrew, 

Indignant at the choice I made, 
And, to her first resentment true, 

My scorn with tenfold scorn repaid. 
Now, noble palace, lofty dome, 
Or cheerful, hospitable home, 

Are comforts I must never know : 
My enemies shall ne'er repine 
At pomp or pageantry of mine, 
Nor prove, by bowing at my shrine, 

Their souls are abject, base, and low. 
No wondering crowd shall ever stand 
With gazing eye and waving hand, 

To mark my train, and pomp, and show : 
And, worst of all, I shall not live 
To taste the pleasures Wealth can give, 

When used to soothe another's wo. 
The peasants of my native land 
Shall never bless my open hand ; 
No wandering bard shall celebrate 
His patron's hospitable gate : 
No war-worn soldier, shatter'd tar, 
Nor exile driven from afar, 
Nor hapless friend of former years, 
Nor widow's prayers, nor orphan's tears, 
Nor helpless age relieved from cares, 
Nor innocence preserved from snares, 
Nor houseless wanderer clothed and fed, 
Nor slave from bitter bondage led, 
Nor youth to noble actions bred, 
Shall call down blessings on my head. 

I chose thee, Ease ! and yet the while, 
So sweet was Beauty's scornful smile, 
So fraught with every lovely wile, 
Yet seemingly so void of guile, 

It did but heighten all her charms; 
And, goddess, had I loved thee then 
But with the common love of men, 
My fickle heart had changed agen, 
Even at the very moment when 

I woo'd thee to my longing arms: 
For never may I hope to meet 
A smile so sweet, so heavenly sweet. 

I chose thee, Ease ! and now for me 

No heart shall ever fondly swell, 
No voice of rapturous harmony 

Awake the music-breathing shell ; 
Nor tongue, or witching melody 

Its love in faltering accents tell ; 
Nor flushing cheek, nor languid eye, 
Nor sportive smile, nor artless sigh, 

Confess affection all as well. 
No snowy bosom's fall and rise 
Shall e'er again enchant my eyes ; 
No melting lips, profuse of bliss, 
Shall ever greet me with a kiss ; 
Nor balmy breath pour in my ear 
The trifles Love delights to hear : 
But, living, loveless, hopeless, I 
Unmourned and unloved must die. 

I chose thee, Ease ! and yet to me 
Coy and ungrateful thou hast proved ; 

Though I have sacrificed to thee 
Much that was worthy to be loved. 



But come again, and I will yet 

Thy past ingratitude forget : 

O ! come again ! thy witching powers 

Shall claim my solitary hours : 

With thee to cheer me, heavenly queen, 

And conscience clear, and health serene, 

And friends, and books, to banish spleen, 

My life should be, as it had been, 

A sweet variety of joys; 
And Glory's crown, and Beauty's smile, 
And treasured hoards should seem the white 

The idlest of all human toys. 



SOLOMON AND THE GENIUS.* 

Spirit of Thought ! Lo ! art thou here 1 
Lord of the false, fond, ceaseless spell 

That mocks the heart, the eye, the ear — 
Art thou, indeed, of heaven or hell 1 
In mortal bosoms dost thou dwell, 

Self-exiled from thy native sphere 1 
Or is the human mind thy cell 

Of torment 1 To inflict and bear 

Thy doom 1 — the doom of all who fell 1 

Since thou hast sought to prove my skill, 

Unquestion'd thou shalt not depart, 
Be thy behests or good or ill, 

No matter what or whence thou art ! 

I will commune with thee apart, 
Yea ! and compel thee to my will — 

If thou hast power to yield my heart 
What earth and Heaven deny it still. 

I know thee, Spirit ! thou hast been 

Light of my soul by night and day ; 
All-seeing, though thyself unseen ; 

My dreams — my thoughts — andwhat are they, 

But visions of a calmer ray 1 
All ! all were thine — and thine between 

Each hope that melted fast away, 
The throb of anguish, deep and keen ! 

With thee I've search'd the earth, the sea, 
The air, sun, stars, man. nature, time, 

Explored the universe with thee, 

Plunged to the depths of wo and crime, 
Or dared the fearful height to climb, 

Where, amid glory none may see 

And five, the Eternal reigns sublime, 

Who is, and was, and is to be ! 

And I have sought, with thee have sought, 
Wisdom's celestial path to tread, 

Hung o'er each page with learning fraught; 
Question'd the living and the dead : 

* The Moslem imagine that Solomon acquired do- 
minion over all the orders of the genii — good and evil. 
It is even believed he sometimes condescended to con- 
verse with his new subjects. On this supposition he has 
been represented interrogating a genius, in the very 
wise, but very disagreeable mood of mind which led to 
the conclusion that "All is vanity !" Touching the said 
genius, the author has not been able to discover whether 
he or she (even the sex is equivocal) was of Allah or 
Eblis, and, therefore, left the matter where he found 
it — in discreet doubt. 



112 



RICHARD HENRY WILDE 



The patriarchs of ages fled— 
The prophets of the time to come — • 

All who one ray of light could shed 
Beyond the cradle or the tomb. 

And I have task'd my busy brain 

To learn what haply none may know, 

Thy birth, seat, power, thine ample reign 
O'er the heart's tides that ebb and flow, 
Throb, languish, whirl, rage, freeze, or glow 

Like billows of the restless main, 
Amid the wrecks of joy and wo 

By ocean's caves preserved in vain. 

And oft to shadow forth I strove, 

To my mind's eye, some form like thine, 

And still my soul, like Noah's dove, 
Return'd, but brought, alas ! no sign : 
Till, wearying in the mad design, 

With fever'd brow and throbbing vein, 
I left the cause to thread the mine 

Of wonderful effects again ! 

But now I see thee face to face, 
Thou art indeed, a thing divine ; 

An eye pervading time and space, 
And an angelic look are thine, 
Ready to seize, compare, combine 

Essence and form — and yet a trace 
Of grief and care — a shadowy line 

Dims thy bright forehead's heavenly grace. 

Yet thou must be of heavenly birth, 

Where naught is known of grief and pain ; 

Though I perceive, alas ! where earth 
And earthly things have left their stain : 
From thine high calling didst thou deign 

To prove — in folly or in mirth — 

With daughters of the first-born Cain, 

How little Human Love is worth 1 

Ha ! dost thou change before mine eyes ! 

Another form ! and yet the same, 
But lovelier, and of female guise, 

A vision of ethereal flame, 

Such as our heart's despair can frame, 
Pine for, love, worship, idolize, 

Like hers, who from the sea-foam came, 
And lives but in the heart, or skies. 

Spirit of Change ! I know thee too, 

I know thee by thine Iris bow, 
By thy cheek's ever-shifting hue, 

By all that marks thy steps below ; 

By sighs that burn, and tears that glow — 
False joys — vain hopes — that mock the heart ; 

From Fancy's urn these evils flow, 
Spirit of Lies ! for such thou art ! 

Saidst thou not once, that all the charms 

Of life lay hid in woman's love, 
And to be lock'd in Beauty's arms. 

Was all men knew of heaven above 1 

And did I not thy counsels prove, 
And all their pleasures, all their pain 1 

No more ! no more my heart they move, 
For I, alas ! have proved them vain ! 



Didst thou not then, in evil hour, 
Light in my soul ambition's flame 1 

Didst thou not say the joys of power, 
Unbounded sway, undying fame, 
A monarch's love alone should claim 1 ? 

And did I not pursue e'en these ? 

And are they not, when won, the same 1 

All Vanity of vanities ! 

Didst not, to tempt me once again, 

Bid new, deceitful visions rise, 
And hint, though won with toil and pain, 

" Wisdom's the pleasure of the wise ]" 

And now, when none beneath the skies 
Are wiser held by men than me, 

What is the value of the prize 1 
It too, alas ! is Vanity ! 

Then tell me — since I 've found on earth 

Not one pure stream to slake this thirst, 
Which still torments us from our birth, 

And in our heart and soul is nursed ; 

This hopeless wish wherewith we're cursed, 
Whence came it, and why was it given 1 

Thou speak'st not ! — Let me know the worst! 
Thou pointest ! — and it is to Heaven ! 



A FAREWELL TO AMERICA.* 

Farewell ! my more than fatherland ! 

Home of my heart and friends, adieu ! 
Lingering beside some foreign strand, 

How oft shall I remember you ! 

How often, o'er the waters blue, 
Send back a sigh to those I leave, 

The loving and beloved few, 
Who grieve for me, — for whom I grieve ! 

We part ! — no matter how we part, 

There are some thoughts we utter not, 
Deep treasured in our inmost heart, 

Never reveal' d, and ne'er forgot ! 

Why murmur at the common lot 1 
We part ! — I speak not of the pain, — 

But when shall I each lovely spot 
And each loved face behold again 1 

It must be months, — it may be years, — 

It may — but no ! — I will not fill 
Fond hearts with gloom, — fond eyes with tears, 

" Curious to shape uncertain ill." 

Though humble, — few and far, — yet, still 
Those hearts and eyes are ever dear ; 

Theirs is the love no time can chill, 
The truth no chance or change can sear ! 

All I have seen, and all I see, 

Only endears them more and more ; 
Friends cool, hopes fade, and hours flee, 

Affection lives when all is o'er ! 

Farewell, my more than native shore ! 
I do not seek or hope to find, 

Roam where I will, what I deplore 
To leave with them and thee behind ! 



* Written on board ship Westminster, at sea, off the 
Highlands of Neversink, June 1, 1835 



RICHARD HENRY WILDE. 



Ill 



NAPOLEON'S GRAVE. 

Faint and sad was the moonbeam's smile, 
Sullen the moan of the dying wave ; 

Hoarse the wind in St. Helen's isle, 

As I stood by the side of Napoleon's grave. 

And is it here that the hero lies, 

Whose name has shaken the earth with dread 1 
And is this all that the earth supplies — 

A stone his pillow — the turf his bed 1 

Is such the moral of human life 1 

Are these the limits of glory's reign 1 

Have oceans of blood, and an age of strife, 
And a thousand battles been all in vain ] 

Is nothing left of his victories now 

But legions broken — a sword in rust — 

A crown that cumbers a dotard's brow — 
A name and a requiem — dust to dust 1 

Of all the chieftains whose thrones he rear'd, 
Was there none that kindness or faith could bind] 

Of all the monarchs whose crowns he spared, 
Had none one spark of his Roman mind 1 

Did Prussia cast no repentant glance 1 
Did Austria shed no remorseful tear, 

When England's truth, and thine honour, France, 
And thy friendship, Russia, were blasted here 1 

No holy leagues, like the heathen heaven, 
Ungodlike shrunk from the giant's shock ; 

And glorious Titan, the unforgiven, 

Was doom'd to his vulture, and chains, and rock. 

And who were the gods that decreed thy doom 1 
A German C;esar — a Prussian sage — 

The dandy prince of a counting-room — 

And a Russian Greek of earth's darkest age. 

Men call'd thee Despot, and call'd thee true ; 

But the laurel was earn'd that bound thy brow; 
And of all who wore it, alas ! how few • 

Were freer from treason and guilt than thou ! 

Shame to thee, Gaul, and thy faithless horde ! 

Where was the oath which thy soldiers swore ] 
Fraud still lurks in the gown, but the sword 

Was never so false to its trust before. 

Where was thy veteran's boast that day, 
"The old Guard dies, but it never yields'?" 

O ! for one heart like the brave Dessaix, 
One phalanx like those of thine., early fields ! 

But, no, no, no ! — it was Freedom's charm 
Gave them the courage of more than men ; 

You broke the spell that twice nerved each arm, 
Though you were invincible only then. 

Yet St. Jean was a deep, not a deadly blow ; 

One struggle, and France all her faults repairs- 
But the wild Fayette, and the stern Carnot 

Are dupes, and ruin thy fate and theirs ! 
15 



STANZAS. 

My life is like the summer rose 

That opens to the morning sky, 
But ere the shades of evening close, 

Is scatter'd on the ground — to die ! 
Yet on the rose's humble bed 
The sweetest dews of night are shed, 
As if she wept the waste to see — 
But none shall weep a tearrfor me ! 

My life is like the autumn leaf 

That trembles in the moon's pale ray, 
Its hold is frail — its date is brief, 

Restless — and soon to pass away ! 
Yet, ere that leaf shall fall and fade, 
The parent tree will mourn its shade, 
The winds bewail the leafless tree, 
But none shall breathe a sigh for me ! 

My life is like the prints, which feet 

Have left on Tampa's desert strand ; 
Soon as the rising tide shall beat, 

All trace will vanish from the sand ; 
Yet, as if grieving to efface 
All vestige of the human race, 
On that lone shore loud moans the sea, 
But none, alas ! shall mourn for me ! 



TO LORD BYRON. 

Btron ! 'tis thine alone, on eagles' pinions, 

In solitary strength and grandeur soaring. 

To dazzle and delight all eyes ; outpouring 
The electric blaze on tyrants and their minions ; 
Earth, sea, and air, and powers and dominions, 

Nature, man, time, the universe exploring ; 
And from the wreck of worlds, thrones, creeds, 
opinions, 

Thought, beauty, eloquence, and wisdom storing : 
! how I love and envy thee thy glory. 

To every age and clime alike belonging ; 
Link'd by all tongues with every nation's glory. 

Thou Tacitus of song ! whose echoes, thronging 
O'er the Atlantic, fill the mountains hoary 

And forests with the name my verse is wronging. 



TO THE MOCKING-BIRD. 

Wixg'd mimic of the woods ! thou motley fool ! 

Who shall thy gay buffoonery describe 1 
Thine ever-ready notes of ridicule 

Pursue thy fellows still with jest and gibe : 

Wit, sophist, songster, Yorick of thy tribe, 
Thou sportive satirist of Nature's school ; 

To thee the palm of scoffing we ascribe, 
Arch-mocker and mad Abbot of Misrule ! 

For such thou art by day — but all night long 
Thou pour'st a soft, sweet, pensive, solemn strain, 

As if thou didst in this thy moonlight song 
Like to the melancholy Jacq.ues complain, 

Musing on falsehood, folly, vice, and wrong, 
And sighing for thv motiev coat again. 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



[Bom 1789. Died 1841.] 



The author of " Hadad" was descended from 
an ancient and honourable Irish family, in the 
county of Deny, and his ancestors emigrated to 
this country and settled in Connecticut in 1720. 
A high order of intellect seems to have been their 
right of inheritance, for in every generation we 
find their name prominent in the political history 
of the state. The grandfather of the poet, the 
Honourable William Hillhouse, was for more 
than fifty years employed in the public service, as 
a representative, as a member of the council, and 
in other offices of trust and honour. His father, 
the Honourable James Hillhouse, who died in 
1833, after filling various offices in his native 
state, and being for three years a member of the 
House of Representatives, was in 1794 elected to 
the Senate of the United States, where for sixteen 
years he acted a leading part in the politics of the 
country. His wife, the mother of the subject of 
this sketch, was the daughter of Colonel Melanc- 
thost Woolset, of Dosoris, Long Island. She 
was a woman distinguished alike for mental su- 
periority, and for feminine softness, purity, and 
delicacy of character. Although educated in re- 
tirement, and nearly self-taught, her son was accus- 
tomed to say, when time had given value to his 
opinions, that she possessed the most elegant mind 
he had ever met with; and much of the nice dis- 
crimination, and the finer and more delicate ele- 
ments of his own character, were an inheritance 
from her. Among the little occasional pieces 
which he wrote entirely for the family circle, 
was one composed on visiting her birth-place, after 
her death, which I have been permitted* to make 
public. 

"As yonder frith, round green Dosoris roll'd, 

Reflects the parting glories of the skies, 
Or quivering glances, like the paly gold, 
When on its breast the midnight moonbeam lies; 

" Thus, though bedimm'd by many a changeful year, 
The hues of feeling varied in her cheek, 

That, brightly flush'd, or glittering with a tear, 
Seem'd the rapt poet's, or the seraph's meek. 

"I have fulfill'd her charge, — dear scenes, adieu! — 
The tender charge to see her natal spot ; 

My tears have flow'd, while busy Fancy drew 
The picture of her childhood's happy lot. 

"Would 1 could paint the ever-varying grace, 
The ethereal glow and lustre of her mind, 

Which own'd not time, nor bore of age a trace, 
Pure as the sunbeam, gentle and refined!" 

* I am indebted for the materials for this biography to 
the poet's intimate friend, the Reverend William In- 
graham Kipp, Rector of St. Paul's Church, in Albany, 
New York, who kindly consented to write out the cha- 
racter of the poet, as he appeared at home, and as none 
but his associates could know him, for this work. 



Mr. Hillhouse was bom in New Haven, on 
the twenty-sixth of September, 1789. The home 
of such parents, and the society of the intelligent 
circle they drew about them, (of which President 
Dwight was the most distinguished ornament,) 
was well calculated to cherish and cultivate his 
peculiar tastes. In boyhood he was remarkable 
for great activity and excellence in all manly and 
athletic sports, and for a peculiarly gentlemanly 
deportment. At the age of fifteen he entered Yale 
College, and in 1808 he was graduated, with high 
reputation as a scholar. From his first junior 
exhibition, he had been distinguished for the ele- 
gance and good taste of his compositions. Upon 
taking his second degree, he delivered an oration 
on « The Education of a Poet," so full of beauty, 
that it was long and widely remembered, and in- 
duced an appointment by the Phi Beta Kappa 
Society, (not much in the habit of selecting juve- 
nile writers,) to deliver a poem before them at 
their next anniversary. It was on this occasion 
that he wrote "The Judgment," which was pro- 
nounced before that society at the commencement 
of 1812. 

A more difficult theme, or one requiring loftier 
powers, could not have been selected. The re- 
flecting mind regards this subject in accordance 
with some preconceived views. That Mr. Hill- 
house felt this difficulty, is evident from a remark 
in his preface, that in selecting this theme, « he 
exposes his work to criticism on account of its 
theology, as well as its poetry; and they who 
think the former objectionable, will not easily be 
pleased with the latter." Other poets, too, had 
essayed their powers in describing the events of 
the Last Day. The public voice, however, has 
decided,, that among all the poems on this great 
subject, that of Mr. Hillhouse stands unequalled. 
His object was, " to present such a view of the 
last grand spectacle as seemed the most susceptible 
of poetical embellishment;" and rarely have we 
seen grandeur of conception and simplicity of de- 
sign so admirably united. His representation of 
the scene is vivid and energetic ; while the man- 
ner in which he has grouped and contrasted the 
countless array of characters of every age, displays 
the highest degree of artistic skill. Each character 
he summons up appears before us, with historic 
costume and features faithfully preserved, and we 
seem to gaze upon him as a reality, and not merely 
as the bold imagery of the poet. 

" For all appear'd 
As in their days of earthly pride ; the clanft 
Of steel announced the warrior, and the robe 
Of Tyrian lustre spoke the blood of kings " 

His description of the last setting of the sun m 
the west, and the dreamer's farewell to the even- 
ing star, as it was fading forever from his sight, 

114 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



115 



are passages of beauty which it would be difficult 
to find surpassed. 

About this period Mr. Hillhouse passed three 
years in Boston, preparing to engage in a mercan- 
tile life. During the interruption of business which 
took place in consequence of the last war with 
England, he employed a season of leisure passed 
at home, in the composition of several dramatic 
pieces, of which " Demetria" and " Percy's Masque" 
best satisfied his own judgment. When peace was 
restored, he went to New York, and embarked in 
commerce, to which, though at variance with his 
tastes, he devoted himself with fidelity and perse- 
verance. In 1819, he visited Europe, and though 
the months passed there wei - e a season of great 
anxiety and business occupations, he still found 
time to see much to enlarge his mind, and accu- 
mulated stores of thought for future use. Among 
other distinguished literary men, from whom while 
in London he received attentions, was Zacart 
Macaulay, (father of the Hon. T. Babbingtojt 
Macaulay,) who subsequently stated to some 
American gentlemen, that "he considered Mr. 
Hillhouse the most accomplished young man 
with whom he was acquainted." It was during 
his stay in England that " Percy's Masque" was 
revised and published. The subject of this drama 
is the successful attempt of one of the Percies, the 
son of Shakspeare's Hotspur, to recover his an- 
cestral home. The era chosen is a happy one for 
a poet. He is dealing with the events of an age 
where every thing to us is clothed with a roman- 
tic interest, which invests even the most common 
every-day occurrences of life. 

"They carved at the meal 
With gloves of steel, 
And they drank the red wine through the helmet barr'd." 

Of this opportunity he fully availed himself, in 
the picture he has here given us of the days of 
chivalry. As a mere work of art, "Percy's 
Masque" is one of the most faultless in the lan- 
guage. If subjected to scrutiny, it will bear the 
strictest criticism by which compositions of this 
kind can be tried. We cannot detect the violation 
of a single rule which should be observed in the 
construction of a tragedy. When, therefore, it 
was republished in this country, it at once gave 
its author an elevated rank as a dramatic poet. 

In 1822, Mr. Hillhouse was united in mar- 
riage to Cob^elia, eldest daughter of Isaac Law- 
best ce, of New York. He shortly afterward 
returned to his native town, and there, at his 
beautiful place, called Sachefn's Wood, devoted 
himself to the pursuits of a country gentleman 
and practical agriculturist. His taste extended 
also to the arts with which poetry is allied; and 
in the embellishment of his residence, there was 
exhibited evidence of the refinement of its accom- 
plished occupant. Here, with the exception of a 
few months of the winter, generally spent in New 
York, he passed the remainder of his life. " And 
never," remarks his friend, the Reverend Mr. Kipp, 
"has a domestic circle been anywhere gathered, 
uniting within itself more of grace, and elegance, 
ird intellect. He who formed its centre and its 



charm, possessed a character combining most beau- 
tifully the high endowments of literary genius, 
with all that is winning and brilliant in social life. 
They who knew him best in the sacred relations 
of his own fireside, will never cease to realize, that 
in him their circle lost its greatest ornament. All 
who were accustomed to meet his cordial greeting, 
to listen to his fervid and eloquent conversation, 
to be delighted with the wit and vivacity of his 
playful moments; to witness the grace and ele- 
gance of his manners, the chivalric spirit, the 
indomitable energy and high finish of the whole 
character, can tell how nobly he united the com- 
bined attractions of the poet, the scholar, and the 
perfect gentleman. Never, indeed, have we met 
with one who could pour forth more eloquently 
his treasures, drawn from the whole range of Eng- 
lish literature, or bring them to bear more ad- 
mirably upon the passing occurrences of the day. 
Every syllable, too, which he uttered, conveyed 
the idea of a high-souled honour, which we asso- 
ciate more naturally with the days of old romance, 
than with these selfish, prosaic times. His were 
indeed < high thoughts, seated in a heart of cour- 
tesy.' " 

"Hadad" was written in 1824, and printed in 
the following year. This has generally been 
esteemed Hillhouse's masterpiece. As a sacred 
drama, it is probably unsurpassed. The scene is in 
Judea, in the days of David ; and as the agency 
of evil spirits is introduced, an opportunity is af- 
forded to bring forward passages of strange sub- 
limity and wildness. For a work like this, Hill- 
house was peculiarly qualified. A most intimate 
acquaintance with the Scriptures enabled him to 
introduce each minute detail in perfect keeping 
with historical truth, while from the same study 
he seems also to have imbibed the lofty thoughts, 
and the majestic style of the ancient Hebrew 
prophets. 

In 1840, he collected, and published in two 
volumes, the works which at that time he was 
willing to give to the world. In addition to those 
I have already mentioned, was "Demetria," a 
domestic tragedy, now first revised and printed, 
after an interval of twenty-six years since its first 
composition, and several orations, delivered in New 
Haven, on public occasions, or before literary 
societies in other parts of the country. The 
manly eloquence of the latter, is well calculated 
to add the reputation of an accomplished ora- 
tor, to that which he already enjoyed as a poet. 
These volumes contain nearly all that he left us. 
It is a mistake, however, to suppose that he passed 
I his life merely as a literary man. The early part 
i of it was spent in the anxieties of business, while, 
through all his days, literature, instead of being 
his occupation, was merely the solace and delight 
of his leisure moments. 

About this time his friends beheld, with anxiety, 
the symptoms of failing health. For fifteen 
months, however, he lingered on, alternately cheer- 
ing their hearts by the prospect of recovery, and 
then causing them again to despond, as his weak- 
ness increased. In the fall of 1840, he left home 



116 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



for the last time, to visit his friends in Boston. He 
returned, apparently benefited by the excursion, 
and no immediate danger was apprehended until 
the beginning of the following January. On the 
second of that month his disorder assumed an 
alarming form, and the next day was passed in 
intense agony. On Monday, his pain was alle- 
viated ; yet his skilful medical attendants beheld 
in this but the precursor of death ; and it became 
their duty, on the following morning, to impart 
to him the news that his hours were few and 
numbered. 

" Of the events of this solemn day, when he 
beheld the sands of life fast running out, and 
girded up his strength to meet the King of Ter- 
rors," says the writer to whom I have before al- 
luded, "I cannot speak. The loss is still too 
recent to allow us to withdraw the veil and 
tell of his dying hours. Yet touching was the 
scene, as the warm affections of that noble heart 
gathered in close folds around those he was about 
to leave, or wandered back in remembrance to the 
opening of life, and the friends of childhood who 
had already gone. It was also the Christian's 
death. The mind which had conceived so vividly 
the scenes of the judgment, must often have 
looked forward to that hour, which he now could 
meet in an humble, trusting faith. And thus the 
day wore on, until, about eight o'clock in the eve- 
ning, without a struggle, he fell asleep." 

As a poet, he possessed qualities seldom found 
united: a masculine strength of mind, and a 
most delicate perception of the beautiful. With 
an imagination of the loftiest order — with " the 
vision and the faculty divine" in its fullest exer- 
cise, the wanderings of his fancy were chastened 
and controlled by exquisite taste. The grand 



characteristic of his writings is their classical 
beauty. Every passage is polished to the utmost, 
yet there is no exuberance, no sacrifice to false 
and meretricious taste. He threw aside the gaudy 
and affected brilliancy with which too many set 
forth their poems, and left his to stand, like the 
doric column, charming by its simplicity. "Writing 
not for present popularity, or to catch the sense- 
less applause of the multitude, he was willing to 
commit his works — as Lord Bacon did his memo- 
ry — " to the next ages." And the result is proving 
how wise were his calculations. The " fit audi- 
ence," which at first hailed his poems with plea- 
sure, from realizing their worth, has been steadily 
increasing. The scholar studies them as the pro- 
ductions of a kindred spirit, which had drunk 
deeply at the fountains of ancient lore, until it 
had itself been moulded into the same form of 
stern and antique beauty, which marked the old 
Athenian dramatists. The intellectual and the 
gifted claim him as one of their own sacred bro- 
therhood ; and all who have a sympathy with 
genius, and are anxious to hold communion with 
it as they travel on the worn and beaten path of 
life, turn with ever renewed delight to his pages. 
They see the evidences of one, who wrote not be- 
cause he must write, but because he possessed a 
mind crowded and glowing with images of beauty, 
and therefore, in the language of poetry, he poured 
forth its hoarded treasures. Much as we must 
lament the withdrawal of that bright mind, at an 
age when it had just ripened into the maturity of 
its power, and when it seemed ready for greater 
efforts than it yet had made, we rejoice that 
the event did not happen until a permanent 
rank had been gained among the noblest of our 
poets. 



THE JUDGMENT. 



The rites were past of that auspicious day 
When white-robed altars wreath'd with living green 
Adorn the temples ; — when unnumber'd tongues 
Repeat the glorious anthem sung to harps 
Of angels while the star o'er Bethlehem stood ; — 
When grateful hearts bow low, and deeper joy 
Breathes in the Christian than the angel song, 
On the great birthday of our Priest and King. 
That night, while musing on his wondrous life, 
Precepts, and promises to be fulfill'd, 
A trance-like sleep fell on me, and a dream 
Of dreadful character appall'd my soul. 
Wild was the pageant : — face to face with kings, 
Heroes, and sages of old note, I stood ; 
Patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles saw, 
And venerable forms, ere round the globe 
Shoreless and waste a weltering flood was roll'd, 
With angels, compassing the radiant throne 
Of Marx's Son, anew descended, crown'd 
With glory terrible, to judge the world. 



Methought I journey'd o'er a boundless plain, 
Unbroke by vale or hill, on all sides stretch'd, 
Like circling ocean, to the low-brow'd sky ; 
Save in the midst a verdant mount, whose sides 
Flowers of all hues and fragrant breath adorn'd. 
Lightly I trod, as on some joyous quest, 
Beneath the azure vault and early sun ; 
But while my pleased eyes ranged the circuit green, 
New light shone round ; a murmur came, confused, 
Like many voices and the rush of wings. 
Upward T gazed, and, 'mid the glittering skies, 
Begirt by flying myriads, saw a throne 
Whose thousand splendours blazed upon the earth 
Refulgent as another sun. Through clouds 
They came, and vapours colour'd by Aurora, 
Mingling in swell sublime, voices, and harps, 
And sounding wings, and hallelujahs sweet. 
Sudden, a seraph that before them flew, 
Pausing upon Iris wide-unfolded plumes, 
Put to his mouth the likeness of a trump, 
And toward the four winds four times fiercely 

breathed. 
Doubling along the arch, the mighty peal 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



Ill 



To heaven resounded ; hell return'd a groan,' 
And shuddering earth a moment reel'd, confounded, 
From her fixed pathway as the staggering ship, 
Stunn'd by some mountain billow, reels. The isles, 
With heaving ocean, rock'd : the mountains shook 
Their ancient coronets : the avalanche 
Thunder'd : silence succeeded through the nations. 
Earth never listen'd to a sound like this. 
It struck the general pulse of nature still, 
And broke, forever, the dull sleep of death. 



Now, o'er the mount the radiant legions hung, 
Like plumy travellers from climes remote 
On some sequester'd isle about to stoop. 
Gently its flowery head received the throne ; 
Cherubs and seraphs, by ten thousands, round 
Skirting it far and wide, like a bright sea, 
Fair forms and faces, crowns, and coronets, 
And glistering wings furl'd white and numberless. 
About their Lord were those seven glorious spirits 
Who in the Almighty's presence stand. Four 

lean'd 
On golden wands, with folded wings, and eyes 
Fix'd on the throne : one bore the dreadful books, 
The arbiters of life : another waved 
The blazing ensign terrible, of yore, 
To rebel angels in the wars of heaven : 
What seem'd a trump the other spirit grasp'd, 
Of wondrous size, wreathed multiform and strange. 
Illustrious stood the seven, above the rest 
Towering, like a constellation glowing, 
What time the sphere-instructed huntsman, taught 
By Atlas, his star-studded belt displays 
Aloft, bright-glittering, in the winter sky. 



Then on the mount, amidst these glorious shapes, 
Who reverent stood, with looks of sacred awe, 
I saw Emmanuel seated on his throne. 
His robe, methought, was whiter than the light ; 
Upon his breast the heavenly Urim glow'd 
Bright as the sun, and round such lightnings fksh'd, 
No eye could meet the mystic symbol's blaze. 
Irradiant the eternal sceptre shone 
Which wont to glitter in his Father's hand : 
Resplendent in his face the Godhead beam'd, 
Justice and mercy, majesty and grace, 
Divinely mingling. Celestial glories play'd 
Around with beamy lustre ; from his eye 
Dominion look'd ; upon his brow was stamp'd 
Creative power. Yet over all the touch 
Of gracious pity dwelt, which, erst, amidst 
Dissolving nature's anguish, breathed a prayer 
For guilty man. Redundant down his neck 
His locks roll'd graceful, as they waved, of old, 
Upon the mournful breeze of Calvary. 



His throne of heavenly substance seem'd com- 
posed, 
Whose pearly essence, like the eastern shell, 
Or changeful opal, shed a silvery light. 
Clear as the moon it look'd through ambient clouds 
Of snowy lustre, waving round its base, 



That, like a zodiac, thick with emblems set, 
Flash'd wondrous beams, of unknown character, 
From many a burning stone of lustre rare, 
Stain'd like the bow whose mingling splendour 

stream'd 
Confusion bright upon the dazzled eye. 
Above him hung a canopy whose skirts 
The mount o'ershadow'd like an evening cloud. 
Clouds were his curtains : not like their dim types 
Of blue and purple round the tabernacle, 
That waving vision of the lonely wild, 
By pious Israel wrought with cherubim ; 
Veiling the mysteries of old renown, 
Table, and altar, ark, and mercy-seat, 
Where, 'twixt the shadow of cherubic wings, 
In lustre visible Jehovah shone. 



In honour chief, upon the Lord's right hand 
His station Michael held : the dreadful sword 
That from a starry baldric hung, proclaim'd 
The Hierarch. Terrible, on his broAv 
Blazed the archangel crown, and from his eye 
Thick sparkles flash'd. Like regal banners, waved 
Back from his giant shoulders his broad vans, 
Bedropt with gold, and, turning to the sun, 
Shone gorgeous as the multitudinous stars, 
Or some illumined city seen by night, 
When her wide streets pour noon, and, echoing 

through 
Her thronging thousands, mirth and music ring. 

Opposed to him, I saw an angel stand 
In sable vesture, with the Books of Life. 
Black was his mantle, and his changeful wings 
Gloss'd like the raven's ; thoughtful seem'd his 

mien, 
Sedate and calm, and deep upon his brow 
Had Meditation set her seal ; his eyes 
Look'd things unearthly, thoughts unutterable, 
Or utter'd only with an angel's tongue. 
Renown'd was he among the seraphim 
For depth of prescience, and sublimest lore ; 
Skill'd in the mysteries of the Eterxal, 
Profoundly versed in those old records where, 
From everlasting ages, live God's deeds ; 
He knew the hour when yonder shining worlds, 
That roll around us, into being sprang ; 
Their system, laws, connexion ; all he knew 
But the dread moment when they cease to be. 
None judged like him the ways of God to man, 
Or so had ponder'd ; his excursive thoughts 
Had visited the depths of night and chaos, 
Gathering the treasures of the hoary deep. 



Like ocean billows seem'd, ere this, the plain, 
Confusedly heaving with a sumless host 
From earth's and time's remotest bounds : a roar 
Went up before the multitude, whose course 
The unfurl'd banner guided, and the bow, 
Zone of the universe, athwart the zenith 
Sweeping its arch. In one vast conflux roll'd, 
Wave following wave, were men of every age, 
Nation, and tongue ; all heard the warning blast, 
And, led by wondrous impulse, hither came. 



118 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



Mingled in wild confusion, now, those met 
In distant ages born. Gray forms, that lived 
When Time himself was young, whose temples 

shook 
The hoary honours of a thousand years, 
Stood side by side with Roman consuls : — here, 
Mid prophets old, and heaven-inspired bards, 
Were Grecian heroes seen : — there, from a crowd 
Of reverend patriarchs, tower'd the nodding 

plumes, 
Tiars, and helms, and sparkling diadems 
Of Persia's, Egypt's, or Assyria's kings ; 
Clad as when forth the hundred gates of Thebes 
On sounding cars her hundred princes rush'd ; 
Or, when, at night, from off the terrace top 
Of his aerial garden, touched to soothe 
The troubled monarch, came the solemn chime 
Of sackbut, psaltery, and harp, adown 
The Euphrates, floating in the moonlight wide 
O'er sleeping Babylon. For all appear'd 
As in their days of earthly pride ; the clank 
Of steel announced the warrior, and the robe 
Of Tyrian lustre spoke the blood of kings. 
Though on the angels while I gazed, their names 
Appeared not, yet amongst the mortal throng 
(Capricious power of dreams !) familiar seem'd 
Each countenance, and every name well known. 



Nearest the mount, of that mix'd phalanx first, 
Our general parent stood : not as he look'd 
Wandering, at eve, amid the shady bowers 
And odorous groves of that delicious garden, 
Or flowery banks of some soft-rolling stream, 
Pausing to list its lulling murmur, hand 
In hand with peerless Eve, the rose too sweet, 
Fatal to Paradise. Fled from his cheek 
The bloom of Eden ; his hyacinthine locks 
Were changed to gray; with years and sorrows 

bow'd 
He seem'd, but through his ruined form still shone 
The majesty of his Creator : round 
Upon his sons a grieved and pitying look 
He cast, and in his vesture hid his face. 



Close at his side appear'd a martial form, 
Of port majestic, clad in massive arms, 
Cowering above whose helm with outspread wings 
The Roman eagle flew; around its brim 
Was character'd the name at which earth's queen 
Bow'd from her seven-fold throne and owned her 

lord. 
In his dilated eye amazement stood ; 
Terror, surprise, and blank astonishment 
Blanch'd his firm cheek, as when, of old, close 

hemm'd 
Within the capitol, amidst the crowd 
Of traitors, fearless else, he caught the gleam 
Of Brutus' steel. Daunted, yet on the pomp 
Of towering seraphim, their wings, their crowns, 
Their dazzling faces, and upon the Lord 
He fix'd a steadfast look of anxious note, 
Like that Pharsalia's hurtling squadrons drew 
When all his fortunes hung upon the hour. 



Near him, for wisdom famous through the east, 
Abraham rested on his staff; in guise 
A Chaldee shepherd, simple in his raiment 
As when at Mamre in his tent he sat, 
The host of angels. Snow-white were his locks 
And silvery beard, that to his girdle roll'd. 
Fondly his meek eye dwelt upon his Lord, 
Like one, that, after long and troubled dreams, 
A night of sorrows, dreary, wild, and sad, 
Beholds, at last, the dawn of promised joys. 

With kindred looks his great descendant gazed. 
Not in the poor array of shepherds he, 
Nor in the many-coloured coat, fond gift 
Of doating age, and cause of direful hate ; 
But, stately, as his native palm, his form 
Was, like Egyptian princes', proudly deck'd 
In tissued purple sweeping to the ground. 
Plumes from the desert waved above his head, 
And down his breast the golden collar hung, 
Bestow'd by Pharaoh, when through Egypt word 
Went forth to bow the knee as to her king. 
Graced thus, his chariot with impetuous wheels 
Bore him toward Goshen, where the fainting heart 
Of Israel waited for his long-lost son, 
The son of Rachel. Ah ! had she survived 
To see him in his glory ! — As he rode, 
His boyhood, and his mother's tent, arose, 
Link'd with a thousand recollections dear, 
And Joseph's heart was in the tomb by Ephrath. 



At hand, a group of sages mark'd the scene. 
Plato and Socrates together stood, 
With him who measured by their shades those piles 
Gigantic, 'mid the desert seen, at eve, 
By toiling caravans for Memphis bound, 
Peering like specks above the horizon's verge, 
Whose huge foundations vanish in the mist 
Of earliest time. Transfix' d they seem'd with 

wonder, 
Awe-struck, — amazement rapt their inmost souls. 
Such glance of deep inquiry and suspense 
They threw around, as, in untutor'd ages, 
Astronomers upon some dark eclipse, 
Close counselling amidst the dubious light 
If it portended Nature's death, or spoke 
A change in heaven. What thought they, then, 

of all 
Their idle dreams, their proud philosophy, 
When on their wilder'd souls redemption, Christ, 
And the Almighty broke 1 But, though they err'd 
When all was dark, they reason'd for the truth. 
They sought in earth, in ocean, and the stars, 
Their maker, arguing from his works toward God ; 
And from his word had not less nobly argued, 
Had they beheld the gospel sending forth 
Its pure effulgence o'er the farthest sea, 
Lighting the idol mountain-tops, and gilding 
The banners of salvation there. These men 
Ne'er slighted a Redeemer ; of his name 
They never heard. Perchance their late-found 

harps, 
Mixing with angel symphonies, may sound 
In strains more rapturous things to them so new. 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



119 



Nearer the mount stood Moses ; in his hand 
The rod which blasted with strange plagues the 

realm 
Of Misraim, and from its time-worn channels 
Upturn' d the Arabian sea. Fair was his broad, 
High front, and forth from his soul-piercing eye 
Did legislation took ; which full he fix'd 
Upon the blazing panoply, undazzled. 
No terrors had the scene for him who, oft, 
Upon the thunder-shaken hill-top, veil'd 
With smoke and lightnings, with Jehovah talk'd, 
And from his fiery hand received the law. 
Beyond the Jewish ruler, banded close, 
A company full glorious, I saw 
The twelve apostles stand. 0, with what looks 
Of ravishment and joy, what rapturous tears, 
What hearts of ecstasy, they gazed again 
On their beloved Master ! what a tide 
Of overwhelming thoughts press'd to their souls, 
When now, as he so frequent promised, throned, 
And circled by the hosts of heaven, they traced 
The well-known lineaments of him who shared 
Their wants and sufferings here ! Full many a day 
Of fasting spent with him, and night of prayer, 
Rush'd on their swelling hearts. Before the rest, 
Close to the angelic spears, had Peter urged, 
Tears in his eye, love throbbing at his breast, 
As if to touch his vesture, or to catch 
The murmur of his voice. On him and them 
Jesus beam'd down benignant looks of love. 

XIII. 

How diverse from the front sublime of Paul, 
Or pale and placid dignity of him 
Who in the lonely Isle saw heaven unveil'd, 
Was his who in twelve summers won a world ! 
Not such his countenance nor garb, as when 
He foremost breasted the broad Granicus, 
Dark-rushing through its steeps from lonely Ida, 
His double-tufted plume conspicuous mark 
Of every arrow; cheering his bold steed 
Through pikes, and spears, and threatening axes, up 
The slippery bank through all their chivalry, 
Princes and satraps link'd for Cyrus' throne, 
With cuirass pierced, cleft helm, and plumeless 

head, 
To youthful conquest : or, when, panic-struck, 
Darius from his plunging chariot sprang, 
Away the bow and mantle cast, and fled. 
His robe, all splendid from the silk-worm's loom, 
Floated effeminate, and from his neck 
Hung chains of gold, and gems from eastern mines. 
Bedight with many-colour'd plumage, flamed 
His proud tiara, plumage which had spread 
Its glittering dyes of scarlet, green, and gold, 
To evening suns by Indus' stream : around 
Twined careless, glow'd the white and purple band, 
The imperial, sacred badge of Persia's kings. 
Thus his triumphal car in Babylon 
Display'd him, drawn by snow-white elephants, 
Whose feet crush'd odours from the flowery wreaths 
Boy-Cupids scatter'd, while soft music breathed 
And incense fumed around. But dire his hue, 
Bloated and bacchanal as on the night 



When old Persepolis was wrapp'd in flame ! 
Fear over all had flung a livid tinge. 
A deeper awe subdued him than amazed 
Partme^io and the rest, when they beheld 
The white-stoled Levites from Jerusalem, 
Thrown open as on some high festival, 
With hymns and solemn pomp, come down the hill 
To meet the incensed king, and wondering saw, 
As on the pontiff's awful form he gazed, 
Glistering in purple with his mystic gems, 
Jove's vaunted son, at Jaddua's foot, adore. 



Turn, now, where stood the spotless Virgin : 
sweet 
Her azure eye, and fair her golden ringlets ; 
But changeful as the hues of infancy 
Her face. As on her son, her Gon, she gazed, 
Fix'd was her look, — earnest, and breathless ; — 

now, 
Suffused her glowing cheek; now, changed to 

pale ; — 
First, round her lip a smile celestial play'd, 
Then, fast, fast rain'd the tears. — Who can in- 
terpret ? — 
Perhaps some thought maternal cross'd her heart, 
That mused on days long past, when on her breast 
He helpless lay, and of his infant smile ; 
Or, on those nights of terror, when, from worse 
Than wolves, she hasted with her babe to Egypt. 



Girt by a crowd of monarchs, of whose fame 
Scarce a memorial lives, who fought and reign'd 
While the historic lamp shed glimmering light, 
Above the rest one regal port aspired, 
Crown'd like Assyria's princes ; not a crest 
O'ertopp'd him, save the giant seraphim. 
His countenance, more piercing than the beam 
Of the sun-gazing eagle, earthward bent 
Its haught, fierce majesty, temper'd with awe. 
Seven years with brutish herds had quell'd his 

pride, 
And taught him there's a mightier king in heaven. 
His powerful arm founded old Babylon, 
Whose bulwarks like the eternal mountains heaved 
Their adamantine heads ; whose brazen gates 
Beleaguering nations foil'd, and bolts of war, 
Unshaken, unanswer'd as the pelting hail. 
House of the kingdom ! glorious Babylon ! 
Earth's marvel, and of unborn time the theme ! 
Say where thou stood'st : — or, can the fisherman 
Plying his task on the Euphrates, now, 
A silent, silver, unpolluted tide, 
Point to thy grave, and answer 1 From a sash 
O'er his broad shoulder hung the ponderous sword, 
Fatal as sulphurous fires to Nineveh, 
That levell'd with her waves the walls of Tyrus, 
Queen of the sea; to its foundations shook 
Jerusalem, and reap'd the fields of Egypt. 

XYI. 

Endless the task to name the multitudes 
From every land, from isles remote, in seas 
Which no adventurous mariner has sail'd : — 



120 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



From desert-girdled cities, of whose pomp 
Some solitary wanderer, by the stars 
Conducted o'er the burning wilderness, 
Has told a doubted tale : as Europe's sons 
Describing Mexic', and, in fair Peru, 
The gorgeous Temple of the Sun, its priests, 
Its virgin, and its fire, forever bright, 
Were fablers deem'd, and, for belief, met scorn. 
Around while gazing thus, far in the sky 
Appear'd what look'd, at first, a moving star ; 
But, onward, wheeling through the clouds it came, 
With brightening splendour and increasing size, 
Till within ken a fiery chariot rush'd, 
By flaming horses drawn, whose heads shot forth 
A twisted, horn-like beam. O'er its fierce wheels 
Two shining forms alighted on the mount, 
Of mortal birth, but deathless rapt to heaven. 
Adown their breasts their loose beards floated, white 
As mist by moonbeams silver'd ; fair they seem'd, 
And bright as angels ; fellowship with heaven 
Their mortal grossness so had purified. 
Lucent their mantles ; other than the seer 
By Jordan caught ; and in the prophet's face 
A mystic lustre, like the Urim's, gleamed. 



Now for the dread tribunal all prepared : 
Before the throne the angel with the books 
Ascending kneel'd, and, crossing on his breast 
His sable pinions, there the volumes spread. 
A second summons echoed from the trump, 
Thrice sounded, when the mighty work began. 
Waved onward by a seraph's wand, the sea 
Of palpitating bosoms toward the mount 
In silence roll'd. No sooner had the first 
Pale tremblers its mysterious circle touched 
Than, instantaneous, swift as fancy's flash, 
As lightning darting from the summer cloud, 
Its past existence rose before the soul, 
With all its deeds, with all its secret store 
Of embryo works, and dark imaginings. 
Amidst the chaos, thoughts as numberless 
As whirling leaves when autumn strips the woods, 
Light and disjointed as the sibyl's, thoughts 
Scatter'd upon the waste of long, dim years, 
Pass'd in a moment through the quicken'd soul. 
Not with the glozing eye of earth beheld ; 
They saw as with the glance of Deity. 
Conscience, stern arbiter in every breast, 
Decided. Self-acquitted or condemned, 
Through two broad, glittering avenues of spears 
They cross'd the angelic squadrons, right, or left 
The judgment-seat ; by power supernal led 
To their allotted stations on the plain. 
As onward, onward, numberless, they came, 
And touch'd, appall'd, the verge of destiny, 
The heavenly spirits inly sympathized : — 
When youthful saints, or martyrs scarr'd and white, 
With streaming faces, hands ecstatic clasp'd, 
Sprang to the right, celestial beaming smiles 
A ravishing beauty to their radiance gave ; 
But downcast looks of pity chill'd the left. 
What clench'd hands, and frenzied steps were there ! 
Yet, on my shuddering soul, the stifled groan, 
Wrung from some proud blasphemer, as he rush'd, 



Constrain'd by conscience, down the path of death, 
Knells horrible. — On all the hurrying throng 
The unerring pen stamp'd, as they pass'd, their fate. 
Thus, in a day, amazing thought ! were judged 
The millions, since from the Almighty's hand, 
Launch'd on her course, earth roll'd rejoicing. 

Whose 
The doom to penal fires, and whose to joy, 
From man's presumption mists and darkness veil. 
So pass'd the day ; divided stood the world, 
An awful line of separation drawn, 
And from his labours the Messiah ceased. 

XVIII. 

By this, the sun his westering car drove low ; 
Round his broad wheel full many a lucid cloud 
Floated, like happy isles, in seas of gold : 
Along the horizon castled shapes were piled, 
Turrets and towers, whose fronts embattled gleam'd 
With yellow light : smit by the slanting ray, 
A ruddy beam the canopy reflected ; 
With deeper light the ruby blush'd ; and thick 
Upon the seraphs' wings the glowing spots 
Seem'd drops of fire. Uncoiling from its staff 
With fainter wave, the gorgeous ensign hung, 
Or, swelling with the swelling breeze, by fits, 
Cast off upon the dewy air huge flakes 
Of golden lustre. Over all the hill, 
The heavenly legions, the assembled world, 
Evening her crimson tint forever drew. 



But while at gaze, in solemn silence, men 
And angels stood, and many a quaking heart 
With expectation throbb'd ; about the throne 
And glittering hill-top slowly wreathed the clouds, 
Ere while like curtains for adornment hung, 
Involving Shiloh and the seraphim 
Beneath a snowy tent. The bands around, 
Eyeing the gonfalon that through the smoke 
Tower'd into air, resembled hosts who watch 
The king's pavilion where, ere battle hour, 
A council sits. What their consult might be, 
Those seven dread spirits and their Lord, I mused, 
I marvell'd. Was it grace and peace ] — or death 1 
Was it of man 1 — Did pity for the lost 
His gentle nature wring, who knew, who felt 
How frail is this poor tenement of clay?* — 
Arose there from the misty tabernacle 
A cry like that upon Gethsemane 1 — 
What pass'd in Jesus' bosom none may know, 
But close the cloudy dome invested him ; 
And r weary with conjecture, round I gazed 
Where, in the purple west, no more to dawn, 
Faded the glories of the dying day. 
Mild twinkling through a crimson-skirted cloud, 
The solitary star of evening shone. 
While gazing wistful on that peerless light, 
Thereafter to be seen no more, (as, oft, 
In dreams strange images will mix,) sad thoughts 
Pass'd o'er my soul. Sorrowing, I cried, " Farewell, 
Pale, beauteous planet, that displayest so soft 

* For we have not an high priest which cannot be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities.— IlEB.iv. 15. 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



121 



Amid yon glowing streak thy transient beam, • 
A long, a last farewell ! Seasons have changed, 
Ages and empires roll'd, like smoke, away, 
But thou, unalter'd, beamest as silver fair 
As on thy birthnight ! Bright and watchful eyes, 
From palaces and bowers, have hail'd thy gem 
With secret transport ! Natal star of love, 
And souls that love the shadowy hour of fancy, 
How much I owe thee, how I bless thy ray ! 
How oft thy rising o'er the hamlet green, 
Signal of rest, and social converse sweet, 
Beneath some patriarchal tree, has cheer'd 
The peasant's heart, and drawn his benison ! 
Pride of the west I beneath thy placid light 
The tender tale shall never more be told, 
Man's soul shall never wake to joy again : 
Thou sett'st forever, — lovely orb, farewell !" 



Low warblings, now, and solitary harps 
Were heard among the angels, touch'd and tuned 
As to an evening hymn, preluding soft 
To cherub voices ; louder as they swell'd, 
Deep strings struck in, and hoarser instruments, 
Mix'd with clear, silver sounds, till concord rose 
Full as the harmony of winds to heaven ; 
Yet sweet as nature's springtide melodies 
To some worn pilgrim, first with glistening eyes 
Greeting his native valley, whence the sounds 
Of rural gladness, herds, and bjeating flocks, 
The chirp of birds, blithe voices, lowing kine, 
The dash of waters, reed, or rustic pipe, 
Blent with the dulcet, distance-mellow'd bell, 
Come, like the echo of his early joys. 
In every pause, from spirits in mid air, 
Responsive still were golden viols heard, 
And heavenly symphonies stole faintly down. 



Calm, deep, and silent was the tide of joy 
That roll'd o'er all the blessed ; visions of bliss, 
Rapture too mighty, swell'd their heai-ts to bursting ; 
Prelude to heaven it seem'd, and in their sight 
Celestial glories swam. How fared, alas ! 
That other band] Sweet to their troubled minds 
The solemn scene ; ah ! doubly sweet the breeze 
Refreshing, and the purple light to eyes 
But newly oped from that benumbing sleep 
Whose dark and drear abode no cheering dream, 
No bright-hued vision ever enters, souls 
For ages pent, perhaps, in some dim world 
Where guilty spectres stalk the twilight gloom. 
For, like the spirit's last seraphic smile, 
The earth, anticipating now her tomb, 
To rise, perhaps, as heaven magnificent, 
Appear'd Hesperian : gales of gentlest wing 
Came fragrance-laden, and such odours shed 
As Yemen never knew, nor those blest isles 
In Indian seas, where the voluptuous breeze 
The peaceful native breathes, at eventide, 
From nutmeg groves and bowers of cinnamon. 
How solemn on their ears the choral note 
Swell'd of the angel hymn ! so late escaped 
The cold embraces of the grave, whose damp 
Silence no voice or string'd instrument 

16 



Has ever broke ! Yet with the murmuring breeze 
Full sadly chimed the music and the song, 
For with them came the memory of joys 
Forever past, the stinging thought of what 
They once had been, and of their future lot. 
To their grieved view the passages of earth 
Delightful rise, their tender ligaments 
So dear, they heeded not an after state, 
Though by a fearful judgment usher'd in. 
A bridegroom fond, who lavish'd all his heart 
On his beloved, forgetful of the Man 
Of many Sorrows, who, for him, resign'd 
His meek and spotless spirit on the cross, 
Has marked among the blessed bands, array' d 
Celestial in a spring of beauty, doom'd 
No more to fade, the charmer of his soul, 
Her cheek soft blooming like the dawn in heaven. 
He recollects the days when on his smile 
She lived ; when, gently leaning on his breast, 
Tears of intense affection dimm'd her eyes, 
Of dove-like lustre. — Thoughtless, now, of him 
And earthly J03^s, eternity and heaven 
Engross her soul. — What more accursed pang 
Can hell inflict 1 With her, in realms of light, 
In never-dying bliss, he might have roll'd 
Eternity away ; but now, forever 
Torn from his bride new-found, with cruel fiends, 
Or men like fiends, must waste and weep. Now, now 
He mourns with burning, bitter drops his days 
Misspent, probation lost, and heaven despised. 
Such thoughts from many a bursting heart drew 

forth 
Groans, lamentations, and despairing shrieks, 
That on the silent air came from afar. 



As, when from some proud capital that crowns 
Imperial Ganges, the reviving breeze 
Sweeps the dank mist, or hoary river fog 
Impervious mantled o'er her highest towers, 
Bright on the eye rush Brahma's temples, capp'd 
With spiry tops, gay-trellised minarets, 
Pagods of gold, and mosques with burnish'd domes, 
Gilded, and glistening in the morning sun, 
So from the hill the cloudy curtains roll'd, 
And, in the lingering lustre of the eve, 
Again the Saviour and his seraphs shone. 
Emitted sudden in his rising, flash'd 
Intenser light, as toward the right hand host 
Mild turning, with a look ineffable, 
The invitation he proclaim'd in accents 
Which on their ravish'd ears pour'd thrilling, like 
The silver sound of many trumpets heard 
Afar in sweetest jubilee ; then, swift 
Stretching his dreadful sceptre to the left, 
That shot forth horrid lightnings, in a voice 
Clothed but in half its terrors, yet to them 
Seem'd like the crush of heaven, pronounced the 

doom. 
The sentence utter'd, as with life instinct, 
The throne uprose majestically slow ; 
Each angel spread his wings ; in one dread swell 
Of triumph mingling as they mounted, trumpets, 
And harps, and golden lyres, and timbrels sweet, 
Aud many a strange and deep-toned instrument 
L 



122 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



Of heavenly minstrelsy unknown on earth, 
And angels' voices, and the loud acclaim 
Of all the ransom'd, like a thunder-shout. 
Far through the skies melodious echoes roll'd, 
And faint hosannas distant climes return'd. 



Down from the lessening multitude came faint 
And fainter still the trumpet's dying peal, 
All else in distance lost ; when, to receive 
Their new inhabitants, the heavens unfolded. 
Up gazing, then, with streaming eyes, a glimpse 
The wicked caught of Paradise, whence streaks 
Of splendour, golden quivering radiance shone, 
As when the showery evening sun takes leave, 
Breaking a moment o'er the illumined world. 
Seen far within, fair forms moved graceful by, 
Slow-turning to the light their snowy wings. 
A deep-drawn, agonizing groan escaped 
The hapless outcasts, when upon the Lord 
The glowing portals closed. Undone, they stood 
"Wistfully gazing on the cold, gray heaven, 
As if to catch, alas ! a hope not there. 
But shades began to gather; night approach'd 
Murky and lowering: round with horror roll'd 
On one another, their despairing eyes 
That glared with anguish : starless, hopeless gloom 
Fell on their souls, never to know an end. 
Though in the far horizon linger'd yet 
A lurid gleam, black clouds were mustering there; 
Red flashes, follow'd by low muttering sounds, 
Announced the fiery tempest doom'd to hurl 
The fragments of the earth again to chaos. 
Wild gusts swept by, upon whose hollow wing 
Unearthly voices, yells, and ghastly peals 
Of demon laughter came. Infernal shapes 
Flitted along the sulphurous wreaths, or plunged 
Their dark, impure abyss, as sea-fowl dive 

Their watery element. O'erwhelmed with sights 

And sounds appalling, I awoke ; and found 
For gathering storms, and signs of coming wo, 
The midnight moon gleaming upon my bed 
Serene and peaceful. Gladly I survey'd her 
Walking in brightness through the stars of heaven, 
And blessed the respite ere the day of doom. 



HADAD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY 
OF JERUSALEM. 



'T is so ; — the hoary harper sings aright ; 
How beautiful is Zion ! — Like a queen, 
Arm'd with a helm, in virgin loveliness, 
Her heaving bosom in a bossy cuirass, 
She sits aloft, begirt with battlements 
And bulwarks swelling from the rock, to guard 
The sacred courts, pavilions, palaces, 
Soft gleaming through the umbrage of the woods 
Which tuft her summit, and, like raven tresses, 
Waved their dark beauty round the tower of 

David. 
Resplendent with a thousand golden bucklers, 
The embrasures of alabaster shine ; 



Hail'd by the pilgrims of the desert, bound 
To Judah's mart with orient merchandise. 
But not, for thou art fair and turret-crown' d, 
Wet with the choicest dew of heaven, and bless'd 
With golden fruits, and gales of frankincense, 
Dwell I beneath thine ample curtains. Here, 
Where saints and prophets teach, where the stern 

law 
Still speaks in thunder, where chief angels watch, 
And where the glory hovers, here I war. 



UNTOLD LOVE.* 



The soul, my lord, is fashion' d — like the lyre. 
Strike one chord suddenly, and others vibrate. 
Your name abruptly mention'd, casual words 
Of comment on your deeds, praise from your 

uncle, 
News from the armies, talk of your return, 
A word let fall touching your youthful passion, 
Suffused her cheek, call'd to her drooping eye 
A momentary lustre ; made her pulse 
Leap headlong, and her bosom palpitate. 
I could not long be blind, for love defies 
Concealment, making every glance and motion, 

Silence, and speech a t5ll-tale 

These things, though trivial of themselves, begat 
Suspicion. But long months elapsed, 
Ere I knew all. She had, you know, a fever. 
One night, when all were weary and at rest, 
I, sitting by her couch, tired and o'erwatch'd, 
Thinking she slept, suffer'd my lids to close. 

Waked by a voice, I found her never, Signor, 

While life endures, will that scene fade from me, — 
A dying lamp wink'd in the hearth, that cast, 
And snatched the shadows. Something stood be- 
fore me 
In white. My flesh began to creep. I thought 
I saw a spirit. It was my lady risen, 
And standing in her night-robe with clasp'd hands, 
Like one in prayer. Her pallid face display'd 
Something, methought, surpassing mortal beauty. 
She presently turn'd round, and fix'd her large, 

wild eyes, 
Brimming with tears, upon me, fetched a sigh, 
As from a riven heart, and cried : " He 's dead ! 
But, hush! — weep not, — I've bargain'd for his 

soul, — 
That's safe in bliss!" — Demanding who was dead, 
Scarce yet aware she raved, she answer'd quick, 
Her Cos^ro, her beloved ; for that his ghost, 
All pale and gory, thrice had pass'd her bed. 
With that, her passion breaking loose, my lord, 
She pour'd her lamentation forth in strains 
Pathetical beyond the reach of reason. 
" Gone, gone, gone to the grave, and never knew 
I loved him !" — I 'd no power to speak, or move.— 
I sat stone still, — a horror fell upon me. 
At last, her little strength ebb'd out, she sank, 
And lay, as in death's arms, till morning. 

* From " Demetria." 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



123 



SCENE FROM HAD AD. 

The terraced roof of Absalom's house by night; 
adorned ivith vases of flowers and fragrant 
shrubs ; an awning over part of it. Tamak 
and Had ad. 

Tarn. No, no, I well remember — proofs, you said, 
Unknown to Moses. 

Had. Well, my love, thou know'st 
I 've been a traveller in various climes ; 
Trod Ethiopia's scorching sands, and scaled 
The snow-clad mountains ; trusted to the deep; 
Traversed the fragrant islands of the sea, 
And with the wise conversed of many nations. 

Tarn. I know thou hast. 

Had. Of all mine eyes have seen, 
The greatest, wisest, and most wonderful 

that dread sa<; 

Tarn. Who? 

Had. None knows his lineage, age, or name : 
his locks 
Are like the snows of Caucasus ; his eyes 
Beam with the wisdom of collected ages. 
In green, unbroken years he sees, 'tis said, 
The generations pass, like autumn fruits, 
Garner'd, consumed, and springing fresh to life, 
Again to perish, while he views the sun, 
The seasons roll, in rapt serenity, 
And high communion with celestial powers. 
Some say 'tis Shem, our father, some say Esoch, 
And some Melchisedek. 

Tarn. I 've heard a tale 
Like this, but ne'er believed it. 

Had. I have proved it. 
Through perils dire, dangers most imminent, 
Seven days and nights, mid rocks and wildernesses, 
And boreal snows, and never-thawing ice, 
Where not a bird, a beast, a living thing, 
Save the far-soaring vulture comes, I dared 
My desperate way, resolved to know or perish. 

Tarn. Rash, rash adventurer ! 

Had. On the highest peak 
Of stormy Caucasus there blooms a spot 
On which perpetual sunbeams play, where flowers 
And verdure never die ; and there he dwells. 

Tarn. But didst thou see him 1 

Had. Never did I view 
Such awful majesty: his reverend locks 
Hung like a silver mantle to his feet ; 
His raiment glistered saintly white, his brow 
Rose like the gate of Paradise; his mouth 
Was musical as its bright guardians' songs. 

Tarn. What did he tell thee 1 O ! what wisdom 
fell 
From lips so hallow'd 1 

Had. Whether he possesses 
The Tetragrammaton — the powerful name 
Inscribed on Moses' rod, by which he wrought 
Unheard-of wonders, which constrains the heavens 
To shower down blessings, shakes the earth, and 

rules 
The strongest spirits ; or if God hath given 
A delegated power, I cannot tell. 



But 'twas from him I learn'd their fate, their fall, 
Who erewhile wore resplendent crowns in heaven ; 
Now scatter'd through the earth, the air, the sea. 
Them he compels to answer, and from them 
Has drawn what Moses, nor no mortal ear 
Has ever heard. 

Tarn. But did he tell it thee ? 

Had. He told me much — more than I dare reveal ; 
For with a dreadful oath he seal'd my lips. 

Tarn. But canst thou tell me nothing 1 Why . 
unfold 
So much, if I must hear no more 1 

Had. You bade 
Explain my words, almost reproach me, sweet, 
For what by accident escaped me. 

Tarn. Ah ! 
A little — something tell me — sure not all 
Were words inhibited. 

Had. Then promise never, 
Never to utter of this conference 
A breath to mortal. 

Tarn. Solemnly I vow. 

Had. Even then, 'tis little I can say, compared 
With all the marvels he related. 

Tarn. Come, 
I 'm breathless. Tell me how they sinn'd, how fell. 

Had. Their head, their prince involved them hi 
his ruin. 

Tarn. What black offence on his devoted head 
Drew endless punishment 1 

Had. The wish to be 
Like the All-Perfect. 

Tarn. Arrogating that 
Due only to his Maker ! awful crime ! 
But what their doom 1 their place of punishment 1 

Had. Above, about, beneath ; earth, sea, and air ; 
Their habitations various as their minds, 
Employments, and desires. 

Tarn. But are they round us, Hadad 1 not 
confined 
In penal chains and darkness 1 

Had. So he said, 
And so your holy books infer. What saith 
Your prophet 1 what the prince of Uz 1 

Tarn. I shudder, 
Lest some dark minister be near us now. 

Had. You wrong them. They are bright in- 
telligences, 
Robb'd of some native splendour, and cast down, 
'T is true, from heaven ; but not deform'd and foul, 
Revengeful, malice-working fiends, as fools 
Suppose. They dwell, like princes, in the clouds, 
Sun their bright pinions in the middle sky ; 
Or arch their palaces beneath the hills, 
With stones inestimable studded so, 
That sun or stars were useless there. 

Tarn. Good heavens ! 

Had. He bade me look on rugged Caucasus, 
Crag piled on crag beyond the utmost ken, 
Naked and wild, as if creation's ruins 
Were heaped in one immeasurable chain 
Of barren mountains, beaten by the storms 
Of everlasting winter. But within 
Are glorious palaces and domes of light, 
Irradiate halls and crvstal colonnades, 



124 



JAMES A. HILLHOUSE. 



Vaults set with gems the purchase of a crown, 
Blazing with lustre past the noontide beam, 
Or, with a milder beauty, mimicking 
The mystic signs of changeful Mazzaroth. 
Tarn. Unheard-of splendour ! 
Had. There they dwell, and muse, 
And wander ; beings beautiful, immortal, 
Minds vast as heaven, capacious as the sky, 
Whose thoughts connect past, present, and to come, 
And glow with light intense, imperishable. 
Thus, in the sparry chambers of the sea 
And air-pavilions, rainbow tabernacles, 
They study nature's secrets, and enjoy 
No poor dominion. 

Tarn. Are they beautiful, 
And powerful far beyond the human race ? 

Had. Man's feeble heart cannot conceive it. 
When 
The sage described them, fiery eloquence 
Flow'd from his lips ; his bosom heaved, his eyes 
Grew bright and mystical ; moved by the theme, 
Like one who feels a deity within. 

Tarn. Wondrous ! What intercourse have they 

with men 1 
Had. Sometimes they deign to intermix with man, 
B ut oft with woman. 

Tarn. Ha ! with woman 1 
Had. She 
Attracts them with her gentler virtues, soft, 
And beautiful, and heavenly, like themselves. 
They have been known to love her with a passion 
Stronger than human. 

Tarn. That surpasses all 
You yet have told me. 

Had. This the sage affirms ; 
And Moses, darkly. 

Tarn. How do they appear ] 
How manifest their love 1 

Had. Sometimes 'tis spiritual, signified 
By beatific dreams, or more distinct 
And glorious apparition. They have stoop'd 
To animate a human form, and love 
Like mortals. 

Tarn. Frightful to be so beloved ! 
Who could endure the horrid thought ! What makes 
Thy cold hand tremble 1 or is 't mine 
That feels so deathy 1 

Had. Dark imaginations haunt me 
When I recall the dreadful interview. 

Tarn. O, tell them not: I would not hear them. 
Had. But why contemn a spirit's love? so high, 
So glorious, if he haply deign'd ? 

Tarn. Forswear 
My Maker ! love a demon ! 

Had. No— 0, no— 
My thoughts but wander'd. Oft, alas! they wander. 
Tarn. Why dost thou speak so sadly now? And 
Thine eyes are fix'd again upon Arcturus. [lo ! 
Thus ever, when thy drooping spirits ebb, 
Thou gazest on that star. Hath it the power 
To cause or cure thy melancholy mood 1 ? 

[He appears lost in thought. 
Tell me, ascribest thou influence to the stars 1 
Had. (starting.) The stars! What know'st 
thou of the stars 1 



Tam. I know that they were made to rule the 

night. 
Had. Like palace lamps ! Thou echoest well 
thy grandsire. 
Woman ! the stars are living, glorious, 
Amazing, infinite ! 

Tam. Speak not so wildly. 
I know them numberless, resplendent, set 
As symbols of the countless, countless years 
That make eternity. 

Had. Eternity! 
! mighty, glorious, miserable thought ! 
Had ye endured like those great sufferers, 
Like them, seen ages, myriad ages roll ; 
Could ye but look into the void abyss 
With eyes experienced, unobseured by torments, 
Then mightst thou name it, name it feelingly. 
Tam. What ails thee, Had ad 1 Draw me not 

so close. 
Had. Taxar ! I need thy love — more than thy 

love — 
Tam. Thy cheek is wet with tears — Nay, let us 
'Tis late — I cannot, must not linger. [part — 

[Breaks from him, a?id exit. 
Had. Loved and abhorr'd ! Still, still accursed ! 
[He paces twice or thrice up and down, with 
passionate gestures ; then turns his face to 
the sky, and stands a moment in silence.] 
O ! where, 
In the illimitable space, in what 
Profound of untried misery, when all 
His worlds, his rolling orbs of light, that fill 
With life and beauty yonder infinite, 
Their radiant journey run, forever set, 
Where, where, in what abyss shall I be groaning ? 

[Exit. 



ARTHUR'S SOLILOQUY.* 

Here let me pause, and breathe awhile, and wipe 
These servile drops from off my burning brow. 
Amidst these venerable trees, the air 
Seems hallow'd by the breath of other times. — 
Companions of my fathers ! ye have mark'd 
Their generations pass. Your giant arms 
Shadow'd their youth, and proudly canopied 
Their silver hairs, when, ripe in years and glory, 
These walks they trod to meditate on heaven. 
What warlike pageants have ye seen ! what trains 
Of captives, and what heaps of spoil ! what pomp, 
When the victorious chief, war's tempest o'er, 
In Warkworth's bowers unbound his panoply ! 
What floods of splendour, bursts of jocund din, 
Startled the slumbering tenants of these shades, 
When night awoke the tumult of the feast, 
The song of damsels, and the sweet-toned lyre . 
Then, princely Percy reigned amidst his halls, 
Champion, and judge, and father of the north. 
O, days of ancient grandeur ! are ye gone 1 
Forever gone 1 Do these same scenes behold 
His offspring here, the hireling of a foe 1 
O, that I knew my fate ! that I could read 
The destiny which Heaven has mark'd for me ! 



* From " Percy's Masque." 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



[Born, 1791.] 



Charxes Sprague was born in Boston, on the 
twenty-sixth day of October, in 1791. His father, 
who still survives, was one of that celebrated band 
who, in 1773, resisted taxation by pouring the tea 
on board several British ships into the sea. 

Mr. Sprague was educated in the schools of 
his native city, which he left at an early period to 
acquire in a mercantile house a practical know- 
ledge of trade. When he was about twenty-one 
years of age, he commenced the business of a mer- 
chant on his own account, and continued in it, I 
believe, until he was elected cashier of the Globe 
Bank, one of the first establishments of its kind in 
Massachusetts. This office he now holds, and he 
has from the time he accepted it discharged its 
duties in a faultless manner, notwithstanding the 
venerable opinion that a poet must be incapable 
of successfully transacting practical affairs. In 
this period he has found leisure to study the works 
of the greatest authors, and particularly those of 
the masters of English poetry, with which, proba- 
bly, very few contemporary writers are more fami- 
liar ; and to write the admirable poems on which 
is based his own reputation. 

The first productions of Mr. Spragtte which 
attracted much attention, were a series of brilliant 
prologues, the first of which was written for the 
Park Theatre, in New York, in 1821. Prize thea- 
trical addresses are proverbially among the most 
worthless compositions in the poetic form. Their 
brevity and peculiar character prevents the develop- 
ment in them of original conceptions and striking 
ideas, and they are usually made up of common- 
place thoughts and images, compounded with little 
skill. Those by Mr. Sprague are certainly among 
the best of their kind, and some passages in them 
are conceived in the true spirit of poetry. The 
following lines are from the one recited at the 
opening of a theatre in Philadelphia, in 1822. 

" To grace the stage, the bard's careering mind 
Seeks other worlds, and leaves his own behind; 
He lures from air its bright, unprison'd forms, 
Breaks through the tomb, and Death's dull region storms, 
O'er ruin'd realms he pours creative day, 
And slumbering kings his mighty voice obey. 
From its damp shades the long-laid spirit walks, 
And round the murderer's bed in vengeance stalks. 
Poor, maniac Beauty brings her cypress wreath, — 
Her smile a moonbeam on a blasted heath ; 
Round some cold grave she comes, sweet flowers to strew, 
And, lost to Heaven, still to love is true. 
Hate shuts his soul when dove-eyed Mercy pleads ; 
Power lifts his axe, and Truth's bold service bleeds; 
Remorse drops anguish from his burning eyes, 
Feels hell's eternal worm, and, shuddering, dies; 
War's trophied minion, too, forsakes the dust, 
Grasps his worn shield, and waves his sword of rust, 
Springs to the slaughter at the trumpet's call, 
Again to conquer, or again to fall." 

The ode recited iu the Boston theatre, at a pa- 
geant in honour of Shakspeare, in 1823, is one 



of the most vigorous and beautiful lyrics in the 
English language. The first poet of the world, 
the greatness of his genius, the vast variety of his 
scenes and characters, formed a subject well fitted 
for the flowing and stately measure chosen by our 
author, and the universal acquaintance with the 
writings of the immortal dramatist enables every 
one to judge of the merits of his composition. 
Though to some extent but a reproduction of the 
creations of Shakspeare, it is such a reproduction 
as none but a man of genius could effect. 

The longest of Mr. Spragtte's poems is entitled 
" Curiosity." It was delivered before the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, in August, 
1829. It is in the heroic measure, and its diction 
is faultless. The subject was happily chosen, and 
admitted of a great variety of illustrations. The 
descriptions of the miser, the novel-reader, and 
the father led by curiosity to visit foreign lands, are 
among the finest passages in Mr. Sprague's writ- 
ings. "Curiosity" was published in Calcutta a few 
years ago, as an original work by a British officer, 
with no other alterations than the omission of a 
few American names, and the insertion of others 
in their places, as Scott for Cooper, and Chal- 
mers for Chaining ; and in this form it was re- 
printed in London, where it was much praised in 
some of the critical gazettes. 

The poem delivered at the centennial celebra- 
tion of the settlement of Boston, contains many 
spirited passages, but it is not equal to « Curiosity" 
or "The Shakspeare Ode." Its versification is 
easy and various, but it is not so carefully finished 
as most of Mr. Sprague's productions. "The 
Winged Worshippers," "Lines on the Death of 
M. S. C.," "The Family Meeting," "Art," and 
several other short poems, evidence great skill in 
the use of language, and show him to be a master 
of the poetic art. They are all in good taste ; they 
are free from turgid ness ; and are pervaded by a 
spirit of good sense, which is unfortunately want- 
ing in much of the verse written in this age. 

Mr. Sprague has written, besides his poems, 
an essay on drunkenness, and an oration, pro- 
nounced at Boston on the fiftieth anniversary of 
the declaration of independence ; and I believe he 
contributed some papers to the "New England 
Magazine," while it was edited by his friend J. 
T. Buckingham. The style of his prose is florid 
and much less carefully finished than that of his 
poetry. 

He mixes but little in society, and, I have been 
told, was never thirty miles from his native city. 
His leisure hours are passed among his books ; 
with the few "old friends, the tried, the true," who 
travelled with him up the steeps of manhood ; or in 
the quiet of his own fireside. His poems show the 
strength of his domestic and social affections. 
l2 125 



126 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



CURIOSITY.* 

It came from Heaven — its power archangels 
knew, 
When this fair globe first rounded to their view; 
When the young sun reveal' d the glorious scene 
Where oceans gather'd and where lands grew green; 
When the dead dust in joyful myriads swarm'd, 
And man, the clod, with God's own breath was 

warm'd : 
It reign'd in Eden — when that man first woke, 
Its kindling influence from his eye-balls spoke; 
No roving childhood, no exploring youth 
Led him along, till wonder chill'd to truth ; 
Full-form'd at once, his subject world he trod, 
And gazed upon the labours of his God ; 
On all, by turns, his charter'd glance was cast, 
While each pleased best as each appear'd the last ; 
But when She came, in nature's blameless pride, 
Bone of bis bone, his heaven-anointed bride, 
All meaner objects faded from his sight, 
And sense turn'd giddy with the new delight ; 
Those charm'd his eye, but this entranced his soul,' 
Another self, queen-wonder of the whole ! 
Rapt at the view, in ecstasy he stood, 
And, like his Maker, saw that all was good. 

It reign'd in Eden — in that heavy hour 
When the arch-tempter sought our mother's bower, 
In thrilling charm her yielding heart assail'd, 
And even o'er dread Jehovah's word prevail'd. 
There the fair tree in fatal beauty grew, 
And hung its mystic apples to her view : 
" Eat," breathed the fiend, beneath his serpent guise, 
"Ye shall know all things; gather, and be wise!" 
Sweet on her ear the wily falsehood stole, 
And roused the ruling passion of her soul. 
"Ye shall become like God," — transcendent fate! 
That God's command forgot, she pluck'd and ate; 
Ate, and her partner lured to share the crime, 
Whose wo, the legend saith, must live through time. 
For this they shrank before the Avenger's face, 
For this He drove them from the sacred place ; 
For this came down the universal lot, 
To weep, to wander, die, and be forgot. 

It came from Heaven — it reigned in Eden's 
shades — 
It roves on earth, and every walk invades: 
Childhood and age alike its influence own ; 
It haunts the beggar's nook, the monarch's throne; 
Hangs o'er the cradle, leans above the bier, 
Gazed on old Babel's tower — and lingers here. 

To all that's lofty, all that's low it turns, 
With terror curdles and with rapture burns ; 
Now feels a seraph's throb, now, less than man's, 
A reptile tortures and a planet scans ; 
Now idly joins in life's poor, passing jars, 
Now shakes creation of£ and soars beyond the stars. 

'Tis Curiosity — who hath not felt 
Its spirit, and before its altar knelt 1 
In the pleased infant see the power expand, 
When first the coral fills his little hand ; 
Throned in its mother's lap, it dries each tear, 
As her sweet legend falls upon his ear ; 

* Delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Har- 
vard University, in 1829. 



Next it assails him in his top's strange hum, 
Breathes in his whistle, echoes in his drum ; 
Each gilded toy, that doting love bestows, 
He longs to break, and every spring expose. 
Placed by your hearth, with what delight he pores 
O'er the bright pages of his pictured stores ; 
How oft he steals upon your graver task, 
Of this to tell you, and of that to ask ; 
And, when the waning hour to-bedward bids, 
Though gentle sleep sit waiting on his lids, 
How winningly he pleads to gain you o'er, 
That he may read one little story more ! 

Nor yet alone to toys and tales confined, 
It sits, dark brooding, o'er his embryo mind : 
Take him between your knees, peruse his face, 
While all you know, or think you know, you trace ; 
Tell him who spoke creation into birth, 
Arch'd the broad heavens, and spread the rolling 

earth ; 
Who formed a pathway for the obedient sun, 
And bade the seasons in their circles run ; 
Who fill'd the air, the forest, and the flood, 
And gave man all, for comfort, or for food ; 
Tell him they sprang at God's creating nod — 
He stops you short with, " Father, who made God ?" 

Thus through life's stages may we mark the power 
That masters man in every changing hour. 
It tempts him from the blandishments of home, 
Mountains to climb and frozen seas to roam ; 
By air-blown bubbles buoy'd, it bids him rise, 
And hang, an atom in the vaulted skies ; 
Lured by its charm, he sits and learns to trace 
The midnight wanderings of the orbs of space ; 
Boldly he knocks at wisdom's inmost gate, 
With nature counsels, and communes with fate ; 
Below, above, o'er all he dares to rove, 
In all finds God, and finds that God all love. 

Turn to the world — its curious dwellers view, 
Like Paul's Athenians, seeking something new. 
Be it a bonfire's or a city's blaze, 
The gibbet's victim, or the nation's gaze, 
A female atheist, or a learned dog, 
A monstrous pumpkin, or a mammoth hog, 
A murder, or a muster, 'tis the same, 
Life's follies, glories, griefs, all feed the flame. 
Hark, where the martial trumpet fills the air, 
How the roused multitude come round to stare ; 
Sport drops his ball, Toil throws his hammer by, 
Thrift breaks a bargain off, to please his eye ; 
Up fly the windows, even fair mistress cook, 
Though dinner burn, must run to take a look. 
In the thronged court the ruling passions read, 
Where Story dooms, where Wirt and Webster 

plead ; 
Yet kindred minds alone their flights shall trace, . 
The herd press on to see a cut-throat's face. 
Around the gallows' foot behold them draw, 
When the lost villain answers to the law; 
Soft souls, how anxious on his pangs to gloat, 
When the vile cord shall tighten round his throat ; 
And, ah ! each hard-bought stand to quit how 

grieved, 
As the sad rumour runs — " The man's reprieved !" 
See to the church the pious myriads pour, 
Squeeze through the aisles and jostle round the door; 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



127 



Does Laxgdon preach? — (I veil his quiet name 
Who serves his God, and cannot stoop to fame ;) — 
No, 'tis some reverend mime, the latest rage, 
Who thumps the desk, that should have trod the 

stage; 
Cant's veriest ranter crams a house, if new, 
When Paul himself, oft. heard, would hardly fill 
a pew. 

Lo, where the stage, the poor, degraded stage, 
Holds its warp'd mirror to a gaping age ; 
There, where, to raise the drama's moral tone, 
Fool Harlequin usurps Apollo's throne; 
There, where grown children gather round, to praise 
The new-vainp'd legends of their nursery days ; 
Where one loose scene shall turn more souls to 

shame, 
Then ten of Cua^xtWs lectures can reclaim; 
There, where in idiot rapture we adore 
The herded vagabonds of every shore : 
Women unsex'd, who, lost to woman's pride, 
The drunkard's stagger ape, the bully's stride ; 
Pert, lisping girls, who, still in childhood's fetters, 
Babble of love, yet barely know their letters ; 
Neat-jointed mummers, mocking nature's shape, 
To prove how nearly man can match an ape ; 
Vaulters, who, rightly served at home, perchance 
Had dangled from the rope on which they dance ; 
Dwarfs, mimics, jugglers, all that yield content, 
Where Sin holds' carnival and Wit keeps Lent; 
Where, shoals on shoals, the modest million rush, 
One sex to laugh, and one to try to blush, 
When mincing Ravexot sports tight pantalettes, 
And turns fops' heads while turning pirouettes ; 
There, at each ribald sally, where we hear 
The knowing giggle and the scurrile jeer ; 
While from the intellectual gallery first 
Rolls the base plaudit, loudest at the worst. 

Gods ! who can grace yon desecrated dome, 
When he may turn his Shakspeare o'er at home 1 
Who there can group the pure ones of his race, 
To see and hear what bids him veil his face 1 
Ask ye who can 1 why I, and you, and you ; 
No matter what the nonsense, if 'tis new. 
To Doctor Logic's wit our sons give ear ; 
They have no time for Hamlet, or for Lear ; 
Our daughters turn from gentle Juliet's wo, 
To count the twirls of Almaviva's toe. 

Not theirs the blame who furnish forth the treat, 
But ours, who throng the board and grossly eat ; 
We laud, indeed, the virtue-kindling stage, 
And prate of Shakspeare and his deathless page; 
But go, announce his best, on CooiysR call, 
Cooper, "the noblest Roman of them all ;" 
Where are the crowds, so wont to choke the door 1 
'T is an old thing, they 've seen it all before. 

Pray Heaven, if yet indeed the stage must stand, 
With guiltless mirth it may delight the land ; 
Far better else each scenic temple fall, 
And one approving silence curtain all. 
Despots to shame may yield their rising youth, 
But Freedom dwells with purity and truth; 
Then make the effort, ye who rule the stage — . 
With novel decency surprise the age ; 
Even Wit, so long forgot, may play its part, 
And Nature yet have power to melt the heart ; 



Perchance the listeners, to their instinct true, 
May fancy common sense — 't were surely some- 
thing new. 
Turn to the Press — its teeming sheets survey, 
Big with the wonders of each passing day ; 
Births, deaths, and weddings, forgeries, fires, and 

wrecks, 
Harangues, and hail-storms, brawls, and broken 

necks ; 
Where half-fledged bards, on feeble pinions, seek 
An immortality of near a week ; 
Where cruel eulogists the dead restore, 
In maudlin praise, to martyr them once more ; 
Where ruffian slanderers wreak their coward spite, 
And need no venom'd dagger while they write : 
There, (with a quill so noisy and so vain, 
We almost hear the goose it clothed complain,) 
Where each hack scribe, as hate or interest burns, 
Toad or toad-eater, stains the page by turns ; 
Enacts virtu, usurps the critic's chair, 
Lauds a mock Guido, or a mouthing player; 
Viceroys it o'er the realms of prose and rhyme,. 
Now puffs pert "Pelham," now "The Course of 

Time ;" 
And, though ere Christmas both may be forgot, 
Vows this beats Mtltox, and that Walter Scott; 
With Saxsox's vigour feels his nerves expand, 
To overthrow the nobles of the land ; 
Soils the green garlands that for Otis bloom, 
And plants a brier even on Cabot's tomb; 
As turn the party coppers, heads or tails, 
And now this faction and now that prevails ; 
Applauds to-day what yesterday he cursed, 
Lampoons the wisest, and extols the worst ; 
While, hard to tell, so coarse a daub he lays, 
Which sullies most, the slander or the prai.«.p. 

Yet, sweet or bitter, hence what fountams burst, 
While still the more we drink, the more we thirst 
Trade hardly deems the busy day begun, 
Till his keen eye along the page has run ; 
The blooming daughter throws her needle by, 
And reads her schoolmate's marriage with a sigh , 
While the grave mother puts her glasses on, 
And gives a tear to some old crony gone ; 
The preacher, too, his Sunday theme lays down, 
To know what last new folly fills the town ; 
Lively or sad, life's meanest, mightiest things, 
The fate of fighting cocks, or fighting kings ; 
Naught comes amiss, we take the nauseous stuff) 
Verjuice or oil, a libel or a puff. 

'T is this sustains that coarse, licentious tribe 
Of tenth-rate type-men, gaping for a bribe ; 
That reptile race, with all that's good at strife, 
Who trail their slime thixmgh every walk of life , 
Stain the white tablet where a great man's name 
Stands proudly chisell'd by the hand of Fame ; 
Nor round the sacred fireside fear to crawl, 
But drop their venom there, and poison all. 

'T is Curiosity — though, in its round, 
No one poor dupe the calumny has found, 
Still shall it live, and still new slanders breed ; 
What though we ne'er believe, we buy and read , 
Like Scotland's war-cries, thrown from hand to 

hand, 
To rouse the angry passions of the land. 



128 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



So the black falsehood flies from ear to ear, 
While goodness grieves, but, grieving, still must 

hear. 
All are not such 1 ? no, there are, thank Heaven, 
A nobler troop, to whom this trust is given; 
Who, all unbribed, on Freedom's ramparts stand, 
Faithful and firm, bright warders of the land. 
By them still lifts the Press its arm abroad, 
To guide all-curious man along life's road ; 
To cheer young Genius, Pity's tear to start, 
In Truth's bold cause to rouse each fearless heart; 
O'er male and female quacks to shake the rod, 
And scourge the unsex'd thing that scorns her God; 
To hunt Corruption from his secret den, 
And show the monster up, the gaze of wondering 

men. 
How swells my theme ! how vain my power I 

find, 
To track the windings of the curious mind ; 
Let aught be hid, though useless, nothing boots, 
Straightway it must be pluck'd up by the roots. 
How oft we lay the volume down to ask 
Of him, the victim in the Iron Mask ; 
The crusted medal rub with painful care, 
To spell the legend out — that is not there ; 
With dubious gaze, o'er mossgrown tombstones 

bend, 
To find a name — the heralds never penn'd ; 
Dig through the lava-deluged city's breast, 
Learn all we can, and wisely guess the rest : 
Ancient or modern, sacred or profane, 
All must be known, and all obscure made plain ; 
If 'twas a pippin tempted Eve to sin; 
If glorious Byrox drugg'd his muse with gin; 
If Troy e'er stood; if Shakspeare stole a deer; 
If Israel's missing tribes found refuge here ; 
If like a villain Captain Hexrt lied ; 
If like a martyr Captain Morgan died. 

Its aim oft idle, lovely in its end, 
We turn to look, then linger to befriend ; 
The maid of Egypt thus was led to save 
A nation's future leader from the wave ; 
New things to hear, when erst the Gentiles ran, 
Truth closed what Curiosity began. 
How many a noble art, now widely known, 
Owes its young impulse to this power alone ; 
Even in its slightest working, we may trace 
A deed that changed the fortunes of a race : 
Bruce, bann'd and hunted on his native soil, 
With curious eye survey'd a spider's toil : 
Six times the little climber strove and fail'd ; 
Six times the chief before his foes had quail'd ; 
" Once more," he cried, " in thine my doom I 

read, 
Once more I dare the fight, if thou succeed;" 
'T was done — the insect's fa'te he made his own, 
Once more the battle waged, and gain'd a throne. 

Behold the sick man, in his easy chair, 
Barr'd from the busy crowd and bracing air, — 
How every passing trifle proves its power 
To while away the long, dull, lazy hour. 
As down the pane the rival rain-drops chase, 
Curious he '11 watch to see which wins the race ; 
And let two dogs beneath his window fight, 
He '11 shut his Bible to enjoy the sight. 



So with each new-born nothing rolls the day, 
Till some kind neighbour, stumbling in his way, 
Draws up his chair, the sufferer to amuse, 
And makes him happy while he tells — the news. 
The news ! our morning, noon, and evening 

cry, 
Day unto day repeats it till we die. 
For this the cit, the critic, and the fop, 
Dally the hour away in Tonsor's shop ; 
For this the gossip takes her daily route, 
And wears your threshold and your patience out; 
For this we leave the parson in the lurch, 
And pause to prattle on the way to church; 
Even when some coffin'd friend we gather round, 
We ask, "What news]" then lay him in the 

ground ; 
To this the breakfast owes its sweetest zest, 
For this the dinner cools, the bed remains un- 

press'd. 
What gives each tale of scandal to the street, 
The kitchen's wonder, and the parlour's treat ] 
See the pert housemaid to the keyhole fly, 
When husband storms, wife frets, or lovers sigh; 
See Tom your pockets ransack for each note, 
And read your secrets while he cleans your coat ; 
See, yes, to listen see even madam deign, 
When the smug seamstress pours her ready strain. 
This wings that lie that malice breeds in fear, 
No tongue so vile but finds a kindred ear; 
Swift flies each tale of laughter, shame, or folly, 
Caught by Paul Pry and carried home to Polly ; 
On this each foul calumniator leans, 
And nods and hints the villany he means ; 
Full well he knows what latent wildfire lies 
In the close whisper and the dark surmise ; 
A muffled word, a wordless wink has woke 
A warmer throb than if a Dextkr spoke ; 
And he, o'er Everett's periods who would nod, 
To track a secret, half the town has trod. 

thou, from whose rank breath nor sex can 

save, 
Nor sacred virtue, nor the powerless grave,— 
Felon unwhipp'd ! than whom in yonder cells 
Full many a groaning wretch less guilty dwells, 
Blush — if of honest blood a drop remains, 
To steal its lonely way along thy veins, 
Blush — if the bronze, long harden'd on thy cheek, 
Has left a spot where that poor drop can speak ; 
Blush to be branded with the slanderer's name, 
And, though thou dread'st not sin, at least dread 

shame. 
We hear, indeed, but shudder while we hear 
The insidious falsehood and the heartless jeer ; 
For each dark libel that thou lick'st to shape, 
Thou mayest from law, but not from scorn escape ; 
The pointed finger, cold, averted eye, 
Insulted virtue's hiss — thou canst not fly. 

The churl, who holds it heresy to think, 
Who loves no music but the dollar's clink, 
Who laughs to scorn the wisdom of the schools, 
And deems the first of poets first of fools ; 
Who never found what good from science grew, 
Save the grand truth that one and one are two ; 
And marvels Bowditch o'er a book should pore, 
Unless to make those two turn into four; 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



129 



Who, placed where Catskill's forehead greets the 

sky, 
Grieves that such quarries all unhewn should lie; 
Or, gazing where Niagara's torrents thrill, 
Exclaims, "A monstrous stream — to turn a mill!" 
Who loves to feel the blessed winds of heaven, 
But as his freighted barks are portward driven: 
Even he, across whose brain scarce dares to creep 
Aught but thrift's parent pair — to get, to keep : 
Who never learn'd life's real bliss to know — 
With Curiosity even he can glow. 

Go, seek him out on yon dear Gotham's walk, 
Where traffic's venturers meet to trade and talk : 
Where Mammon's votaries bend, of each degree, 
The hard-eyed lender, and the pale lendee ; 
Where rogues, insolvent, strut in white-wash'd 

pride, 
And shove the dupes, who trusted them, aside. 
How through the buzzing crowd he threads his way, 
To catch the flying rumours of the day, — 
To learn of changing stocks, of bargains cross'd, 
Of breaking merchants, and of cargoes lost ; 
The thousand ills that traffic's walks invade, 
And give the heart-ache to the sons of trade. 
How cold he hearkens to some bankrupt's wo, 
Nods his wise head, and cries, " I told you so : 
The thriftless fellow lived beyond his means, 
He must buy brants — I make my folks eat beans ;" 
What cares he for the knave, the knave's sad wife, 
The blighted prospects of an anxious life 1 
The kindly throbs, that other men control, 
Ne'er melt the iron of the miser's soul ; 
Through life's dark road his sordid way he wends, 
An incarnation of fat dividends ; 
But, when to death he sinks, un grieved, unsung, 
Buoy'd by the blessing of no mortal tongue, — 
No worth rewarded, and no want redress'd, 
To scatter fragrance round his place of rest, — 
What shall that hallow'd epitaph supply — 
The universal wo when good men die? 
Cold Curiosity shall linger there, 
To guess the wealth he leaves his tearless heir; 
Perchance to wonder what must be his doom, 
In the far land that lies beyond the tomb ; — 
Alas ! for him, if, in its awful plan, 
Heaven deal with him as he hath dealt with man. 

Child of romance, these work-day scenes you 
spurn ; 
For loftier things your finer pulses burn ; 
Through Nature's walk your curious way you take, 
Gaze on her glowing bow, her glittering flake, — 
Her spring's first cheerful green, her autumn's last, 
Born in the breeze, or dying in the blast; 
You climb the mountain's everlasting wall ; 
You linger where the thunder-waters fall ; 
You love to wander by old ocean's side, 
And hold communion with its sullen tide ; 
Wash'd to your foot some fragment of a w T reck, 
Fancy shall build again the crowded deck 
That trod the waves, till, mid the tempest's frown, 
The sepulchre of living men went down. 
Yet Fancy, with her milder, tenderer glow, 
But dreams what Curiosity would know ; 
Ye would stand listening, as the booming gun 
Proclaim'd the work of agony half-done ; 



There would you drink each drowning seaman's 

cry, 
As wild to heaven he cast his frantic eye ; 
Though vain all aid, though Pity's blood ran cold, 
The mortal havoc ye would dare behold ; 
Still Curiosity would wait and weep, 
Till all sank down to slumber in the deep. 

Nor yet appeased the spirit's restless glow : 
Ye would explore the gloomy waste below ; 
There, where the joyful sunbeams never fell, 
Where ocean's unrecorded monsters dwell, 
Where sleep earth's precious things, her rifled 

gold, 
Bones bleach'd by ages, bodies hardly cold, 
Of those who bow'd to fate in every form, 
By battle-strife, by pirate, or by storm ; 
The sailor-chief, who Freedom's foes defied. 
Wrapp'd in the sacred flag for which he died ; 
The wretch, thrown over to the midnight foam, 
Stabb'd in his blessed dreams of love and home ; 
The mother, with her fleshless arms still clasp'd 
Round the scared infant, that in death she grasp'd ; 
On these, and sights like these, ye long to gaze, 
The mournful trophies of uncounted days ; 
All that the miser deep has brooded o'er, 
Since its first billow roll'd to find a shore. 

Once more the Press, — not that which daily 
flings 
Its fleeting ray across life's fleeting things, — 
See tomes on tomes of fancy and of power, 
To cheer man's heaviest, warm his holiest hour. 
Now Fiction's groves we tread, where young Ro- 
mance 
Laps the glad senses in her sweetest trance ; 
Now through earth's cold, unpeopled realms we 

range, 
And mark each rolling century's awful change ; 
Turn back the tide of ages to its head, 
And hoard the wisdom of the honour'd dead. 
'T was Heaven to lounge upon a couch, said 
Gray, 
And read new novels through a rainy day : 
Add but the Spanish w r eed, the bard was right ; 
'T is heaven, the upper heaven of calm delight ; 
The world forgot, to sit at ease reclined, 
While round one's head the smok) r perfumes wind, 
Firm in one hand the ivory folder grasp'd, 
Scott's uncut latest by the other clasp'd; 
'T is heaven, the glowing, graphic page to turn, 
And feel within the ruling passion burn; 
Now through the dingles of his own bleak isle, 
And now through lands that wear a sunnier smile, 
To follow him, that all-creative one, 
Who never found a " brother near his throne." 

Look, now, directed by yon candle's blaze, 
Where the false shutter half its trust betrays, — 
Mark that fair girl, reclining in her bed, 
Its curtain round her polish'd shoulders spread , 
Dark midnight reigns, the storm is up in power, 
What keeps her waking in that dreary hour? 
See where the volume on her pillow lies — 
Claims Radceiffe or Chapone those frequent 

sighs ? 
'T is some wild legend, — now her kind eye fills, 
And now cold terror every fibre chills ; 



130 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



Still she reads on — in Fiction's labyrinth lost — 
Of tyrant fathers, and of true love cross'd ; 
Of clanking fetters, low, mysterious groans, 
.Blood-crusted daggers, and uncoffin'd bones, 
Pale, gliding ghosts, with fingers dropping gore, 
And blue flames dancing round a dungeon door; — 
Still she reads on — even though to read she fears, 
And in each key-hole moan strange voices hears, 
While every shadow that withdraws her look, 
Glares in her face, the goblin of the book ; 
Still o'er the leaves her craving eye is cast ; 
On all she feasts, yet hungers for the last ; 
Counts what remain, now sighs there are no more, 
And now even those half tempted to skip o'er ; 
At length, the bad all killed, the good all pleased, 
Her thirsting Curiosity appeased, 
She shuts the dear, dear book, that made her weep, 
Puts out her light, and turns away to sleep. 

Her bright, her bloody records to unrol, 
See History come, and wake th' inquiring soul : 
How bounds the bosom at each wondrous deed 
Of those who founded, and of those who freed ; 
The good, the valiant of our own loved clime, 
Whose names shall brighten through the clouds 

of time. 
How rapt we linger o'er the volumed lore 
That tracks the glories of each distant shore; 
In all their grandeur and in all their gloom, 
The throned, the thrall'd rise dimly from the tomb ; 
Chiefs, sages, bards, the giants of their race, 
Earth's monarch men, her greatness and her grace ; 
Warm'd as we read, the penman's page we spurn, 
And to each near, each far arena turn ; 
Here, where the Pilgrim's altar first was built, 
Here, where the patriot's life-blood first was spilt ; 
There, where new empires spread along each spot 
Where old ones flourish' d but to be forgot, 
Or, direr judgment, spared to fill a page, 
And with their errors warn an after age. 

And where is he upon that Rock can stand, 
Nor with their firmness feel his heart expand, 
Who a new empire planted where they trod, 
And gave it to their children and their God 1 
Who yon immortal mountain-shrine hath press'd, 
With saintlier relics stored than priest e'er bless'd, 
But felt each grateful pulse more wai'mly glow, 
In voiceless reverence for the dead below 1 
Who, too, by Curiosity led on, 
To tread the shores of kingdoms come and gone, 
Where Faith her martyrs to the fagot led, 
Where Freedom's champions on the scaffold bled, 
Where ancient power, though stripp'd of ancient 

fame, 
Curb'd, but not crushed, still lives for guilt and 

shame, 
But proudei-, happier, turns on home to gaze, 
And thanks his God who gave him better days 1 

Undraw yon curtain ; look within that room, 
Where all is splendour, yet where all is gloom : 
Why weeps that mother 1 why, in pensive mood, 
Group noiseless round, that little, lovely brood 1 
The battledore is still, laid by each book, 
And the harp slumbers in its custom'd nook. 
Who hath done this 1 what cold, unpitying foe 
Hatn made this house the dwelling-place of wo 1 



'T is he, the husband, father, lost in care, 
O'er that sweet fellow in his cradle there : 
The gallant bark that rides by yonder strand, 
Bears him to-morrow from his native land. 
Why turns he, half-unwilling, from his home ? 
To tempt the ocean and the earth to roam 1 
Wealth he can boast, a miser's sigh would hush, 
And health is laughing in that ruddy blush ; 
Friends spring to greet him, and he has no foe — 
So honour'd and so bless'd, what bids him go ? — 
His eye must see, his foot each spot must tread, 
Where sleeps the dust of earth's recorded dead; 
Where rise the monuments of ancient time, 
Pillar and pyramid in age sublime ; 
The pagan's temple and the churchman's tower, 
War's bloodiest plain and Wisdom's greenest 

bower ; 
All that his wonder woke in school-boy themes, 
All that his fancy fired in youthful dreams : 
Where Sockates once taught he thirsts to stray, 
Where Homer pour'd his everlasting lay ; 
From Vm&ii's tomb he longs to pluck one flower, 
By Avon's stream to live one moonlight hour ; 
To pause where England " garners up" her great, 
And drop a patriot's tear to Milton's fate ; 
Fame's living masters, too, he must behold, 
Whose deeds shall blazon with the best of old : 
Nations compare, their laws and customs scan, 
And read, wherever spread, the book of man ; 
For these he goes, self-banish'd from his hearth, 
And wrings the hearts of all he loves on earth. 

Yet say, shall not new joy these hearts inspire, 
When grouping round the future winter fire, 
To hear the wonders of the world they burn, 
And lose his absence in his glad return] — 
Return ! alas ! he shall return no more, 
To bless his own sweet home, his own proud shore. 
Look once again — cold in his cabin now, 
Death's finger-mark is on his pallid brow ; 
No wife stood by, her patient watch to keep, 
To smile on him, then turn away to weep ; 
Kind woman's place rough mariners supplied, 
And shared the wanderer's blessing when he died. 
Wrapp'd in the raiment that it long must wear, 
His body to the deck they slowly bear ; 
Even there the spirit that I sing is true ; 
The crew look on with sad, but curious view; 
The setting sun flings round his farewell rays ; 
O'er the broad ocean not a ripple plays ; 
How eloquent, how awful in its power, 
The silent lecture of death's Sabbath-hour : 
One voice that silence breaks — the prayer is said, 
And the last rite man pays to man is paid ; 
The plashing waters mark his resting-place, 
And fold him round in one long, cold embrace ; 
Bright bubbles for a moment sparkle o'er, 
Then break, to be, like him, beheld no more ; 
Down, countless fathoms down, he sinks to sleep, 
With all the nameless shapes that haunt the deep. 

"Alps rise on Alps" — in vain my muse essays 
To lay the spirit that she dared to raise : 
What spreading scenes of rapture and of wo, 
With rose and cypress lure me as I go. 
In every question and in every glance, 
In folly's wonder and in wisdom's trance, 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



131 



In all of life, nor yet of life alone, 
In all beyond, this mighty power we own. 
We would unclasp the mystic book of fate, 
And trace the paths of all we love and hate ; 
The father's heart would learn his children's 

doom. 
Even when that heart is crumbling in the tomb ; 
If they must sink in guilt, or soar to fame, 
And leave a hated or a hallow'd name ; 
By hope elated, or depress'd by doubt, 
Even in the death-pang he would find it out. 

What boots it to your dust, your son were born 
An empire's idol or a rabble's scorn 1 
Think ye the franchised spirit shall return, 
To share his triumph, his disgrace to mourn 1 
Ah, Curiosity ! by thee inspired, 
This truth to know how oft has man inquired ! 
And is it fancy all 1 can reason say 
Earth's loves must moulder with earth's moulder- 
ing clay 1 ? 
That death can chill the father's sacred glow, 
And hush the throb that none but mothers know 1 
Must we believe those tones of dear delight, 
The morning welcome and the sweet good-night, 
The kind monition and the well-earn'd praise, 
That won and warm'd us in our earlier days, 
Turn'd, as they fell, to cold and common air 1 — 
Speak, proud Philosophy ! the truth declare ! 

Yet, no, the fond delusion, if no more, 
We would not yield for wisdom's cheerless lore ; 
A tender creed they hold, who dare believe 
The dead return, with them to joy or grieve. 
How sweet, while lingering slow on shore or hill, 
When all the pleasant sounds of earth are still, 
When the round moon rolls through the unpillar'd 

skies, 
And stars look down as they were angels' eyes, 
How sweet to deem our lost, adored ones nigh, 
And hear their voices in the night-winds sigh. 
Full many an idle dream that hope had broke, 
And the awed heart to holy goodness woke ; 
Full many a felon's guilt in thought had died, 
Fear'd he his father's spirit by his side ; — 
Then let that fear, that hope, control the mind ; 
Still let us question, still no answer find ; 
Let Curiosity of Heaven inquire, 
Nor earth's cold dogmas quench the ethereal fire. 

Nor even to life, nor death, nor time confined — 
The dread hereafter fills the exploring mind ; 
We burst the grave, profane the coffin's lid, 
Unwisely ask of all so wisely hid ; 
Eternity's dark record we would read, 
Mysteries, unravell'd yet by mortal creed ; 
Of life to come, unending joy and wo, 
And all that holy wranglers dream below; 
To find their jarring dogmas out we long, 
Or which is right, or whether all be wrong; 
Things of an hour, we would invade His throne, 
And find out Him, the Everlasting One! 
Faith we may boast, undarken'd by a doubt, 
We thirst to find each awful secret out ; 
Hope may sustain, and innocence impart 
Her sweet specific to the fearless heart ; 
The inquiring spirit will not be controll'd, 
We would make certain all, and all behold. 



Unfathom'd Well-head of the boundless soul ! 
Whose living waters lure us as they roll, 
From thy pure wave one cheering hope we draw — 
Man, man at least shall spurn proud Nature's law. 
All that have breath, but he, he down content, 
Life's purpose served, indeed, when life is spent ; 
All as in Paradise the same are found ; 
The beast, whose footstep shakes the solid ground, 
The insect living on a summer spire, 
The bird, whose pinion courts the sunbeam's fire ; 
In lair and nest, in way and want, the same 
As when their sires sought Adam for a name : 
Their be-all and their end-all here below, 
They nothing need beyond, nor need to know ; 
Earth and her hoards their every want supply, 
They revel, rest, then, fearless, hopeless, die. 
But Man, his Maker's likeness, lord of earth, 
Who owes to Nature little but his birth, 
Shakes down her puny chains, her wants, and woes, 
One world subdues, and for another glows. 
See him, the feeblest, in his cradle laid; 
See him, the mightiest, in his mind array'd ! 
How wide the gulf he clears, how bold the flight 
That bears him upward to the realms of light ! 
By restless Curiosity inspired, 
Through all his subject world he roves untired : 
Looks back and scans the infant days of yore, 
On to the time when time shall be no more ; 
Even in life's parting throb its spirit burns, 
And, shut from earth, to heaven more warmly 

turns. 
Shall he alone, of mortal dwellers here, 
Thus soar aloft to sink in mid-career ! 
Less favour'd than a worm, shall his stern doom 
Lock up these seraph longings in the tomb 1 — 
O Thou, whose fingers raised us from the dust, 
Till there we sleep again, be this our trust : 
This sacred hunger marks the immortal mind, 
By Thee 'twas given, for Thee, for heaven design d; 
There the rapt spirit, from earth's grossness freed, 
Shall see, and know, and be like Thee indeed. 
Here let me pause — no further I rehearse 
What claims a loftier soul, a nobler verse ; 
The mountain's foot I have but loiter'd round, 
Not dared to scale its highest, holiest ground ; 
But ventured on the pebbly shore to stray, 
While the broad ocean all before me lay ; — 
How bright the boundless prospect there on high ! 
How rich the pearls that here all hidden lie ! 
But not for me — to life's coarse service sold, 
Where thought lies barren and naught breeds but 

gold— 
'T is yours, ye favour'd ones, at whose command 
From the cold world I ventured, here to stand : 
Ye who were lapp'd in Wisdom's murmuring 

bowers, 
Who still to bright improvement yield your hours ; 
To you the privilege and the power belong, 
To give my theme the grace of living song ; 
Yours be the flapping of the eagle's wing, 
To dare the loftiest crag, and heavenwai-d spring ; 
Mine the light task to hop from spray to spray, 
Bless'd if I charm one summer hour away. 
One summer hour — its golden sands have run, 
And the poor labour of the bard is done. — 



132 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



Yet, ere I fling aside my humble lyre, 
Let one fond wish its trembling strings inspire ; 
Fancy the task to Feeling shall resign, 
And the heart prompt the warm, untutor'd line. 
Peace to this ancient spot ! here, as of old, 
May Learning dwell, and all her stores unfold ; 
Still may her priests around these altars stand, 
And train to truth the children of the land ; 
Bright be their paths, within these shades who rest, 
These brother-bands — beneath his guidance bless'd, 
Who, with their fathers, here turn'd wisdom's page, 
Who comes to them the statesman and the sage. 
Praise be his portion in his labours here, 
The praise that cheer'da Kirkland's mild career; 
The love that finds in every breast a shrine, 
When zeal and gentleness with wisdom join. 
Here may he sit, while race succeeding race 
Go proudly forth his parent care to grace ; 
In head and heart by him prepared to rise, 
To take their stations with the good and wise : 
This crowning recompense to him be given, 
To see them guard on earth and guide to heaven ; 
Thus, in their talents, in their virtues bless'd, 
O be his ripest years his happiest and his best ! 



SHAKSPEARE ODE.* 

God of the glorious lyre! 
Whose notes of old on lofty Pindus rang, 

While Jove's exulting choir 
Caught the glad echoes and responsive sang — 
Come ! bless the service and the shrine 
We consecrate to thee and thine. 

Fierce from the frozen north, 
When Havoc led his legions forth, 
O'er Learning's sunny groves the dark destroyer 
spread : 
In dust the sacred statue slept, 
Fair Science round her altars wept, 
And Wisdom cowl'd his head. 

At length, Olympian lord of morn, 
The raven veil of night was torn, 

When, through golden clouds descending, 
Thou didst hold thy radiant flight, 

O'er Nature's lovely pageant bending, 
Till Avon rolled, all sparkling to thy sight ! 

There, on its bank, beneath the mulberry's shade, 
Wrapp'd in young dreams, a wild-eyed minstrel 
stray'd. 
Lighting there and lingering long, 
Thou didst teach the bard his song; 

Thy fingers strung his sleeping shell, 
And round his brows a garland curl'd ; 

On his lips thy spirit fell, 
And bade him wake and warm the world ! 

Then Shakspeare rose ! 
Across the trembling strings 
His daring hand he flings, 
And, lo ! a new creation glows ! 

* Delivered in the Boston Theatre, in 1823, at the exhi- 
bition of a pageant in honour of Shakspeare. 



There, clustering round, submissive to his will, 
Fate's vassal train his high commands fulfil. 

Madness, with his frightful scream, 
Vengeance, leaning on his lance, 
Avarice, with his blade and beam, 
Hatred, blasting with a glance ; 
Remorse, that weeps, and Rage, that roars, 
And Jealousy, that dotes, but dooms, and mur- 
ders, yet adores. 

Mirth, his face with sun-beams lit, 
Waking laughter's merry swell, 
Arm in arm with fresh-eyed Wit, 
That waves his tingling lash, while Folly shakes 
his bell. 

Despair, that haunts the gurgling stream, 
Kiss'd by the virgin moon's cold beam, 
Where some lost maid wild chaplets wreathes, 
And, swan-like, there her own dirge breathes, 
Then, broken-hearted, sinks to rest, 
Beneath the bubbling wave, that shrouds her 
maniac breast. 

Young Love, with eye of tender gloom, 
Now drooping o'er the hallow'd tomb 
Where his plighted victims lie — 
Where they met, but met to die : 
And now, when crimson buds are sleeping, 
Through the dewy arbour peeping, 
Where Beauty's child, the frowning world 
forgot, 
To youth's devoted tale is listening, 
Rapture on her dark lash glistening, 
While fairies leave their cowslip cells and guard 
the happy spot. 

Thus rise the phantom throng, 
Obedient to their master's song, 
And lead in willing chain the wandering soul along, 
For other worlds war's Great One sigh'd in vain — 
O'er other worlds see Shakspeare rove and reign ! 
The rapt magician of his own wild lay, 
Earth and her tribes his mystic wand obey. 
Old Ocean trembles, Thunder cracks the skies, 
Air teems with shapes, and tell-tale spectres rise : 
Night's paltering hags' their fearful orgies keep, 
And faithless Guilt unseals the lip of Sleep : 
Time yields his trophies up, and Death restores 
The mouldered victims of his voiceless shores. 
The fireside legend, and the faded page, 
The crime that cursed, the deed that bless'd an 

age, 
All, all come forth, the good to charm and cheer, 
To scourge bold Vice, and start the generous 

tear; 
With pictured Folly gazing fools to shame, 
And guide young Glory's foot along the path of 
Fame. 

Lo ! hand in hand, 
Hell's juggling sisters stand, 
To greet their victim from the fight ; 

Group'd on the blasted heath, 
They tempt him to the work of death, 
Then melt in air, and mock his wondering 
sight. 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



13: 



In midnight's hallow'd hour 
He seeks the fatal tower, 
Where the lone raven, perch'd on high, 
Pours to the sullen gale 
Her hoarse, prophetic wail, 
And croaks the dreadful moment nigh. 
See, by the phantom dagger led, 

Pale, guilty thing, 
Slowly he steals with silent tread, 
And grasps his coward steel to smite his sleeping 
king. 
Hark ! 't is the signal bell, 
Struck by that bold and unsex'd one, 
Whose milk is gall, whose heart is stone ; 
His ear hath caught the knell — 
'T is done ! 't is done ! 
Behold him from the chamber rushing, 
Where his dead monarch's blood is gushing : 
Look, where he trembling stands, 

Sad, gazing there, 
Life's smoking crimson on his hands, 
And in his felon heart the worm of wild despair. 

Mark the sceptred traitor slumbering ! 

There flit the slaves of conscience round, 
With boding tongues foul murderers num- 
bering ; 
Sleep's leaden portals catch the sound. 
In his dream of blood for mercy quaking, 
At his own dull scream behold him waking ! 
Soon that dream to fate shall turn, 
For him the living furies burn; 
For him the vulture sits on yonder misty peak, 
\nd chides the lagging night, and whets her hun- 
gry beak. 
Hark ! the trumpet's warning breath 
Echoes round the vale of death. 
Unhorsed, unhelm'd, disdaining shield, 
The panting tyrant scours the field. 
Vengeance ! he meets thy dooming blade ! 
The scourge of earth, the scorn of heaven, 
He falls ! unwept and unforgiven, 
And all his guilty glories fade. 
Like a crush'd reptile in the dust he lies, 
And hate's last lightning quivers from his eyes ! 

Behold yon crownless king — 

Yon white-lock'd, weeping sire — 
Where heaven's unpillar'd chambers ring, 
And burst their streams of flood and fire ! 
He gave them all — the daughters of his love: 
That recreant pair ! they drive him forth to 
rove ; 
In such a night of wo, 
The cubless regent of the wood 
Forgets to bathe her fangs in blood, 
And caverns with her foe ! 
Yet one was ever kind : 
Why lingers she behind 1 
pity ! — view him by her dead form kneeling, 
Even in wild frenzy holy nature feeling. 
His aching eyeballs strain, 
To see those curtain'd orbs unfold, 
That beauteous bosom heave again : 

But all is dark and cold. 
In agony the father shakes ; 



Grief's choking note 
Swells in his throat, 
Each wither'd heart-string tugs and breaks ! 
Round her pale neck his dying arms he wreathes, 
And on her marble lips his last, his death-kiss 
breathes. 

Down! trembling wing: shall insect weakness keep 



The sun-defvi 



le s sweep 



A mortal strike celestial strings, 
And feebly echo what a seraph sings 1 

Who now shall grace the glowing throne, 
Where, all unrivall'd, all alone, 
Bold Shakspeare sat, and look'd creation through, 
The minstrel monarch of the worlds he drew ] 

That throne is cold — that lyre in death unstrung, 
On whose proud note delighted Wonder hung. 
Yet old Oblivion, as in wrath he sweeps, 
One spot shall spare — the grave where Shakspeare 

sleeps. 
Rulers and ruled in common gloom may lie, 
But Nature's laureate bards shall never die. 
Art's chisell'd boast and Glory's trophied shore 
Must live in numbers, or can live no more. 
While sculptured Jove some nameless waste may 

claim, 
Still roars the Olympic car in Pixdar's fame: 
Troy's doubtful walls, in ashes pass'd away, 
Yet frown on Greece in Hosier's deathless lay ; 
Rome, slowly sinking in her crumbling fanes, 
Stands all immortal in her Maro's strains ; 
So, too, yon giant empress of the isles, 
On whose broad sway the sun forever smiles, 
To Time's unsparing rage one day must bend, 
And all her triumphs in her Shakspeare end ! 

thou ! to whose creative power 

We dedicate the festal hour, 
While Grace and Goodness round the altar stand, 
Learning's anointed train, and Beauty's rose-lipp'd 

band — 
Realms yet unborn, in accents now unknown, 
Thy .song shall learn, and bless it for their own. 
Deep in the west, as Independence roves, 
His banners planting round the land he loves, 
Where Nature sleeps in Eden's infant grace, 
In Time's full hour shall spring a glorious race : 
Thy name, thy verse, thy language shall they bear, 
And deck for thee the vaulted temple there. 

Our Roman-hearted fathers broke 

Thy parent empire's galling yoke ; 

But thou, harmonious monarch of the mind, 

Around their sons a gentler chain shall bind ; 

Still o'er our land shall Albion's sceptre wave, 

And what her mighty lion lost, her mightier swan 

shall save. 



THE BROTHERS. 

We are but two — the others sleep 
Thi'ough death's untroubled night : 

We are but two — O, let us keep 
The link that binds us bright. 

M 



134 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



Heart leaps to heart — the sacred flood 
That warms us is the same ; 

That good old man — his honest blood 
Alike we fondly claim. 

We in one mother's arms were lock'd- 

Long be her love repaid ; 
In the same cradle we were rock'd, 

Round the same hearth we play'd. 

Our boyish sports were all the same, 

Each little joy and wo ; — 
Let manhood keep alive the flame, 

Lit up so long ago. 

We are but two — be that the band 

To hold us till we die ; 
Shoulder to shoulder let us stand, 

Till side by side we lie. 



ART. 



Whex, from the sacred garden driven, 

Man fled before his Maker's wrath, 
An angel left her place in heaven, 

And cross'd the wanderer's sunless path. 
'T was Art ! sweet Art ! new radiance broke 

Where her light foot flew o'er the ground, 
And thus with seraph voice she spoke : 

" The curse a blessing shall be found." 

Shn led him through the trackless wild, 

Where noontide sunbeam never blazed ; 
The thistle shrunk, the harvest smiled, 

And Nature gladden'd as she gazed. 
Earth's thousand tribes of living things, 

At Art's command, to him are given ; 
The village grows, the city springs, 

And point their spires of faith to heaven. 

He rends the oak — and bids it ride, 

To guard the shores its beauty graced ; 
He smites the rock — upheaved in pride, 

See towers of strength and domes of taste. 
Earth's teeming caves their wealth reveal, 

Fire bears his banner on the wave, 
He bids the mortal poison heal, 

And leaps triumphant o'er the grave. 

He plucks the pearls that stud the deep, 

Admiring beauty's lap to fill ; 
He breaks the stubborn marble's sleep, 

And mocks his own Creator's skill. 
With thoughts that fill his glowing soul, 

He bids the ore illume the page, 
And, proudly scorning Time's control, 

Commerces with an unborn age. 

In fields of air he writes his name, 

And treads the chambers of the sky, 
He reads the stars, and grasps the flame 

That quivers round the throne on high. 
In war renown'd, in peace sublime, 

He moves in greatness and in grace; 
His power, subduing space and time, 

Links realm to realm, and race to race. 



"LOOK ON THIS PICTURE." 

0, it is life ! departed days 
Fling back their brightness while I gaze : 
'Tis Emma's self — this brow so fair, 
Half-curtain'd in this glossy hair, 
These eyes, the very home of love, 
The dark twin arches traced above, 
These red-ripe lips that almost speak, 
The fainter blush of this pure cheek, 
The rose and lily's beauteous strife — 
It is — ah no ! — 'tis all hut life. 

'Tis all hut life— art could not save 

Thy graces, Emma, from the grave ; 

Thy cheek is pale, thy smile is past, 

Thy love-lit eyes have look'd their last ; 

Mouldering beneath the coffin's lid, 

All we adored of thee is hid ; 

Thy heart, where goodness loved to dwell, 

Is throbless in the narrow cell ; 

Thy gentle voice shall charm no more ; 

Its last, last, joyful note is o'er. 

Oft, oft, indeed, it hath been sung, 
The requiem of the fair and young ; 
The theme is old, alas ! how old, 
Of grief that will not be controll'd, 
Of sighs, that speak a father's wo, 
Of pangs that none but mothers know, 
Of friendship, with its bursting heart, 
Doom'd from the idol-one to part — 
Still its sad debt must feeling pay, 
Till feeling, too, shall pass away. 

say, why age, and grief, and pain 
Shall long to go, but long in vain ; 
Why vice is left to mock at time, 
And, gray in years, grow gray in crime ; 
While youth, that every eye makes glad, 
And beauty, all in radiance clad, 
And goodness, cheering every heart, 
Come, but come only to depart ; 
Sunbeams, to cheer life's wintry day, 
Sunbeams, to flash, then fade away. 

'Tis darkness all !^ black banners wave 

Round the cold borders of the grave ; 

There, when in agony we bend 

O'er the fresh sod that hides a friend, 

One only comfort then we know — 

We, too, shall quit this world of wo ; 

We, too, shall find a quiet place 

With the dear lost ones of our race ; 

Our crumbling bones with theirs shall blend, 

And life's sad story find an end. 

And is this all — this mournful doom ? 
Beams no glad light beyond the tomb 1 
Mark how yon clouds in darkness ride , 
They do not quench the orb they hidt , 
Still there it wheels — the tempest o'ei, 
In a bright sky to burn once more ; 
So, far above the clouds of time, 
Faith can behold a world sublime- 
There, when the storms of life are pa&t, 
The light beyond shall break at last. 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



135 



CENTENNIAL ODE.* 



Not to the pagan's mount I turn 

For inspirations now ; 
Olympus and its gods I spurn — 

Pure One, be with me, Thou! 

Thou, in whose awful name, 

From suffering and from shame 
Our fathers fled, and braved a pathless sea ; 

Thou, in whose holy fear, 

They fix'd an empire here, 
And gave it to their children and to Thee. 



And You ! ye bright-ascended Dead, 

Who scorn'd the bigot's yoke, 
Come, round this place your influence shed ; 

Your spirits I invoke. 

Come, as ye came of yore, 

When on an unknown shore 
Your daring hands the flag of faith unfurl'd, 

To float sublime, 

Through future time 
The beacon-banner of another world. 



Behold! they come — those sainted forms, 
Unshaken through the strife of storms ; 
Heaven's winter cloud hangs coldly down, 
And earth puts on its rudest frown ; 
But colder, ruder was the hand 
That drove them from their own fair land ; 
Their own fair land — refinement's chosen seat, 
Art's trophied dwelling, Learning's green retreat: 
By valour guarded, and by victory crown'd, 
For all, but gentle charity renown'd. 

With streaming eye, yet steadfast heart, 
Even from that land they dared to part, 

And burst each tender tie ; 
Haunts, where their sunny youth was pass'd, 
Homes, where they fondly hoped at last 

In peaceful age to die. 
Friends, kindred, comfort, all they spurn'd ; 

Their fathers' hallow'd graves ; 
And to a world of darkness turn'd, 
Beyond a world of waves. 



When Israel's race from bondage fled, 
Signs from on high the wanderers led; 
But here — Heaven hung no symbol here, 
Their steps to guide, their souls to cheer ; 
They saw, through sorrow's lengthening night, 
Naught but the fagot's guilty light ; 
The cloud they gazed at was the smoke 
That round their murder'd brethren broke. 
Nor power above, nor power below 
Sustain'd them in their hour of wo; 
A fearful path they trod, 

And dared a fearful doom ; 

To build an altar to their God, 

And find a quiet tomb. 

* Pronounced at the Centennial Celebration of the 
Settlement of Boston, September, 1S30. 



But not alone, not all unbless'd, 
The exile sought a place of rest ; 
Oxe dared with him to burst the knot 
That bound her to her native spot ; 
Her low, sweet voice in comfort spoke, 
As round their bark the billows broke ; 
She through the midnight watch was there, 
With him to bend her knees in prayer ; 
She trod the shore with girded heart, 
Through good and ill to claim her part ; 
In life, in death, with him to seal 
Her kindred love, her kindred zeal. 



They come ; — that coming who shall tell 1 
The eye may weep, the heart may swell, 
But the poor tongue hi vain essays 
A fitting note for them to raise. 
We hear the after-shout that rings 
For them who smote the power of kings ; 
The swelling triumph all would share, 
But who the dark defeat would dare, 
And boldly meet the wrath and wo 
That wait the unsuccessful blow 1 
It were an envied fate, we deem, 
To live a land's recorded theme, 

When we are in the tomb ; 
We, too, might yield the joys of home, 
And waves of winter darkness roam, 

And tread a shore of gloom — 
Knew we those waves, through coming time, 
Should roll our names to every clime ; 
Felt we that millions on that shore 
Should stand, our memory to adore. 
But no glad vision burst in light 
Upon the Pilgrims' aching sight ; 
Their hearts no proud hereafter swell'd ; 
Deep shadows veil'd the way they held ; 
The yell of vengeance was then trump of fame, 
Their monument, a grave without a name. 



Yet, strong in weakness, there they stand, 

On yonder ice-bound rock, 
Stern and resolved, that faithful band, 

To meet fate's rudest shock. 
Though anguish rends the father's breast, 
For them, his dearest and his best, 

With him the waste who trod — 
Though tears that freeze, the mother sheds 
Upon her children's houseless heads — 

The Christian turns to God ! 

VIII. 

In grateful adoration now, 
Upon the barren sands they bow. 
What tongue of joy e'er woke such prayer 
As bursts in desolation there 1 
What arm of strength e'er wrought such power 
As waits to crown that feeble hour 1 
There into life an infant empire springs ! 
There falls the iron from the soul ; 
There Liberty's young accents roll 
Up to the King of kings ! 



13G CHARLES 


SPRAGUE. 


To fair creation's farthest bound 


Nor here alone their praises shall go round, 


That thrilling summons yet shall sound ; 


Nor here alone their virtues shall abound — 


The dreaming nations shall awake, 


Broad as the empire of the free shall spread, 


And to their centre earth's old kingdoms shake. 


Far as the foot of man shall dare to tread, 


Pontiff and prince, your sway 


Where oar hath never dipp'd, where human tongue 


Must crumble from that day ; 


Hath never through the woods of ages rung, 


Before the loftier throne of Heaven 


There, where the eagle's scream and wild wolf's cry 


The hand is raised, the pledge is given — 


Keep ceaseless day and night through earth and sky, 


One monarch to obey, one creed to own, 


Even there, in after time, as toil and taste 


That monarch, God ; that creed, His word alone. 


Go forth in gladness to redeem the waste, 




Even there shall rise, as grateful myriads throng, 


IX. 


Faith's holy prayer and Freedom's joyful song ; 


Spread out earth's holiest records here, 


There shall the flame thatflash'd from yonder Rock, 


Of days and deeds to reverence dear ; 


Light up the land, till nature's final shock. 


A zeal like this what pious legends tell 1 




On kingdoms built 


XIII. 


In blood and guilt, 


Yet while, by life's endearments crown' d, 


The worshippers of vulgar triumph dwell — 


To mark this day we gather round, 


But what exploits with theirs shall page, 


And to our nation's founders raise 


Who rose to bless their kind — 


The voice of gratitude and praise, 


Who left their nation and their age, 


Shall not one line lament that lion race, 


Man's spirit to unbind 1 


For us struck out from sweet creation's face? 


Who boundless seas pass'd o'er, 


Alas ! alas ! for them — those fated bands, 


And boldly met, in every path, 


Whose monarch tread was on these broad, green 


Famine, and frost, and heathen wrath, 


lands ; 


To dedicate a shore, 


Our fathers call'd them savage — them,whose bread, 


Where Piety's meek train might breathe their vow, 


In the dark hour, those famish'd fathers fed ; 


And seek their Maker with an unshamed brow ; 


We call them savage, we, 


Where Liberty's glad race might proudly come, 


Who hail the struggling free 


And set up there an everlasting home ] 


Of every clime and hue ; 




We, who would save 


X. 


The branded slave, 


0, many a time it hath been told, 


And give him liberty he never knew ; 


The story of those men of old. 


We, who but now have caught the tale 


For this fair Poetry hath wreathed 


That turns each listening tyrant pale, 


Her sweetest, purest flower ; 


And bless'd the winds and waves that bore 


For this proud Eloquence hath breathed 


The tidings to our kindred shore ; 


His strain of loftiest power ; 


The triumph-tidings pealing from that land 


Devotion, too, hath linger'd round 


Where up in arms insulted legions stand ; 


Each spot of consecrated ground, 


There, gathering round his bold compeers, 


And hill and valley bless'd ; 


Where He, our own, our welcomed One, 


There, where our banish' d fathers stray'd, 


Riper in glory than in years, 


There, where they loved, and wept, and pray'd, 


Down from his forfeit throne 


There, where their ashes rest. 


A craven monarch hurl'd, 




And spurn'd him forth, a proverb to the world ! 


XI. 

And never may they rest unsung, 


XIV. 


While Liberty can find a tongue. 


We call them savage — 0, be just ! 


Twine, Gratitude, a wreath for them, 


Their outraged feelings scan ; 


More deathless than the diadem, 


A voice comes forth, 'tis from the dust— 


Who, to life's noblest end, 


The savage was a man ! 


Gave up life's noblest powers, 


Think ye he loved not 1 Who stood by, 


And bade the legacy descend 


And in his toils took part 1 


Down, down to us and ours. 


Woman was there to bless his eye — 




The savage had a heart ! 


XII. 


Think ye he pray'd not 1 When on high 


By centuries now the glorious hour we mark, 


He heard the thunders roll, 


When to these shores they steer'd their shatter'd 


What bade him look beyond the sky 1 


bark; 


The savage had a soul ! 


And still, as other centuries melt away, 




Shall other ages come to keep the day. 


XV. 


When we are dust, who gather round this spot, 


I venerate the Pilgrim's cause, 


Our joys, our griefs, our very names forgot, 


Yet for the red man dare to plead — 


Here shall the dwellers of the land be seen, 


We bow to Heaven's recorded laws, 


To keep the memory of the Pilgrims green. 


He turn'd to nature for a creed ; 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



137 



Beneath the pillar'd dome, 
We seek our God in prayer ; 

Through boundless woods he loved to roam, 
And the Great Spirit worshipp'd there. 
But one, one fellow-throb with us he felt ; 
To one divinity with us he knelt ; 
Freedom, the self-same Freedom we adore, 
Bade him defend his violated shore. 

He saw the cloud, ordain'd to grow, 

And burst upon his hills in wo ; 

He saw his people withering by, 

Beneath the invader's evil eye ; 
Strange feet were trampling on his father's bones ; 

At midnight hour he woke to gaze 

Upon his happy cabin's blaze, 
And listen to his children's dying groans. 

He saw — and, maddening at the sight, 

Gave his bold bosom to the fight ; 

To tiger rage his soul was driven ; 

Mercy was not — nor sought nor given ; 

The pale man from his lands must fly ; 

He would be free — or he would die. 

xyi. 

And was this savage ] say, 
Ye ancient few, 
Who struggled through 
Young Freedom's trial-day — 
What first your sleeping wrath awoke 1 
On your own shores war's larum broke ; 
What turn'd to gall even kindred blood ? 
Round your own homes the oppressor stood ; 
This every warm affection chill'd, 
This every heart with vengeance thrill'd, 
And strengthen'd every hand ; 
From mound to mound 
The word went round — 
" Death for our native land V* 



Ye mothers, too, breathe ye no sigh 
For them who thus could dare to die 1 
Are all your own dark hours forgot, 

Of soul-sick suffering here 1 
Your pangs, as, from yon mountain spot, 
Death spoke in every booming shot 

That knell'd upon your ear I 
How oft that gloomy, glorious tale ye tell, 
As round your knees your children's children hang, 

Of them, the gallant ones, ye loved so well, 
Who to the conflict for their country sprang ! 
In pride, in all the pride of wo, 
Ye tell of them, the brave laid low, 

Who for their birth-place bled ; 
In pride, the pride of triumph then, 
Ye tell of them, the matchless men, 

From whom the invaders fled. 

XVIII. 

And ye, this holy place who throng, 
The annual theme to hear, 
And bid the exulting song 
Sound their great names from } r ear to year ; 
Ye, who invoke the chisel's breathing grace, 
In marble majesty their forms to trace ; 
18 



Ye, who the sleeping rocks would raise, 
To guard their dust and speak their praise ; 
Ye, who, should some other band 
With hostile foot defile the land, 
Feel that ye like them would wake, 
Like them the yoke of bondage break, 
Nor leave a battle-blade undrawn, 
Though every hill a sepulchre should yawn — 
Say, have not ye one line for those, 

One brother-line to spare, 
Who rose but as your fathers rose, 

And dared as ye would dare 1 

XIX. 

Alas ! for them — their day is o'er, 
Their fires are out from hill and shore ; 
No more for them the wild deer bounds ; 
The plough is on their hunting-grounds ; 
The pale man's axe rings through their woods 
The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods, 

Their pleasant springs are dry ; 
Their children — look, by power oppress'd, 
Beyond the mountains of the west, 

Their children go — to die. 



0, doubly lost ! Oblivion's shadows close 

Around their triumphs and their woes. 

On other realms, whose suns have set, 

Reflected radiance lingers yet ; 

There sage and bard have shed a light 

That never shall go down in night ; 

There time-crown'd columns stand on high, 

To tell of them who cannot die ; 

Even we, who then were nothing, kneel 
In homage there, and join earth's general peal. 
But the doom'd Indian leaves behind no trace, 
To save his own, or serve another race ; 
With his frail breath his power has pass'd away, 
His deeds, his thoughts are buried with his clay ; 

Nor lofty pile, nor glowing page 

Shall link him to a future age, 

Or give him with the past a rank ; 
His heraldry is but a broken bow, 
His history but a tale of wrong and wo, 

His very name must be a blank. 



Cold, with the beast he slew, he sleeps ; 

O'er him no filial spirit weeps ; 
No crowds throng round, no anthem-notes ascend, 
To bless his coming and embalm his end ; 
Even that he lived, is for his conqueror's tongue ; 
By foes alone his death-song must be sung ;■ 

No chronicles but theirs shall tell 
His mournful doom to future times ; 

May these upon his virtues dwell, 
And in his fate forget his crimes. 

xxir. 
Peace to the mingling dead ! 
Beneath the turf we tread, 
Chief, pilgrim, patriot sleep. 
All gone ! how changed ! and yet the same 
As when Faith's herald bark first came 
In sorrow o'er the deep. 
m2 



138 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



Still, from his noonday height, 
The sun looks down in light ; 
Along the trackless realms of space, 
The stars still run their midnight race ; 
The same green valleys smile, the same rough shore 
Still echoes to the same wild ocean's roar; — 
But where the bristling night-wolf sprang 

Upon his startled prey, 
Where the fierce Indian's war-cry rang 

Through many a bloody fray, 
And where the stern old pilgrim pray'd 

In solitude and gloom, 
Where the bold patriot drew his blade, 
And dared a patriot's doom, — 
Behold ! in Liberty's unclouded blaze 
We lift our heads, a race of other days. 



All gone! the wild beast's lair is trodden out; 

Proud temples stand in beauty there ; 
Our children raise their .merry shout 

Where once the death-whoop vex'd the air. 
The pilgrim — seek yon ancient mound of graves, 

Beneath that chapel's holy shade ; 
Ask, where the breeze the long grass waves, 

Who, who within that spot are laid : 
The patriot — go, to Fame's proud mount repair; 

The tardy pile, slow rising there, 

With tongueless eloquence shall tell 

Of them who for their country fell. 

XXIV. 

All gone! 'tis ours, the goodly land — 

Look round — the heritage behold ; 
Go forth — upon the mountains stand ; 
Then, if ye can, be cold. 
See living vales by living waters bless'd ; 

Their wealth see earth's dark caverns yield ; 
See ocean roll, in glory dress'd, 

For all a treasure, and round all a shield ; 
Hark to the shouts of praise 
Rejoicing millions raise ; 
Gaze on the spires that rise 
To point them to the skies, 
Unfearing and unfear'd ; 
Then, if ye can, O, then forget 
To whom ye owe the sacred debt — 

The pilgrim race revered ! 
The men who set Faith's burning lights 
Upon these everlasting heights, 
To guide their children through the years of time ; 
The men that glorious law who taught, 
Unshrinking liberty of thought, 
And roused the nations with the truth sublime. 



Forget 1 No, never — ne'er shall die 

Those names to memory dear; 
I read the promise in each eye 

That beams upon me here. 
Descendants of a twice-recorded race ! 
liong may ye here your lofty lineage grace. 
'T is not for you home's tender tie 

To rend, and brave the waste of waves ; 
'T is not for you to rouse and die, 

Or yield, and live a line of slaves. 



The deeds of danger and of death are done: 

Upheld by inward power alone, 

Unhonour'd by the world's loud tongue, 

'T is yours to do unknown, 
And then to die unsung. 
To other days, to other men belong 
The penman's plaudit, and the poet's song; 

Enough for glory has been wrought; 

By you be humbler praises sought ; 

In peace and truth life's journey run, 
And keep unsullied what your fathers won. 



Take then my prayer, ye dwellers of this spot ! 
Be yours a noiseless and a guiltless lot. 
I plead not that ye bask 
In the rank beams of vulgar fame ; 

To light your steps, I ask 
A purer and a holier flame. 
No bloated growth I supplicate for you, 
No pining multitude, no pamper'd few ; 
'T is not alone to coffer gold, 
Nor spreading borders to behold ; 
'T is not fast-swelling crowds to win, 
The refuse-ranks of want and sin. 
This be the kind decree: 
Be ye by goodness crown'd ; 
Revered, though not renown'd ; 
Poor, if Heaven will, but free ! 
Free from the tyrants of the hour, 
The clans of wealth, the clans of power, 
The coarsr, cold scorners of their God ; 
Free from the taint of sin, 
The leprosy that feeds within, 
And free, in mercy, from the bigot's rod. 



The sceptre's might, the crosier's pride, 

Ye do not fear; 
No conquest blade, in life-blood dyed, 

Drops terror here, — 
Let there not lurk a subtler snare, 
For wisdom's footsteps to beware. 
The shackle and the stake 

Our fathers fled ; 
Ne'er may their children wake 
A fouler wrath, a deeper dread ; 
Ne'er may the craft that fears the flesh to bind, 
Lock its hard fetters on the mind ; 
Quench'd be the fiercer flame 
That kindles with a name ; 
The pilgrim's faith, the pilgrim's zeal, 
Let more than pilgrim kindness seal ; 
Be purity of life the test, 
Leave to the heart, to heaven, the rest. 



So, when our children turn the page, 
To ask what triumphs mark'd our age — 
What we achieved to challenge praise, 
Through the long line of future days — 

This let them read, and hence instruction draw: 
"Here were the many bless'd, 
Here found the virtues rest, 

Faith link'd with Love, and Liberty with Law; 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



Here industry to comfort led ; 

Her book of light here learning spread ; 

Here the warm heart of youth 
Was woo'd to temperance and to truth ; 

Here hoary age was found, 
By wisdom and by reverence crown' d. 
No great but guilty fame 
Here kindled pride, that should have kindled shame ; 
These chose the better, happier part, 
That pour'd its sunlight o'er the heart, 
That crown'd their homes with peace and health, 
And weigh'd Heaven's smile beyond earth's 
wealth ; 
Far from the thorny paths of strife 
They stood, a living lesson to their race, 

Rich in the charities of life, 
Man in his strength, and woman in her grace ; 
In purity and truth their pilgrim path they trod, 
And when they served their neighbour, felt they 
served their God." 



This may not wake the poet's verse, 

This souls of fire may ne'er rehearse 

In crowd-delighting voice ; 

Yet o'er the record shall the patriot bend, 

His quiet praise the moralist shal] lend, 

And all the good rejoice. 



This be our story, then, in that far day, 
When others come their kindred debt to pay. 
In that far day? — 0, what shall be, 
In this dominion of the free, 
When we and ours have render'd up our trust, 
And men unborn shall tread above our dust] 
O, what shall be ] — He, He alone 
The dread response can make, 
Who sitteth on the only throne 
That time shall never shake : 
Before whose all-beholding eyes 
Ages sweep on, and empires sink and rise. 
Then let the song, to Him begun, 

To Him in reverence end ; 
Look down in love, Eternal One, 

And Thy good cause defend ; 
Here, late and long, put forth thy hand, 
To guard and guide the Pilgrim's land. 



LINES TO A YOUNG MOTHER. 



Yoxtxg mother ! what can feeble friendship say, 
To soothe the anguish of this mournful day] 
They, they alone, whose hearts like thine have bled, 
Know how the living sorrow for the dead ; 
Each tutor'd voice, that seeks such grief to cheer, 
Strikes cold upon the weeping parent's ear ; 
I 've felt it all — alas ! too well I know 
How vain all earthly power to hush thy wo ! 
God cheer thee, childless mother! 'tis not given 
For man to ward the blow that falls from heaven. 



I've felt it all — as thou art feeling now; 
Like thee, with stricken heart and aching brow, 
I've sat and watch'd by dying beauty's bed, 
And burning tears of hopeless anguish shed ; 
I 've gazed upon the sweet, but pallid face, 
And vainly tried some comfort there to trace ; 
I 've listen'd to the short and struggling breath ; 
I 've seen the cherub eye grow dim in death ; 
Like thee, I 've veil'd my head in speechless gloom, 
And laid my first-born in the silent tomb. 



I SEE THEE STILL. 

" I rock'd her in the cradle, 
And laid her in the tomb. She was the youngest. 
What fireside circle hath not felt the charm 
Of that sweet tie 1 The youngest ne'er grew old 
The fond endearments of our earlier days 
We keep alive in them, and when they die, 
Our youthful joys we bury with them." 

I see thee still : 
Remembrance, faithful to her trust, 
Calls thee in beauty from the dust ; 
Thou comest in the morning light, 
Thou 'rt with me through the gloomy night ; 
In dreams I meet thee as of old : 
Then thy soft arms my neck enfold, 
And thy sweet voice is in my ear: 
In every scene to memory dear 

I see thee still. 

I see thee still, 
In every hallow'd token round ; 
This little ring thy finger bound, 
This lock of hair thy forehead shaded, 
This silken chain by thee was braided, 
These flowers, all wither'd now, like thee, 
Sweet sister, thou didst cull for me ; 
This book was thine, here didst thou read ; 
This picture, ah ! yes, here, indeed, 

I see thee still. 

I see thee still: 
Here was thy summer noon's retreat, 
Here was thy favourite fireside seat; 
This was thy chamber — here, each day, 
I sat and watch'd thy sad decay ; 
Here, on this bed, thou last didst lie, 
Here, on this pillow, thou didst die : 
Dark hour! once more its woes unfold; 
As then I saw thee, pale and cold, 

I see thee still. 

I see thee still : 
Thou art not in the grave confined — 
Death cannot claim the immortal mind ; 
Let earth close o'er its sacred trust, 
But goodness dies not in the dust ; 
Thee, ! my sister, 't is not thee 
Beneath the coffin's lid I see ; 
Thou to a fairer land art gone ; 
There, let me hope, my journey done, 

To see thee still ! 



140 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF M. S. C. 



I knew that we must part — day after day, 
I saw the dread Destroyer win his way ; 
That hollow cough first rang the fatal knell, 
As on my ear its prophet-warning fell ; 
Feeble and slow thy once light footstep grew, 
Thy wasting cheek put on death's pallid hue, 
Thy thin, hot hand to mine more weakly clung, 
Each sweet "Good night" fell fainter from thy 

tongue ; 
I knew that we must part — no power could save 
Thy quiet goodness from an early grave ; 
Those eyes so dull, though kind each glance they 

cast, 
Looking a sister's fondness to the last ; 
Thy lips so pale, that gently press'd my cheek, 
Thy voice — alas ! thou couldst but try to speak ; — 
All told thy doom ; I felt it at my heart ; 
The shaft had struck — I knew that we must part. 

And we have parted, Mart — thou art gone ! 
Gone in thine innocence, meek, suffering one. 
Thy weary spirit breathed itself to sleep 
So peacefully, it seem'd a sin to weep, 
In those fond watchers who around thee stood, 
And felt, even then, that God, even then, was good. 
Like stars that struggle through the clouds of 

night, 
Thine eyes one moment caught a glorious light, 
As if to thee, in that dread hour, 'twere given 
To know on earth what faith believes of heaven ; 
Then like tired breezes didst thou sink to rest, 
Nor one, one pang the awful change confess'd. 
Death stole in softness o'er that lovely face, 
And touch'd each feature with a new-born grace ; 
On cheek and brow unearthly beauty lay, 
And told that life's poor cares had pass'd. away. 
In my last hour be Heaven so kind to me ! 
I ask no more than this — to die like thee. 

But we have parted, Mart — thou art dead! 
On its last resting-place I laid thy head, 
Then by thy coffin-side knelt down, and took 
A brother's farewell kiss and farewell look ; 
Those marble lips no kindred kiss return'd ; 
From those veil'd orbs no glance responsive burn'd ; 
Ah ! then I felt that thou hadst pass'd away, 
That the sweet face I gazed on was but clay ; 
And then came Memory, with her busy throng 
Of tender images, forgotten long ; 
Years hurried back, and as they swiftly roll'd, 
I saw thee, heard thee, as in days of old ; 
Sad and more sad each sacred feeling grew; 
Manhood was moved, and Sorrow claim'd her due ; 
Thick, thick and fast the burning tear-drops started ; 
I turn'd away — and felt that we had parted. — 

But not forever — in the silent tomb, 
Where thou art laid, thy kindred shall find room ; 
A little while, a few short years of pain, 
And, one by one, we'll come to thee again; 
The kind old father shall seek out the place, 
And rest with thee, the youngest of his race ; 
The dear, dear mother, bent with age and grief, 
Shall lay her head by thine, in sweet relief; 



Sister and brother, and that faithful friend, 
True from the first, and tender to the end, — 
All, all, in His good time, who placed us here, 
To live, to love, to die, and disappear, 
Shall come and make their quiet bed with thee, 
Beneath the shadow of that spreading tree ; 
With thee to sleep through death's long, dream- 
less night, 
With thee rise up and bless the morning light. 



THE FAMILY MEETING.* 

We are all here ! 

Father, mother, 

Sister, brother, 
All who hold each other dear. 
Each chair is fill'd — we're all at home- 
To-night let no cold stranger come : 
It is not often thus around 
Our old familiar hearth we're found: 
Bless, then, the meeting and the spot; 
For once be every care forgot; 
Let gentle Peace assert her power, 
And kind Affection rule the hour; 

We 're all — all here. 

We 're not all here ! 
Some are away — the dead ones dear, 
Who throng'd with us this ancient hearth, 
And gave the hour to guiltless mirth. 
Fate, with a stern, relentless hand, 
Look'd in and thinn'd our little band : 
Some like a night-flash pass'd away, 
And some sank, lingering, day by day ; 
The quiet graveyard — some lie there — 
And cruel Ocean has his share — 

We 're not all here. 

We are all here ! 
Even they — the dead — though dead, so dear ; 
Fond Memory, to her duty true, 
Brings back their faded forms to view. 
How life-like, through the mist of years, 
Each well-remember'd face appears! 
We see them as in .times long past ; 
From each to each kind looks are cast; 
We hear their words, their smiles behold ; 
They 're round us as they were of old — 

We are all here. 

We are all here! 

Father, mother, 

Sister, brother, 
You that I love with love so dear. 
This may not long of us be said ; 
Soon must we join the gather'd dead; 
And by the hearth we now sit round, 
Some other circle will be found. 
O ! then, that wisdom may we know, 
Which yields a life of peace below ! 
So, in the world to follow this, 
May each repeat, in words of bliss, 

We 're all — all here ! 

* Written on the accidental meeting of all the surviving 
members of a family. 



CHARLES SPRAGUE. 



141 



THE WINGED WORSHIPPERS. 

Gat, guiltless pair, 
What seek ye from the fields of heaven 1 ? 

Ye have no need of prayer, 
Ye have no sins to be forgiven. 

Why perch ye here, 
Where mortals to their Maker bend ] 

Can your pure spirits fear 
The God ye never could offend 1 

Ye never knew 
The crimes for which we come to weep. 

Penance is not for you, 
Blessed wanderers of the upper deep. 

To you 't is given 
To wake sweet nature's untaught lays ; 

Beneath the arch of heaven 
To chirp away a life of praise. 

Then spread each wing, 
Far, far above, o'er lakes and lands, 

And join the choirs that sing 
In yon blue dome not rear'd with hands. 

Or, if ye stay, 
To note the consecrated hour, 

Teach me the airy way, 
And let me try your envied power. 

Above the crowd, 
On upward wings could I but fly, 

I 'd bathe in you bright cloud, 
And seek the stars that gem the sky. 

'T were heaven indeed 
Through fields of trackless light to soar, 

On Nature's charms to feed, 
And Nature's own great God adore. 



DEDICATION HYMN. 

God of wisdom, God of might, 
Father ! dearest name of all, 

Bow thy throne and bless our rite ; 

• 'T is thy children on thee call. 

Glorious One ! look down from heaven, 
Warm each heart and wake each vow ; 

Unto Thee this house is given ; 
With thy presence fill it now. 

Fill it now ! on every soul 

Shed the incense of thy grace, 
While our anthem-echoes roll 

Round the consecrated place ; 
While thy holy page we read, 

While the prayers Thou lovest ascend, 
While thy cause thy servants plead, — 

Fill this house, our God, our Friend. 

Fill it now— O, fill it long ! 

So, when death shall call us home, 
Still to Thee, in many a throng, 

May our children's children come. 
Bless them, Father, long and late, 

Blot their sins, their sorrows dry ; 



Make this place to them the gate 
Leading to thy courts on high. 

There, when time shall be no more, 

When the feuds of earth are past, 
May the tribes of every shore 

Congregate in peace at last ! 
Then to Thee, thou One all- wise, 

Shall the gather'd millions sing, 
Till the arches of the skies 

With their hallelujahs ring. 



TO MY CIGAR. 

Yes, social friend, I love thee well, 

In learned doctors' spite ; 
Thy clouds all other clouds dispel, 

And lap me in delight. 

What though they tell, with phizzes long, 

My years are sooner pass'd 1 
I would reply, with reason strong, 

They 're sweeter while they last. 

And oft, mild friend, to me thou art 

A monitor, though still ; 
Thou speak' st a lesson to my heart, 

Beyond the preacher's skill. 

Thou'rt like the man of worth, who gives 

To goodness every day, 
The odour of whose virtues lives 

When he has passed away. 

When, in the lonely evening hour, 

Attended but by thee, 
O'er history's varied page I pore, 

Man's fate in thine I see. 

Oft as thy snowy column grows, 

Then breaks and falls away, 
I trace how mighty realms thus rose, 

Thus tumbled to decay. 

A while, like thee, earth's masters burn, 
And smoke and fume around, 

And then, like thee, to ashes turn, 
And mingle with the ground. 

Life 's but a leaf adroitly roll'd, 
And time 's the wasting breath, 

That late or early, we behold, 
Gives all to dusty death. 

From beggar's frieze to monarch's robe, 
One common doom is pass'd : 

Sweet nature's works, the swelling globe, 
Must all burn out at last. 

And what is he who smokes thee now? — 

A little moving heap, 
That soon like thee to fate must bow, 

With thee in dust must sleep. 

But though thy ashes downward go, 

Thy essence rolls on high ; 
Thus, when my body must lie low, 

My soul shall cleave the sky. 



HENRY WARE, JR. 



[Born, 1794. Died, 1843.] 



Henry Ware, D. D., a son of Henry Ware, 
D. D., and brother of William Ware, D. D., 
author of " Probus," etc., was born in Hingham, 
Massachusetts, on the seventh of April, 1 794 ; 
was graduated at Cambridge in 1812; completed 
his theological studies in 1815; was ordained 
minister of the Second Congregational Church, in 
Boston, in 1817; received Ealph Waldo Emer- 
son as his colleague, in 1829 ; for the recovery of 
his health soon after visited Europe ; and on his 
return, in 1830, resigned his charge and entered 



upon the office of Professor of Pulpit Eloquence 
and the Pastoral Care in the Theological School 
connected with Harvard College, which he held 
until the summer of 1842, when he gave up his 
public duties. He died September 22, 1843. 

Dr. Ware's writings, theological, critical, and 
miscellaneous, are numerous and valuable. In 1815 
he published « A Poem on Occasion of the Peace ;" 
in 1824 "The Vision of Liberty;" in 1837, "The 
Feast of the Tabernacles," and at various times 
many shorter pieces, chiefly devotional. 



TO THE URSA MAJOR. 

With what a stately and majestic step 
That glorious constellation of the north 
Treads its eternal circle ! going forth 
Its princely way among the stars in slow 
And silent brightness. Mighty one, all hail ! 
I joy to see thee on thy glowing path 
Walk, like some stout and girded giant ; stern, 
Unwearied, resolute, whose toiling foot 
Disdains to loiter on its destined way. 
The other tribes forsake their midnight track, 
And rest their weary orbs beneath thy wave ; 
But thou dost never close thy burning eye, 
Nor stay thy steadfast step. But on, still on, 
While systems change, and suns retire, and worlds 
Slumber and wake, thy ceaseless march proceeds. 
The near horizon tempts to rest in vain. 
Thou, faithful sentinel, dost never quit 
Thy long-appointed watch ; but, sleepless still, 
Dost guard the fix'd light of the universe, 
And bid the north forever know its place. 

Ages have witness'd thy devoted trust, 
Unchanged, unchanging. When the sons of God 
Sent forth that shout of joy which rang through 

heaven, 
And echo'd from the outer spheres that bound 
The illimitable universe, thy voice 
Join'd the high chorus ; from thy radiant orbs 
The glad cry sounded, swelling to His praise, 
Who thus had cast another sparkling gem, 
Little, but beautiful, amid the crowd 
Of splendours that enrich his firmament. 
As thou art now, so wast thou then the same. 
Ages have roll'd their course, and time grown gray; 
The earth has gather'd to her womb again, 
And yet again, the myriads that were born 
Of her uncounted, unremember'd tribes. 
The seas have changed their beds ; the eternal hills 
Have stoop'd with age ; the solid continents 
Have left their banks ; and man's imperial works — 
The toil, pride, strength of kingdoms, which had 
flung 



Their haughty honours in the face of heaven, 
As if immortal — have been swept away : 
Shatter'd and mouldering, buried and forgot. 
But time has shed no dimness on thy front, 
Nor touch'd the firmness of thy tread; youth, 

strength, 
And beauty still are thine ; as clear, as bright, 
As when the Almighty Former sent thee forth, 
Beautiful offspring of his curious skill, 
To watch earth's northern beacon, and proclaim 
The eternal chorus of eternal Love. 

I wonder as I gaze. That stream of light, 
Undimm'd, unquench'd — just as I see it now — 
Has issued from those dazzling points through years 
That go back far into eternity. 
Exhaustless flood ! forever spent, renew'd 
Forever ! Yea, and those refulgent drops, 
Which now descend upon my lifted eye, 
Left their far fountain twice three years ago. 
While those wing'd particles, whose speed outstrips 
The flight of thought, were on their way, the earth 
Compass'd its tedious circuit round and round, 
And, in the extremes of annual change, beheld 
Six autumns fade, six springs renew their bloom. 
So far from earth those mighty orbs revolve ! 
So vast the void through which their beams descend! 
Yes, glorious lamp of God ! He may have quench'd 
Your ancient flames, and bid eternal night 
Rest on your spheres ; and yet no tidings reach 
This distant planet. Messengers still come 
Laden with your far fire, and we may seem 
To see your lights still burning ; while their blaze 
But hides the black wreck of extinguish'd realms, 
Where anarchy and darkness long have reign'd. 

Yet what is this, which to the astonish'd mind 
Seems measureless, and which the baffled thought 
Confounds 1 A span, a point, in those domains 
Which the keen eye can traverse. Seven stars 
Dwell in that brilliant cluster, and the sight 
Embraces all at once; yet each from each 
Recedes as far as each of them from earth. 
And every star from every other burns 
No less remote. From the profound of heaven, 



HENRY WARE, JR. 



143 



Untravell'd even in thought, keen, piercing rays 
Dart through the void, revealing to the sense 
Systems and worlds unnumber'd. Take the glass 
And search the skies. The opening skies pour down 
Upon your gaze thick showers of sparkling fire ; 
Stars, crowded, throng'd, in regions so remote, 
That their swift beams — the swiftest things that 

be— 
Have travell'd centuries on their flight to earth. 
Earth, sun, and nearer constellations ! what 
Are ye amid this infinite extent 
And multitude of God's most infinite works ! 

And these are suns ! vast, central, living fires, 
Lords of dependent systems, kings of worlds 
That wait as satellites upon their power, 
And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul, 
And meditate the wonder ! Countless suns 
Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless 

worlds ! 
Worlds in whose bosoms living things rejoice, 
And drink the bliss of being from the fount 
Of all-pervading Love. What mind can know, 
What tongue can utter all their multitudes ! 
Thus numberless in numberless abodes ! 
Known but to thee, bless'd Father ! Thine they are, 
Thy children, and thy care ; and none o'erlook'd 
Of thee ! No, not the humblest soul that dwells 
Upon the humblest globe, which wheels its course 
Amid the giant glories of the sky, 
Like the mean mote that dances in the beam 
Amongst the mirror'd lamps, which fling 
Their wasteful splendour from the palace wall, 
None, none escape the kindness of thy care ; 
All compass'd underneath thy spacious wing, 
Each fed and guided by thy powerful hand. 

Tell me, ye splendid orbs ! as from your throne 
Ye mark the rolling provinces that own 
Your sway, what beings fill those bright abodes 1 
How form'd, how gifted '! what their powers, their 

state, 
Their happiness, their wisdom 1 Do they bear 
The stamp of human nature ] Or has God . 
Peopled those purer realms with lovelier forms 
And more celestial minds 1 Does Innocence 
Still wear her native and untainted bloom 1 
Or has Sin breathed his deadly blight abroad, 
And sow'd corruption in those fairy bowers 1 
Has War trod o'er them with his foot of fire 1 
And Slavery forged his chains ; and Wrath, and 

Hate, 
And sordid Selfishness, and cruel Lust 
Leagued their base bands to tread out light and truth , 
And scatter wo where Heaven had planted joy 1 
Or are they yet all paradise, unfallen 
And uncorrupt? existence one long joy, 
Without disease upon the frame, or sin 
Upon the heart, or weariness of life ; 
Hope never quench'd, and age unknown, 
And death unfear'd ; while fresh and fadeless youth 
Glows in the light from God's near throne of love 1 

Open your lips, ye wonderful and fair ! 
Speak, speak ! the mysteries of those living worlds 
Unfold ! No language 1 Everlasting light 
And everlasting silence 1 Yet the eye 
May read and understand. The hand of God 



Has written legibly what man may know, 
The glory of the Maker. There it shines, 
Ineffable, unchangeable ; and man, 
Bound to the surface of this pigmy globe, 
May know and ask no more. In other days, 
When death shall give the encumber'd spirit wings, 
Its range shall be extended ; it shall roam, 
Perchance, among those vast, mysterious spheres, 
Shall pass from orb to orb, and dwell in each, 
Familiar with its children ; learn their laws, 
And share their state, and study and adore 
The infinite varieties of bliss 
And beauty, by the hand of Power divine 
Lavish'd on all its works. Eternity 
Shall thus roll on with ever fresh delight ; 
No pause of pleasure or improvement ; world 
On world still opening to the instructed mind 
An unexhausted universe, and time 
But adding to its glories. While the soul, 
Advancing ever to the Source of light 
And all perfection, lives, adores, and reigns 
In cloudless knowledge, purity, and bliss. 



SEASONS OF PRAYER. 

To prayer, to prayer ; — for the morning breaks, 
And earth in her Maker's smile awakes. 
His light is on all below and above, 
The light of gladness, and life, and love. 
O, then, on the breath of this early air, 
Send up the incense of grateful prayer. 

To prayer ; — for the glorious sun is gone, 
And the gathering darkness of night comes on. 
Like a curtain from God's kind hand it flows, 
To shade the couch where his children repose. 
Then kneel, while the watching stars are bright, 
And give your last thoughts to the Guardian of 
night. 

To prayer ; — for the day that God has bless'd 
Comes tranquilly on with its welcome rest. 
It speaks of creation's early bloom ; 
It speaks of the Prince who burst the tomb. 
Then summon the spirit's exalted powers, 
And devote to Heaven the hallow'd hours. 

There are smiles and tears in the mother's e} T es, 

For her new-born infant beside her lies. 

O, hour of bliss ! when the heart o'erflows 

With rapture a mother only knows. 

Let it gush forth in words of fervent prayer ; 

Let it swell up to heaven for her precious care. 

There are smiles and tears in that gathering band, 
Where the heart is pledged with the trembling hand. 
What trying thoughts in her bosom swell, 
I As the bride bids parents and home farewell ! 
Kneel down by the side of the tearful fair, 
And strengthen the perilous hour with prayer 

Kneel down by the dying sinner's side, 
And pray for his soul through Him who died. 
Large drops of anguish are thick on his brow — 
O, what is earth and its pleasures now ! 



144 



HENRY WARE, JR. 



And what shall assuage his dark despair, 
But the penitent cry of humble prayer] 

Kneel down at the couch of departing faith, 

And hear the last words the believer saith. 

He has bidden adieu to his earthly friends ; 

There is peace in his eye that upward bends ; 

There is peace in his calm, confiding air ; 

For his last thoughts are Gor)'s,his last words prayer. 

The voice of prayer at the sable bier ! 

A voice to sustain, to soothe, and to cheer. 

It commends the spirit to God who gave ; 

It lifts the thoughts from the cold, dark grave ; 

It points to the glory where he shall reign, 

Who whisper'd, " Thy brother shall rise again." 

The voice of prayer in the world of bliss ! 
But gladder, purer, than rose from this. 
The ransom'd shout to their glorious King, 
Where no sorrow shades the soul as they sing ; 
But a sinless and joyous song they raise ; 
And their voice of prayer is eternal praise. 

Awake, awake, and gird up thy strength 

To join that holy band at length. 

To him who unceasing love displays, 

Whom the powers of nature unceasingly praise, 

To Him thy heart and thy hours be given ; 

For a life of prayer is the life of heaven. 



THE VISION OF LIBERTY.* 

The evening heavens were calm and bright ; 

No dimness rested on the glittering light [high; 
That sparkled from that wilderness of worlds on 

Those distant suns burn'd on in quiet ray ; 

The placid planets held their modest way : 
And silence reign'd profound o'er earth, and sea, 
and sky* 

what an hour for lofty thought ! 
My spirit burn'd within ; I caught 

A holy inspiration from the hour. 

Around me man and nature slept ; 

Alone my solemn watch I kept, 
Till morning dawn'd, and sleep resumed her power. 

A vision pass'd upon my soul. 
I still was gazing up to heaven, 
As in the early hours of even ; 

1 still beheld the planets roll, 
And all those countless sons of light 

Flame from the broad blue arch, and guide the 
moonless night. 

When, lo, upon the plain, 

Just where it skirts the swelling main, 

A massive castle, far and- high, 

In towering grandeur broke upon my eye. 

Proud in its strength and years, the ponderous pile 
Flung up its time-defying towers ; 

Its lofty gates seem'd scornfully to smile 
At vain assault of human powers, 

And threats and arms deride. 

Its gorgeous carvings of heraldric pride 

* From a poem delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa 
Society, at Cambridge, in 1825. 



In giant masses graced the walls above, 
And dungeons yawn'd below. 

Yet ivy there and moss their garlands wove, 
Grave, silent chroniclers of time's protracted flow. 

Bursting on my steadfast gaze, 

See, within, a sudden blaze ! 
So small at first, the zephyr's slightest swell, 

That scarcely stirs the pine-tree top, 

Nor makes the wither'd leaf to drop, 
The feeble fluttering of that flame would quell. 

But soon it spread — 

Waving, rushing, fierce, and red — 

From wall to wall, from tower to tower, 

Raging with resistless power ; 
Till every fervent pillar glow'd, 

And every stone seem'd burning coal, 
Instinct with living heat, that flow'd 

Like streaming radiance from the kindled pole. 

Beautiful, fearful, grand, 

Silent as death, I saw the fabric stand. 

At length a crackling sound began ; 

From side to side, throughout the pile it ran ; 

And louder yet and louder grew, 

Till now in rattling thunder-peals it grew; 

Huge shiver'd fragments from the pillars broke, 

Like fiery sparkles from the anvil's stroke. 

The shatter'd walls were rent and riven, 

And piecemeal driven 

Like blazing comets through the troubled sky. 

'T is done ; what centuries had rear'd, 

In quick explosion disappear'd, 
Nor even its ruins met my wondering eye. 

But in their place — 

Bright with more than human grace, 
Robed in more than mortal seeming, 

Radiant glory in her face, [ing — 

And eyes with heaven's own brightness beam- 
Rose a fair, majestic form, 
As the mild rainbow from the storm. 
I mark'd her smile, I knew her eye ; 

And when, with gesture of command, 

She waved aloft the cap-crown'd wand, 
My slumbers fled mid shouts of " Liberty !" 

Read ye the dream] and know ye not 

How truly it unlock'd the world of fate ! 
Went not the flame from this illustrious« spot, 

And spreads it not, and burns in every state ] 
And when their old and cumbrous walls, 

Fill'd with this spirit, glow intense, 

Vainly they rear'd their impotent defence : 
The fabric falls ! 
That fervent energy must spread, 

Till despotism's towers be overthrown ; 
And in their stead, 

Liberty stands alone ! 
Hasten the day, just Heaven ! 

Accomplish thy design ; 
And let the blessings thou hast freely given, 

Freely on all men shine ; 
Till equal rights be equally enjoy'd 
And human power for human good employ'd ; 
Till law, and not the sovereign, rule sustain, 
And peace and virtue undisputed reign. 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



[Born, 1794. Died, 1827.] 



The ancestors of Carlos Wilcox were among 
che early emigrants to New England. His father 
was a respectable farmer at Newport, New Hamp- 
shire, where the poet was born, on the twenty- 
second day of October, 1794. When he was about 
four years old, his parents removed to Orwell, in 
Vermont; and there, a few years afterward, he ac- 
cidentally injured himself with an axe ; the wound, 
for want of care or skill, was not healed ; it was a 
cause of suffering for a long period, and of lame- 
ness during his life ; it made him a minister of 
religion, and a poet. 

Perceiving that this accident and its conse- 
quences unfitted him for agricultural pursuits, his 
parents resolved to give him a liberal education. 
When, therefore, he was thirteen years old, he was 
sent to an academy at Castleton ; and when fifteen, 
to the college at Middlebury. Here he became re- 
ligious, and determined to study theology. He 
won the respect of the officers, and of his asso- 
ciates, by the mildness of his temper, the gravity 
of his manners, and the manliness of his conduct ; 
and he was distinguished for his attainments in 
languages and polite letters. 

He was graduated in 1813; and after spending 
a few months with a maternal uncle, in Georgia, 
he entered the theological school at Andover, in 
Massachusetts. He had not been there long when 
one of his classmates died, and he was chosen by 
his fellows to pronounce a funeral oration. The 
departed student was loved by all for his excellent 
qualities ; but by none more than by Wilcox ; 
and the tenderness of feeling, and the purity of 
diction which characterized his eulogy, established 
his reputation for genius and eloquence in the 
seminary. 

Wilcox had at this time few associates ; he was 
a melancholy man ; " I walk my room," he remarks, 
in one of his letters, "with my hands clasped in 
anguish, and my eyes streaming with tears;" he 
complained that his mind was unstrung, relaxed 
almost beyond the power of reaction ; that he had 
lost all control of his thoughts and affections, and 
become a passive slave of circumstances; "I feel 
borne along," he says, " in despairing listlessness, 
guided by the current in all its windings, without 
resolution to raise my head to see where I am, or 
whither I am going ; the roaring of a cataract before 
me would rather lull me to a deeper sleep than 
rouse me to an effort to escape destruction." His 
sufferings were apparent to his friends, among 
whom there were givings-out concerning an un- 
requited passion, or the faithlessness of one whose 
hand had been pledged to him ; and he himself 
mentioned to some who were his confidants, troubles 
of a different kind: he was indebted to the college 
faculty, and in other ways embarrassed. Whatever 
may have been the cause, all perceived that there 
19 



was something preying on his mind ; that he was 
ever in dejection. 

As time wore on, he became more cheerful ; he 
finished the regular course of theological studies, 
in 1817, and in the following spring returned to 
Vermont, where he remained a year. In this period 
he began the poem, in which he has sung 

"Of true Benevolence, its charms divine, 
With other motives to call forth its power, 
And its grand triumphs." 

In 1819, Wilcox began to preach ; and his pro 
fessional labours were constant, for a year, at the 
end of which time his health failed, and he ac- 
cepted an invitation from a friend at Salisbury, in 
Connecticut, to reside at his house. Here he re- 
mained nearly two years, reading his favourite 
authors, and composing "The Age of Benevo- 
lence." The first book was published at New 
Haven, in 1822; it was favourably received by the 
journals and by the public. He intended to com- 
plete the poem in five books; the second, third, 
and fourth, were left by him when he died, ready 
for the press ; but, for some reason, only brief frag- 
ments of them have been printed. 

During the summer of 1824, Wilcox devoted 
his leisure hours to the composition of " The Re- 
ligion of Taste," a poem which he pronounced 
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Yale College ; 
and in the following winter he was ordained as 
minister of the North Congregational Church, in 
Hartford. He soon obtained a high reputation for 
eloquence ; his sermons were long, prepared with 
great care, and delivered with deep feeling. His 
labours were too arduous ; his health rapidly de- 
clined; and in the summer of 1825, he sought 
relief in relaxation and travel. He visited New 
York, Philadelphia, the springs of Saratoga, and, 
for the last time, his home in Vermont. In the 
autumn he returned to his parish, where he re- 
mained until the spring, when, finding himself 
unable to perform the duties of his office, he sent 
to the government of the church his resignation. 
It was reluctantly accepted, for he had endeared 
himself, as a minister and a man, to all who knew 
him. The summer of 1826 was passed at New- 
port, Rhode Island, in the hope that the sea-breeze 
and bathing in the surf would restore his health. 
He was disappointed ; and in September, he visited 
the White Mountains, in New Hampshire, and 
afterward went to Boston, where he remained se- 

I veral weeks. Finally, near the end of December, 

i he received an invitation to preach in Danbury, in 
Connecticut. He went immediately to his new 

' parish, and during the winter discharged the duties 
of his profession regularly. But as the spring 

j came round, his strength failed ; and on the 27th 
of May, 1827, he died. 

N 145 



146 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



There is much merit in some passages of the 
fragment of the « Age of Benevolence." Wilcox 
was pious, gentle-hearted, and unaffected and re- 
tiring in his manners. The general character of 
his poetry is religious and sincere. He was a 



lover of nature, and he described rural sights and 
sounds with singular clearness and fidelity. In the 
ethical and narrative parts of his poems, he was less 
successful than in the descriptive ; but an earnest- 
ness and simplicity pervaded all that he wrote. 



SPRING IN NEW ENGLAND.* 

Long swoln in drenching rain, seeds, germs, and 
buds 
Start at the touch of vivifying beams. 
Moved by their secret force, the vital lymph 
Diffusive runs, and spreads o'er wood and field 
A flood of verdure. Clothed, in one short week, 
Is naked Nature in her full attire. 
On the first morn, light as an open plain 
Is all the woodland, fill'd with sunbeams, pour'd 
Through the bare tops, on yellow leaves below, 
With strong reflection: on the last, 'tis dark 
With full-grown foliage, shading all within. 
In one short week the orchard buds and blooms ; 
And now, when steep'd in dew or gentle showers, 
It yields the purest sweetness to the breeze, 
Or all the tranquil atmosphere perfumes. 
E'en from the juicy leaves of sudden growth, 
And the rank grass of steaming ground, the air, 
Fill'd with a watery glimmering, receives 
A grateful smell, exhaled by warming rays. 
Each day are heard, and almost every hour, 
New notes to swell the music of the groves. 
And soon the latest of the feather'd train 
At evening twilight come ; the lonely snipe, 
O'er marshy fields, high in the dusky air, 
Invisible, but with faint, tremulous tones, 
Hovering or playing o'er the listener's head ; 
And, in mid air, the sportive night-hawk, seen 
Flying a while at random, uttering oft 
A cheerful cry, attended with a shake 
Of level pinions, dark, but when upturn'd 
Against the brightness of the western sky, 
One white plume showing in the midst of each, 
Then far down diving with a hollow sound ; 
And, deep at first within the distant wood, 
The whip-poor-will, her name her only song. 
She, soon as children from the noisy sport 
Of whooping, laughing, talking with all tones, 
To hear the echoes of the empty barn, 
Are by her voice diverted and held mute, 
Comes to the margin of the nearest grove ; 
And when the twilight, deepen'd into night, 
Calls them within, close to the house she comes, 
And on its dark side, haply on the step 
Of unfrequented door lighting unseen, 
Breaks into strains articulate and clear, 
The closing sometimes quicken'd, as in sport. 
Now, animate throughout, from morn to eve 
All harmon}'-, activity, and joy, 
Is lovely Nature, as in her bless'd prime. 
The robin to the garden or green yard, 

* This and the four following extracts are from "The 
Age of Benevolence." 



Close to the door, repairs to build again 
Within her wonted tree ; and at her work 
Seems doubly busy for her past delay. 
Along the surface of the winding stream, 
Pursuing every turn, gay swallows skim, 
Or round the borders of the spacious lawn 
Fly in repeated circles, rising o'er 
Hillock and fence with motion serpentine, 
Easy, and light. One snatches from the ground 
A downy feather, and then upward springs, 
Follow'd by others, but oft drops it soon, 
In playful mood, or from too slight a hold, 
When all at once dart at the falling prize. 
The flippant blackbird, with light yellow crown, 
Hangs fluttering in the air, and chatters thick 
Till her breath fails, when, breaking off, she drops 
On the next tree, and on its highest limb 
Or some tall flag, and gently rocking, sits, 
Her strain repeating. With sonorous notes 
Of every tone, mix'd in confusion sweet, 
All chanted in the fulness of delight, 
The forest rings : where, far around enclosed 
With bushy sides, and cover'd high above 
With foliage thick, supported by bare trunks, 
Like pillars rising to support a roof, 
It seems a temple vast, the space within 
Rings loud and clear with thrilling melody. 
Apart, but near the choir, with voice distinct, 
The merry mocking-bird together links 
In one continued song their different notes, 
Adding new life and sweetness to them all. 
Hid under shrubs, the squirrel, that in fields 
Frequents the stony wall and briery fence, 
Here chirps so shrill, that human feet approach 
Unheard till just upon him, when, with cries 
Sudden and sharp, he darts to his retreat 
Beneath the mossy hillock or aged tree ; 
But oft a moment after reappears, 
First peeping out, then starting forth at once 
With a courageous air, yet in his pranks 
Keeping a watchful eye, nor venturing far 
Till left unheeded. In rank pastures graze, 
Singly and mutely, the contented herd ; 
And on the upland rough the peaceful sheep-; 
Regardless of the frolic lambs, that, close 
Beside them, and before their faces prone, 
With many an antic leap and butting feint, 
Try to provoke them to unite in sport, 
Or grant a look, till tired of vain attempts ; 
When, gathering in one company apart, 
All vigour and delight, away they run, 
Straight to the utmost corner of the field, 
The fence beside ; then, wheeling, disappear 
In some small sandy pit, then rise to view ; 
Or crowd together up the heap of earth 
Around some upturn'd root of fallen tree. 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



u; 



And on its top a trembling moment stand, 

Then to the distant flock at once return. 

Exhilarated by the general joy, 

And the fair prospect of a fruitful year, 

The peasant, with light heart and nimble step, 

His work pursues, as it were pastime sweet. 

With many a cheering word, his willing team 

For labour fresh, he hastens to the field 

Ere morning lose its coolness ; but at eve, 

When loosen'd from the plough and homeward 

turn'd, 
He follows slow and silent, stopping oft 
To mark the daily growth of tender grain 
And meadows of deep verdure, or to view 
His scatter'd flock and herd, of their own will 
Assembling for the night by various paths, 
The old now freely sporting with the young, 
Or labouring with uncouth attempts at sport. 



A SUMMER NOON. 

A sultry noon, not in the summer's prime, 
When all is fresh with fife, and youth, and bloom, 
But near its close, when vegetation stops, 
And fruits mature stand ripening in the sun, 
Soothes and enervates with its thousand charms, 
Its images of silence and of rest, 
The melancholy mind. The fields are still ; 
The husbandman has gone to his repast, 
And, that partaken, on the coolest, side 
Of his abode, reclines in sweet repose. 
Deep in the shaded stream the cattle stand, 
The flocks beside the fence, with heads all prone, 
And panting quick. The fields, for harvest ripe, 
No breezes bend in smooth and graceful waves, 
While with their motion, dim and bright by turns, 
The sunshine seems to move ; nor e'en a breath 
Brushes along the surface with a shade 
Fleeting and thin, like that of flying smoke. 
The slender stalks their heavy bended heads 
Support as motionless as oaks their tops. 
O'er all the woods the topmost leaves are still ; 
E'en the wild poplar leaves, that, pendent hung 
By stems elastic, quiver at a breath, 
Rest in the general calm. The thistle down, 
Seen high and thick, by gazing up beside 
Some shading object, in a silver shower 
Plumb down, and slower than the slowest snow, 
Through all the sleepy atmosphere descends ; 
And where it lights, though on the steepest roof, 
Or smallest spire of grass, remains unmoved. 
White as a fleece, as dense and as distinct 
From the resplendent sky, a single cloud, 
On the soft bosom of the air becalm'd, 
Drops a lone shadow, as distinct and still, 
On the bare plain, or sunny mountain's side ; 
Or in the polish'd mirror of the lake, 
In which the deep reflected sky appears 
A calm, sublime immensity below. 

No sound nor motion of a living thing 
The stillness breaks, but such as serve to soothe, 
Or cause the soul to feel the stillness more. 
The yellow-hammer by the way-side picks, 
Mutely, the thistle's seed ; but in her flight, 



So smoothly serpentine, her wings outspread 
To rise a little, closed to fall as far, 
Moving like sea-fowl o'er the heaving waves, 
With each new impulse chimes a feeble note. 
The russet grasshopper at times is heard, 
Snapping his many wings, as half he flies, 
Half-hovers in the air. Where strikes the sun, 
With sultriest beams, upon the sandy plain, 
Or stony mount, or in the close, deep vale, 
The harmless locust of this western clime, 
At intervals, amid the leaves unseen, 
Is heard to sing with one unbroken sound, 
As with a long-drawn breath, beginning low, 
And rising to the midst with shriller swell, 
Then in low cadence dying all away. 
Beside the stream, collected in a flock, 
The noiseless butterflies, though on the ground, 
Continue still to wave their open fans 
Powder'd with gold ; while on the jutting twigs 
The spindling insects that frequent the banks 
Rest, »with their thin, transparent wings outspread 
As when they fly. Ofttimes, though seldom seen, 
The cuckoo, that in summer haunts our groves, 
Is heard to moan, as if at every breath 
Panting aloud. The hawk, in mid-air high, 
On his broad pinions sailing round and round, 
With not a flutter, or but now and then, 
As if his trembling balance to regain, 
Utters a single scream, but faintly heard, 
And all again is still. 



SEPTEMBER. 

The sultry summer past, September comes, 
Soft twilight of the slow-declining year. 
All mildness, soothing loneliness, and peace ; 
The fading season ere the falling come, 
More sober than the buxom, blooming May, 
And therefore less the favourite of the world, 
But dearest month of all to pensive minds. 
'Tis now far spent ; and the meridian sun, 
Most sweetly smiling with attemper'd beams, 
Sheds gently down a mild and grateful warmth. 
Beneath its yellow lustre, groves and woods, 
Checker'd by one night's frost with various hues, 
While yet no wind has swept a leaf away, 
Shine doubly rich. It were a sad delight 
Down the smooth stream to glide, and sre it tinged 
Upon each brink with all the gorgeous hues, 
The yellow, red, or purple of the trees 
That, singly, or in tufts, or forests thick 
Adorn the shores ; to see, perhaps, the side 
Of some high mount reflected far below, 
With its bright colours, intermix'd with spots 
Of darker green. Yes, it were sweetly sad 
To wander in the open fields, and hear, 
E'en at this hour, the noonday hardly past, 
The lulling insects of the summer's night ; 
To hear, where lately buzzing swarms were heard, 
A lonely bee long roving here and there 
To find a single flower, but all in vain ; 
Then rising quick, and with a louder hum, 
In widening circles round and round his head, 



148 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



Straight by the listener flying clear away, 

As if to bid the fields a last adieu ; 

To hear, within the woodland's sunny side, 

Late full of music, nothing save, perhaps, 

The sound of nutshells, by the squirrel dropp'd 

From some tall beech, fast falling through the leaves. 



SUNSET IN SEPTEMBER.* 

The sun now rests upon the mountain tops — 
Eegins to sink behind — is half conceal' d — 
And now is gone : the last faint, twinkling beam 
Is cut in twain by the sharp rising ridge. 
Sweet to the pensive is departing day, 
When only one small cloud, so still and thin, 
So thoroughly imbued with amber light, 
And so transparent, that it seems a spot 
Of brighter sky, beyond the farthest mount, 
Hangs o'er the hidden orb ; or where a few ■ 
Long, narrow stripes of denser, darker grain, 
At each end sharpen'd to a needle's point, 
With golden borders,sometimes straight and smooth, 
And sometimes crinkling like the lightning stream, 
A half-hour's space above the mountain lie ; 
Or when the whole consolidated mass, 
That only threaten'd rain, is broken up 
Into a thousand parts, and yet is one, 
One as the ocean broken into waves ; 
And all its spongy parts, imbibing deep 
The moist effulgence, seem like fleeces dyed 

* Every person, who has witnessed the splendour of 
the sunset scenery in Andover, will recognise with delight 
the local as well as general truth and beauty of this de- 
scription. There is not, perhaps, in New England, a spot 
where the sun goes down, of a clear summer's evening, 
amidst so much grandeur reflected over earth and sky. 
Tn the winter season, too, it is a most magnificent and 
impressive scene. The great extent of the landscape; 
the situation of the hill, on the broad., level summit of 
which stand the buildings of the Theological Institution; 
the vast amphitheatre of luxuriant forest and field, which 
rises from its base, and swells away into the heavens; 
the perfect outline of the horizon ; the noble range of 
blue mountains in the background, that seem to retire 
one beyond another almost to infinite distance ; together 
with the magnificent expanse of sky visible at once from 
the elevated spot, — these features constitute at all times 
a scene on which the lover of nature can never be weary 
with gazing. When the sun goes down, it is all in a blaze 
with his descending glory. The sunset is the most per- 
fectly beautiful when an afternoon shower has just pre- 
ceded it. The gorgeous clouds roll away like masses of 
amber. The sky, close to the horizon, is a sea of the 
richest purple. The setting sun shines through the mist, 
which rises from the wet forest and meadow, and makes 
the clustered foliage appear invested with a brilliant 
golden transparency. Nearer to the eye, the trees and 
shrubs are sparkling with fresh rain-drops, and over the 
whole scene, the parting rays of sunlight linger with a 
yellow gleam, as if reluctant to pass entirely away. Then 
come the varying tints of twilight, "fading, still fading," 
till the stars are out in their beauty, and a cloudless night 
reigns, with its silence, shadows, and repose. In the 
summer, Andover combines almost every thing to charm 
and elevate the feelings of the student. In winter, the 
north-western blasts, that sweep fresh from the snow- 
banks on the Grand Monadnock,make the invalid, at least, 
sigh for a more congenial climate.— Rev. G. B. Cheever. 



Deep scarlet, saffron light, or crimson dark, 
As they are thick or thin, or near or more remote, 
All fading soon as lower sinks the sun, 
Till twilight end. But now another scene, 
To me most beautiful of all, appears: 
The sky, without the shadow of a cloud, 
Throughout the west, is kindled to a glow 
So bright and broad, it glares upon the eye, 
Not dazzling, but dilating with calm force 
Its power of vision to admit the whole. 
Below, 'tis all of richest orange dye, 
Midway, the blushing of the mellow peach 
Paints not, but tinges the ethereal deep ; 
And here, in this most lovely region, shines, 
With added loveliness, the evening-star. 
Above, the fainter purple slowly fades, 
Till changed into the azure of mid-heaven. 

Along the level ridge, o'er which the sun 
Descended, in a single row arranged, 
As if thus planted by the hand of art, 
Majestic pines shoot up into the sky, 
And in its fluid gold seem half-dissolved. 
Upon a nearer peak, a cluster stands 
With shafts erect, and tops converged to one, 
A stately colonnade, with verdant roof; 
Upon a nearer still, a single tree, 
With shapely form, looks beautiful alone ; 
While, farther northward, through a narrow pass 
Scoop'd in the hither range, a single mount 
Beyond the rest, of finer smoothness seems, 
And of a softer, more ethereal blue, 
A pyramid of polish'd sapphire built. 

But now the twilight mingles into one 
The various mountains ; levels to a plain 
This nearer, lower landscape, dark with shade, 
Where ever} 7 object to my sight presents 
Its shaded side ; while here upon these walls, 
And in that eastern wood, upon the trunks 
Under thick foliage, reflective shows 
Its yellow lustre. How distinct the line 
Of the horizon, parting heaven and earth ! 



SUMMER EVENING LIGHTNING. 

Far off and low 
In the horizon, from a sultry cloud, 
Where sleeps in embryo the midnight storm, 
The silent lightning gleams in fitful sheets, 
Illumes the solid mass, revealing thus 
Its darker fragments, and its ragged verge ; 
Or if the bolder fancy so conceive 
Of its fantastic forms, revealing thus 
Its gloomy caverns, rugged sides and tops 
With beetling cliffs grotesque. But not so bright 
The distant flashes gleam as to efface 
The window's image, on the floor impress'd 
By the dim crescent ; or outshines the light 
Cast from the room upon the trees hard by, 
If haply, to illume a moonless night, 
The lighted taper shine ; though lit in vain, 
To waste away unused, and from abroad 
Distinctly through the open window seen, 
Lone, pale, and still as a sepulchral lamp. 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



149 



THE CASTLE OF IMAGINATION;* 

Just in the centre of that wood was rear'd 
Her castle, all of marble, smooth and white ; 
Above the thick young trees, its top appear'd 
Among the naked trunks of towering height ; 
And here at morn and eve it glitter'd bright, 
As often by the far-off traveller seen 
In level sunbeams, or at dead of night, 
When the low moon shot in her rays between 
That wide-spread roof and floor of solid foliage 
green. 

Through this wide interval the roving eye 
From turrets proud might trace the waving line 
Where meet the mountains green and azure sky, 
And view the deep when sun-gilt billows shine ; 
Fair bounds to sight, that never thought confine, 
But tempt it far beyond, till by the charm 
Of some sweet wood-note or some whispering pine 
Call'd home again, or by the soft alarm 
Of Love's approaching step, and her encircling arm. 

Through this wide interval, the mountain side 
Show'd many a sylvan slope and rocky steep : 
Here roaring torrents in dark forests hide ; 
There silver streamlets rush to view, and leap 
Unheard from lofty cliffs to valleys deep : 
Here rugged peaks look smooth in sunset glow, 
Along the clear horizon's western sweep ; 
There from some eastern summit moonbeams flow 
Along o'er level wood, far down to plains below. 

Now stretch'd a blue, and now a golden zone 
Round that horizon ; now o'er mountains proud 
Dim vapours rest, or bright ones move alone : 
An ebon wall, a smooth, portentous cloud, 
First muttering low, anon with thunder loud, 
Now rises quick, and brings a sweeping wind 
O'er all that wood in waves before it bow'd ; 
And now a rainbow, with its top behind 
A spangled veil of leaves, seems heaven and earth 
to bind. 

Above the canopy, so thick and green, 
And spread so high o'er that enchanted vale, 
Through scatter'd openings oft were glimpses seen 
Of fleecy clouds, that, link'd together, sail 
In moonlight clear before the gentle gale : 
Sometimes a shooting meteor draws a glance ; 
Sometimes a twinkling star, or planet pale, 
Long holds the lighted eye, as in a trance ; 
And oft the milky-way gleams through the white 
expanse. 

That castle's open windows, though half-hid 
With flowering vines, show'd many a vision fair : 
A face all bloom, or light young forms, that thrid 
Some maze within, or lonely ones that wear 
The garb of joy with sorrow's thoughtful air, 
Oft caught the eye a moment: and the sound 
Of low, sweet music often issued there, 
And by its magic held the listener bound, 
And seem'd to hold the winds and forests far around. 

* This and the two extracts which follow are from 
" The Religion of Taste." 



Within, the queen of all, in pomp or mirth, 
While glad attendants at her glance unfold 
Their shining wings, and fly through heaven and 

earth, 
Oft took her throne of burning gems and gold, 
Adorn'd with emblems that of empire told, 
And rising in the midst of trophies bright, 
That bring her memory from the days of old, 
And help prolong her reign, and with the flight 
Of every year increase the wonders of her might. 

In all her dwelling, tales of wild romance, 
Of terror, love, and mystery dark or gay, 
Were scatter'd thick to catch the wandering glance, 
And stop the dreamer on his unknown way ; 
There, too, was every sweet and lofty lay, 
The sacred, classic, and romantic, sung 
As that enchantress moved in might or play ; 
And there was many a harp but newly strung, 
Yet with its fearless notes the whole wide valley 
rung. 

There, from all lands and ages of her fame, 
Were marble forms, array'd in order due, 
In groups and single, all of proudest name ; 
In them the high, the fair, and tender grew 
To life intense in love's impassion'd view, 
And from each air and feature, bend and swell, 
Each shapely neck, and lip, and forehead threw 
O'er each enamour'd sense so deep a spell, 
The thoughts but with the past or bright ideal dwell. 

The walls around told all the pencil's power ; 
There proud creations of each mighty hand 
Shone with their hues and lines, as in the hour 
When the last touch was given at the command 
Of the same genius that at first had plann'd, 
Exulting in its great and glowing thought: 
Bright scenes of peace and war, of sea and land, 
Of love and glory, to new life were wrought, 
From history, from fable, and from nature brought. 

With these were others all divine, drawn all 
From ground where oft, with signs and accents 

dread, 
The lonely prophet doom'd to sudden fall 
Proud kings and cities, ancLwith gentle tread 
Bore life's quick triumph to the humble dead, 
And where strong angels flew to blast or save, 
Where martyr'd hosts of old, and youthful bled, 
And where their mighty Lord o'er land and wave 
Spread life and peace till death, then spread them 

through the grave. 

From these fix'd visions of the hallow'd eye, 
Some kindling gleams of their ethereal glow, 
Would ofttimes fall, as from the opening sky, 
On eyes delighted, glancing to and fro, 
Or fasten'd till their orbs dilated grow; 
Then would the proudest seem with joy to learn 
Truths they had fear'd or felt ashamed to know ; 
The skeptic would believe, the lost return ; 
And all the cold and low would seem to rise and burn- 

Theirs was devotion kindled by the vast, 
The beautiful, impassion'd, and refined ; 
And in the deep enchantment o'er them cast, 
They look'd from earth, and soar'd above their kind 



150 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



To the bless'd calm of an abstracted mind, 
And its communion with things all its own, 
Its forms sublime and lovely ; as the blind, 
Mid earthly scenes, forgotten, or unknown, 
Live in ideal worlds, and wander there alone. 

Such were the lone enthusiasts, wont to dwell 
With all whom that enchantress held subdued, 
As in the holiest circle of her spell, 
Where meaner spirits never dare intrude, 
They dwelt in calm and silent solitude, 
Rapt in the love of all the high and sweet, 
In thought, and art, and nature, and imbued 
With its devotion to life's inmost seat, 
As drawn from all the charms which in that val- 
ley meet. 



ROUSSEAU AND COWPER. 

Rousseau could weep — yes, with a heart of stone 
The impious sophist could recline beside 
The pure and peaceful lake, and muse alone 
On all its loveliness at eventide : 
On its small running waves, in purple dyed 
Beneath bright clouds, or all the glowing sky, 
On the white sails that o'er its bosom glide, 
And on surrounding mountains wild and high, 
Till tears unbidden gush'd from his enchanted eye. 

But his were not the tears of feeling fine, 
Of grief or love ; at fancy's flash they flow'd, 
Like burning drops from some proud, lonely pine, 
By lightning fired ; his heart with passion glow'd 
Till it consumed his life, and yet he show'd 
A chilling coldness both to friend and foe, 
As Etna, with its centre an abode 
Of wasting fire, chills with the icy snow 
Of all its desert brow the living world below. 

Was he but justly wretched from his crimes ? 
Then why was Cowper's anguish oft as keen, 
With all the heaven-born virtue that sublimes 
Genius and feeling, and to things unseen 
Lifts the pure heart through clouds that roll be- 
tween 
The earth and skies, to darken human hope ? 
Or wherefore did those clouds thus intervene 
To render vain faith's lifted telescope, 
And leave him in thick gloom his weary way to 
grope] 

He, too, could give himself to musing deep ; 
By the calm lake at evening he could stand, 
Lonely and sad, to see the moonlight sleep 
On all its breast, by not an insect fann'd, 
And hear low voices on the far-off strand, 
Or through the still and dewy atmosphere 
The pipe's soft tones waked by some gentle hand, 
From fronting shore and woody island near 
In echoes quick return'd more mellow and more 
clear. 

And he could cherish wild and mournful dreams, 
In the pine grove, when low the full moon fair 
Shot under lofty tops her level beams, 
Stretching the shades of trunks erect and bare, 



In stripes drawn parallel with order rare, 
As of some temple vast or colonnade, 
While on green turf, made smooth without his care, 
He wander'd o'er its stripes of light and shade 
And heard the dying day -breeze all the boughs 
pervade. 

'Twas thus in nature's bloom and solitude 
He nursed his grief till nothing could assuage ; 
'Twas thus his tender spirit was subdued, 
Till in life's toils it could no more engage ; 
And his had been a useless pilgrimage, 
Had he been gifted with no sacred power, 
To send his thoughts to every future age ; 
But he is gone where grief will not devour, 
Where beauty will not fade, and skies will never 
lower. 



THE CURE OF MELANCHOLY. 

Akd thou, to whom long worshipp'd nature lends 
No strength to fly from grief or bear its weight, 
Stop not to rail at foes or fickle friends, 
Nor set the world at naught, nor spurn at fate ; 
None seek thy misery, none thy being hate ; 
Break from thy former self, thy life begin ; 
Do thou the good thy thoughts oft meditate, 
And thou shalt feel the good man's peace within, 
And at thy dying day his wreath of glory win. 

With deeds of virtue to embalm his name, 
He dies in triumph or serene delight ; 
Weaker and weaker grows his mortal frame 
At every breath, but in immortal might 
His spirit grows, preparing for its flight : 
The world recedes and fades like clouds of even, 
But heaven comes nearer fast, and grows more 

bright, 
All intervening mists far off are driven ; 
The world will vanish soon, and all will soon be 

heaven. 

Wouldst thou from sorrow find a sweet relief? 
Or is thy heart oppress'd with woes untold ? 
Balm wouldst thou gather for corroding grief? 
Pour blessings round thee like a shower of gold : 
'Tis when the rose is wrapp'd in many a fold 
Close to its heart, the worm is wasting there 
Its life and beauty ; not when, all unroll'd, 
Leaf after leaf, its bosom rich and fair 
Breathes freely its perfumes throughout the am- 
bient air. 

Wake, thou that sleepest in enchanted bowers, 
Lest these lost years should haunt thee on the 

night 
When death is waiting for thy number'd hours 
To take their swift and everlasting flight ; 
Wake ere the earthborn charm unnerve thee quite, 
And be thy thoughts to work divine address'd ; 
Do something — do it soon — with all thy might; 
An angel's wing would droop if long at rest, 
And God himself inactive were no longer bless'd. 

Some high or humble enterprise of good 
Contemplate till it shall possess thy mind, 



CARLOS WILCOX. 



151 



Become thy study, pastime, rest, and food, ■ 
And kindle in thy heart a flame refined ; 
Pray Heaven with firmness thy whole soul to bind 
To this thy purpose — to begin, pursue, 
With thoughts all fix'd and feelings purely kind, 
Strength to complete, and with delight review, 
And grace to give the praise where all is ever due. 

No good of worth sublime will Heaven permit 
To light on man as from the passing air ; 
The lamp of genius, though by nature lit, 
If not protected, pruned, and fed with care, 
Soon dies, or runs to waste with fitful glare ; 
And learning is a plant that spreads and towers 
Slow as Columbia's aloe, proudly rare, 
That, mid gay thousands, with the suns and 
showers 
Of half a century, grows alone before it flowers. 

Has immortality of name been given 
To them that idly worship hills and groves, 
And burn sweet incense to the queen of heaven? 
Did Newtox learn from fancy, as it roves, 
To measure worlds, and follow where each moves ] 
Did Howard gain renown that shall not cease, 
By wanderings wild that nature's pilgrim loves 1 
Or did Paul gain heaven's glory and its peace, 
By musing o'er the bright and tranquil isles of 
Greece ] 

Beware lest thou, from sloth, that would appear 
But lowliness of mind, with joy proclaim 
Thy want of worth ; a charge thou couldst not hear 
From other lips, without a blush of shame, 
Or pride indignant ; then be thine the blame, 
And make thyself of worth ; and thus enlist 
The smiles of all the good, the dear to fame ; 
'Tis infamy to die and not be miss'd, 
Or let all soon forget that thou didst e'er exist. 

Rouse to some work of high and holy love, 
And thou an angel's happiness shalt know, — 
Shalt bless the earth while in the world above ; 
The good begun by thee shall onward flow 
In many a branching stream, and wider grow ; 
The seed that, in these few and fleeting hours, 
Thy hands unsparing and unwearied sow, 
Shall deck thy grave with amaranthine flowers, 
And yield thee fruits divine in heaven's immortal 
bowers. 



SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE NIGHT. 

Ere long the clouds were gone, the moon was set; 
When deeply blue without a shade of gray, 
The sky was fill'd with stars that almost met, 
Their points prolong'd and sharpen'd to one ray ; 
Through their transparent air the milky-way 
Seem'd one broad flame of pure resplendent white, 
As if some globe on fire, turn'd far astray, 
Had cross'd the wide arch with so swift a flight, 
That for a moment shone its whole long track of 
light. 



At length in northern skies, at first but small, 
A sheet of light meteorous begun 
To spread on either hand, and rise and fall 
In waves, that slowly first, then quickly run 
Along its edge, set thick but one by one 
With spiry beams, that all at once shot high, 
Like those through vapours from the setting sun ; 
Then sidelong as before the wind they fly, 
Like streaking rain from clouds that flit along the 
sky. 

Now all the mountain-tops and gulfs between 
Seem'd one dark plain; from forests, caves pro- 
found, 
And rushing waters far below unseen, 
Rose a deep roar in one united sound, 
Alike pervading all the air around, 
And seeming e'en the azure dome to fill, 
And from it through soft ether to resound 
In low vibrations, sending a sweet thrill 
To every finger's end from rapture deep and still. 



LIVE FOR ETERNITY. 

A bright or dark eternity in view, 
With all its fix'd, unutterable things, 
What madness in the living to pursue, 
As their chief portion, with the speed of wings, 
The joys that death-beds always turn to stings ! 
Infatuated man, on earth's smooth waste 
To dance along the path that always brings 
Quick to an end, from which with tenfold haste 
Back would he gladly fly till all should be retraced ' 

Our life is like the hurrying on the eve 
Before we start, on some long journey bound, 
When fit preparing to the last we leave, 
Then run to every room the dwelling round, 
And sigh that nothing needed can be found; 
Yet go we must, and soon as day shall break; 
We snatch an hour's repose, when loud the sound 
For our departure calls ; we rise and take 
A quick and sad farewell, and go ere well awake. 

Rear'd in the sunshine, blasted by the storms 
Of changing time, scarce asking why or whence, 
Men come and go like vegetable forms, 
Though heaven appoints for them a work immense, 
Demanding constant thought and zeal intense, 
Awaked by hopes and fears that leave no room 
For rest to mortals in the dread suspense, 
While yet they know not if beyond the tomb 
A long, long life of bliss or wo shall be their doom. 

What matter whether pain or pleasures fill 
The swelling heart one little moment here 1 
From both alike how vain is every thrill, 
While an untried eternity is near ! 
Think not of rest, fond man, in life's career ; 
The joys and grief that meet thee, dash aside 
Like bubbles, and thy bark right onward steer 
Through calm and tempest, till it cross the tide, 
Shoot into port in triumph, or serenely glide. 



JOHN NEAL. 



[Born about 1794.] 



Mr. Neal is a native of Portland. In 1815 he 
went to Baltimore, and was there associated several 
years with John Pierpont in mercantile transac- 
tions ; but these resulting disastrously, he turned 
his attention to literature, commencing his career 
by writing for "The Portico," a monthly maga- 
zine, a series of critical essays on the works of 
Byrok. In 1818, he published "Keep Cool," a 
novel, and in the following year " The Battle of 
Niagara, Goldau the Maniac Harper, and other 
Poems, by Jehu O'Cataract,"* and « Otho," a tra- 
gedy. He also wrote a large portion of Allen's 
" History of the American Revolution," which ap- 
peared early in 1821. In 1822 he published in 
Philadelphia a second novel, entitled "Logan," 
which was reprinted soon after in London. This 
was followed in 1823 by "Seventy-six," the most 
popular of his fictions; "Randolph,"! a story 
which attracted considerable attention at the time 
by the notices it contained of the most prominent 
politicians, authors, and artists then in the country ; 
and " Errata, or the Works of Will Adams." 

Near the close of the last-mentioned year Mr. 
Neal went abroad. Soon after his arrival in Lon- 
don he became a contributor to various periodicals, 
for which he wrote, chiefly under the guise of an 
Englishman, numerous articles to correct erroneous 
opinions which prevailed in regard to the social 
and political condition of the United States. He 
made his first appearance in Blackwood's Maga- 
zine, in " Sketches of the Five American Presi- 
dents and the Five Candidates for the Presidency," 
a paper which was widely republished, and, with 
others, led to his introduction to many eminent 
persons, among whom was Jeremy Behtham, 
who continued until his death to be Mr. Neal's 
warm personal friend. 

After passing four years in Great Britain and on 
the continent, in which time appeared his "Brother 
Jonathan," a novel, Mr. Neal came back to his 

* "Jehu O'Cataract" was a name given to Neal 
by the Delphian Club of Baltimore, of which Paul Allen, 
Gen. Bynd, Rev. John Pierpont, Judge Brecken- 
ridge, Neal, and other distinguished men, were then 
members. The second edition of the Battle of Niagara 
was published in 1819, and for " Jehu O'Cataract" was 
substituted the real name of the author. 

In this edition of" The Poets and Poetry of America" 
I have quoted from the " Battle of Niagara" as it appear- 
ed with the "last additions and corrections." I had 
seen only the first impression of it when this work was 
originally prepared for the press. 

| In a note in Blackwood's Magazine, Mr. Neal says 
he wrote "Randolph" in thirty-six days, with an inter- 
val of about a week between the two volumes, in which 
he wrote nothing; "Errata" in less than thirty-nine 
days ; and " Seventy-six" in twenty-seven days. During 
this time he was engaged in professional business. 



native city of Portland, where he now resides. 
Since his return he has published " Rachel Dyer," 
"Authorship," " The Down Easters," and " Ruth El- 
der;" edited "The Yankee," a weekly gazette, two 
years, and contributed largely to other periodicals. 

Mr. Neal's novels contain numerous passages 
marked by brilliancy of sentiment and expression, 
and occasional scenes which show that he possesses 
dramatic ability. They are original ; they are writ- 
ten from the impulses of his heart, and are pervaded 
by the peculiarities of his character ; but most of 
them were produced rapidly and carelessly, and are 
without unity, aim, or continuous interest. 

His poems have the unquestionable stamp' of 
genius. He possesses imagination in a degree of 
sensibility and energy hardly surpassed in this age. 
The elements of poetry are poured forth in his verses 
with a prodigality and power altogether astonishing. 
But he is deficient in the constructive faculty. He 
has no just sense of proportion. No one with so 
rich and abundant materials had ever less skill in 
using them. Instead of bringing the fancy to adorn 
the structures of the imagination, he reverses the 
poetical law, giving to the imagination the second- 
ary office, so that the points illustrated are quite 
forgotten in the accumulation and splendour of the 
imagery. The " Battle of Niagara," with its rapid 
and slow, gay and solemn movement, falls on the 
ear as if it were composed to martial music. It 
is marred, however, by his customary faults. The 
isthmus which bounds the beautiful is as narrow 
as that upon the borders of the sublime, and he 
crosses both without hesitation. Passages in it 
would be magnificent but for lines or single words 
which, if the reader were not confident that he had 
before him the author's own edition, he would think 
had been thrown in by some burlesquing enemy. 

I have heard an anecdote which illustrates the 
rapidity with which he writes. When he lived in 
Baltimore, he went one evening to the rooms of 
Pierpont, and read to him a poem which he had 
just completed. The author of" Airs of Palestine" 
was always a nice critic, and he frankly pointed 
out the faults of the performance. Neal promised 
to revise it, and submit it again on the following 
morning. At the appointed time he repaired to 
the apartment of his friend, and read to him a new 
poem, of three or four hundred lines. He had 
tried to improve his first, but failing to do so, had 
chosen a new subject, a new measure, and produced 
an entirely new work, before retiring to sleep. 

In the last edition of his Poems, Mr. Neal pre- 
sents some specimens of an intended epic on the 
conquest of Peru ; and he has written many lyrical 
pieces, not included in his collections, which have 
been popular. 

152 



JOHN NEAL. 



153 



FROM THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 



INVOCATION TO THE DEITY. 

Thou, from whom the rebel angels fled, 
When thou didst rend thine everlasting veil, 
And show thy countenance in wrath ! O Thou, 
Before whose brow, unclothed hi light — put forth 
In awful revelation — they that stood 
Erect in heaven, they that walk'd sublime, 
E'en in thy presence, Lord ! and they that shone 
Most glorious 'mid the host of glorious ones, 
With Lucifer — the Morning Star, the Terrible, 
The chief of old immortals — with the sight 
Were suddenly consumed ! Almighty ! Thou, 
Whose face but shone upon the rebel host 
Of warring constellations, and their crowns 
Were quench'd for ever ! and the mightiest fell, 
And lo ! innumerable wings went up, 
And gather'd round about the Eternal's throne, 
And all the solitudes of ah were- fill' d 
With thunders and with voices ! and the war 
Fled from thy presence ! And thy wrath was o'er, 
And heaven again in peace ! 

O Thou — our Inspiration — Thou, O God ! 
To whom the prophets and the crowned kings, 
The bards of many years, who caught from Thee 
Their blazing of the spirit ! Thou, to whom 
The Jewish monarchs, on their ivory thrones, 
Flaming with jewelry, have fallen down 
And rung then golden harps, age after age ! 
O Thou, to whom the gifted men of old, 
Who stood among the mysteries of heaven, 
Read the thick stars, and listened to the wind, 
Interpreted the thunder, told the voice 
Of Ocean tumbling in his caves, explained 
The everlasting characters of flame 
That burn upon the firmament, and saw 
The face of him that sitteth in the sun, 
And read the writing there, that comes and goes, 
Revealing to the eyes the fate of men, 
Of monarchs, and of empires ! — men who stood 
Amid the solitudes of heaven and earth, and heard 
From the high mountain-top the silent Night 
Give out her uninterpreted decrees ! — 
The venerable men ! the old, and mighty, 
Prophets and bards and kings, whose souls were fill'd 
With immortality, and visions, till 
Their hearts have ached with weary supplication; 
Till all the Future, rushing o'er then strings, 
In tempest and in light, hath drown'd their prayers, 
And left their mighty harps all ringing loud 
With prophecy and wo ! O Thou, to whom 
Innumerable suns, and moons, and worlds, 
The glorious elevations of the sky, 
The choirs of cherubim and seraphim — 
Immortal multitudes, that worship round 
Thine echoing throne — upon their golden harps 
And silver trumps, and organs of the air, 
Pour everlasting melody ! Thou, to whom 
All this hath been familiar from the hour 
When thou didst bow the heavens, and, at the sound 
Of many thunders, pealing thy decree, 
Creation sprang to light, when time began 
And all the boundless sky was full of suns, 
Rolling in symphony, and man was made 
20 



Sublime and confident, and woman, up 

From the sunshine of the Eternal rose, 

All intellect and love ! and all the hills 

And all the vales were green, and all the trees in flower. 

— 0, bless our trembling harp ! 



FROM THE BATTLE OF NIAGARA. 



A CAVALCADE SEEN AT SUNSET THROUGH A 
GORGE. 

Ah, now let us gaze ! what a wonderful sky ! 
How the robe of the god, in its flame-colored dye, 
Goes ruddily, flushingly, sweepingly by ! . . . . 
Nay, speak ! did you ever behold such a night ] 
While the winds blew about, and the waters were 
The sun rolling home in an ocean of light ! [bright, 
But hush ! there is music away in the sky ; 
Some creatures of magic are charioting by ; [wild 
Now it comes — what a sound ! 't is as cheerful and 
As the echo of caves to the laugh of a child ; 
Ah yes, they are here ! See, away to your left, 
Where the sun has gone down, where the mountains 

are cleft, 
A troop of tall horsemen ! How fearless they ride ! 
'Tis a perilous path o'er that steep mountain's side ; 
Careering they come, like a band of young knights, 
That the trumpet of morn to the tilting invites ; 
With high-nodding plumes, and with sun-shiny vests ; 
With wide-tossing manes, and with mail-cover'd 

breasts ; 
With arching of necks, and the plunge and the pride 
Of their high-mettled steeds, as they galloping ride, 
In glitter and pomp ; with their housings of gold, 
With their scarlet and blue, as their squadrons unfold 
Flashing changeable fight, like a banner unroll'd ! 
Now they burst on the eye in their martial array 
And now they have gone, like a vision of day. 
In a streaming of splendour they came — but they 

wheel'd ; 
And instantly all the bright show was conceal'd — 
As if 't were a tournament held in the sky, 
Betray "d by some light passing suddenly by; 
Some band by the flashing of torches reveal'd, 
As it fell o'er the boss of an uplifted shield, 
Or banners and blades in the darkness conceal'd 



APPROACH OF EVENING. 

A glow, like enchantment, is seen o'er the lake, 
Like the flush of the sky, when the day heralds wake 
And o'er its dull bosom their soft plumage shake. 
Now the warmth of the heaven is fading away — 
Young Evening comes up in pursuit of the Day — 
The richness and mist of the tints that were there 
Are melting away like the bow of the ah — 
The blue-bosom'd water heaves darker and bluer, 
The cliffs and the trees are seen bolder and truer, 
The landscape has less of enchantment and light : 
But it lies the more steady and firm in the sight. 
The lustre-crown'd peaks, while they dazzled the eye, 
Seem'd loosen'd and passing away in the sky, 
And the far-distant hills, in then tremulous blue, 
But baffled the eye, as it dwelt on then hue. 



154 



JOHN NEAL. 



The light of the hill, and the wave, and the sky 
Grow fainter, and fainter: — The wonders- all die! 

The visions have gone ! they have vanish'd away, 
Unobserved in their change, like the bliss of a day. 
The rainbows of heaven were bent in our sight, 
And fountains were gushing like wine in its light, 
And seraphs were wheeling around in their flight — 
A moment : and all was enveloped in night ! 
'Tis thus with the dreams of the high-heaving heart : 
They come but to blaze, and they blaze to depart — 
Their gossamer wings are too thin to abide 
The chilling of sorrow, or burning of pride — 
They come, but to brush o'er its young gallant swell, 
Like bright birds over ocean — but never to dwell. 



MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS AT NIGHT. 

Observed ye the cloud on that mountain's dim 
So heavily hanging'? — as if it had been [green 

The tent of the Thunderer — the chariot of one 
Who dare not appear in the blaze of the sun 1 
'T is descending to earth ! and some horsemen are now, 
In a line of dark mist, coming down from its brow. 
'T is a helmeted band — from the hills they descend, 
Like the monarchs of storm, when the forest trees bend. 
No scimitars swing as they gallop along; 
No clattering hoof falls sudden and strong ; 
No trumpet is fill'd, and no bugle is blown ; 
No banners abroad on the wind are thrown ; 
No shoutings are heard, and no cheerings are given; 
No waving of red flowing plumage to heaven ; 
No flashing of blades, and no loosening of reins ; 
No neighing of steeds, and no tossing of manes ; 
No furniture trailing, or warrior helms bowing, 
Or crimson and gold-spotted drapery flowing ; 
But they speed, like coursers whose hoofs are shod 
With a silent shoe, from the loosen'd sod ; 
Like the steeds that career o'er the billowy surf, 
Or stretch like the winds o'er the untrodden turf, [ing, 
Where the willow and yew in their darkness are weep- 
And young, gallant hearts are in sepulchres sleeping ; 
Like the squadrons, that on the pale light of the moon, 
While the night's muffled horn plays a low windy tune, 
Are seen to come down from the height of the skies, 
By the warrior that on the red battle-field lies, 
And wave their cloud-helmets,and charge o'er the field, 
And career o'er the tracks where the living had wheeld, 
When the dying half-raise themselves up in a trance, 
And gaze on the show, as their thin banners glance, 
And wonder to see the dread battle renew'd, [stood. 
On the turf where themselves and their comrades had 
Like these shadows, in swiftness and darkness they 

ride, 
O'er the thunder-reft mount — on its ruggedest side ; 
From the precipice top, they circle and leap, 
Like the warriors of air, that are seen in our sleep ; 
Like the creatures that pass where a bleeding man lies, 
Their heads muffled up to their white filmy eyes, 
With gestures more threatening and fierce till he dies: 
And away they have gone, with a motionless speed, 
Like demons abroad on some terrible deed. 
The last one has gone : they have all disappear'd ; 
Their dull-echoed trampings no longer are heard ; 
For still, though they pass'd like no steeds of the earth, 
The fall of their tread gave some hollow-sounds birth ; 



Your heart would lie still till it number'd the last ; 
And your breath would be held till the rear horsemen 

pass'd, 
So swiftly, so mutely, so darkly they went, 
Like the spectres of air to the sorcerer sent, [tent. 
That ye felt their approach, and might guess their in- 

Your hero's stern bosom will oftentimes quake, 
Your gallant young warrior-plume oftentimes shake, 
Before the cool marching that comes in the night, 
Passing by, like a cloud in the dim troubled light ; 
Subduing the heart with a nameless affright, 
When that would swell strongly, and this would ap- 
If the sound of one trumpet saluted the ear, [pear, 
Like some scarlet-wing'd bird, that is nurs'd in the day, 
When she shakes her red plumage in wrath o'er her 
prey. 

For be they the horsemen of earth, or of heaven, 
No blast that the trumpet of Slaughter hath given, 
No roll of the drum, and no cry of the fife, 
No neighing of steeds in the bloodiest strife, 
Is half so terrific to full swelling hearts, 
As the still, pulseless tramp of a band that departs, 
With echoless armour, with motionless plume, 
With ensigns all furl'd, in the trappings of gloom, 
Parading, like those who came up from the tomb, 
In silence and darkness — determined and slow, 
And dreadfully calm, as the murderer's brow, 
When his dagger is forth ! — and ye see not the blow, 
Till the gleam of the blade shows your heart in its flow! 

O, say what ye will ! the dull sound that awakes 
When the night breeze is down, and the chill spirit 

aches 
With its measureless thought, is more dreadful by far, 
Than the burst of the trump, when it peals for the war. 
It is the cold summons that comes from the ground, 
When a sepulchre answers your light youthful bound, 
And loud joyous laugh, with its chill fearful sound, 
Compared to the challenge that leaps on the ear, 
When the banners of death in their splendors appear, 
And the free golden bugle sings freshly and clear ! — 
The low, sullen moans, that so feebly awake, 
At midnight, when one is alone, on some lake, 
Compared to the Thunderer's voice, when it rolls 
From the bosom of space to the uttermost poles ! — 
Like something that stirs in the weight of a shroud, 
The talking of those who go by in a cloud, 
To the cannon's full voice, when it wanders aloud! — 
'Tis the light that is seen to burst under the wave, 
The pale, fitful omen, that plays o'er a grave, 
To the rushing of flame, where the turf is all red, 
And farewells are discharged o'er a young soldier's bed, 
To the lightnings that blaze o'er the mariner's way, 
When the storm is in pomp, and the ocean in spray! 



AN INDIAN APOLLO. 

Not like the airy god of moulded light, 
Just stepping from his chariot on the sight ; 
Poising his beauties on a rolling cloud, 
With outstretch'd arm and bowstring twanging loud, 
And arrows singing as they pierce the air ; 
With tinkling sandals, and with flaming hair ; 
As if he paused upon his bounding way, 
And loosen'd his fierce arrows — all in play ; 
But like that angry god, in blazing light 



JOHN NEAL. 



155 



Bursting from space, and standing in his might — 

Reveal'd in his omnipotent array, 

Apollo of the skies, and deity of day, 

In god-like wrath piercing his myriad-foe 

With quenchless shafts, that lighten as they go ! 

— Not like that god, when up in air he springs, 

With brightening mantle and with sunny wings, 

When heavenly music murmurs from his strings — 

A buo} r ant vision — an imbodied dream 

Of dainty Poesy — and boyishly supreme ! 

— Not the thin spirit waked by young Desire, 

Gazing o'er heaven until her thoughts take fire, 

Panting and breathless ; in her heart's wild trance, 

Bright, shapeless forms, the godlings of Romance ! 

— Not that Apollo — not resembling him 

Of silver bow and woman's nerveless limb — 

But man — all man ! the monarch of the wild ! 

— Not the faint spirit that corrupting smiled 

On soft, lascivious Greece, but Nature's child, 

Arrested in the chase, with piercing eye 

Fix'd in its airy lightning on the sky, 

Where some red bird goes languid, eddying, drooping, 

Pierced by his arrows in her swi!test stooping. 

Thus springing to the skies, a boy will stand 

With arms uplifted and unconscious hand 

Tracing his arrow in its loftiest flight, 

And watch it kindling, as it cleaves the light 

Of worlds unseen but by the Indian's sight — 

His robe and hair upon the wind, at length — 

A creature of the hills, all grace and strength, 

All muscle and all flame — his eager eye 

Fix'd on one spot, as if he could descry 

His bleeding victim nestling in the sky ! 

— Not that Apollo ! — not the heavenly one, 

Voluptuous spirit of a setting sun — 

But this, the offspring of young Solitude, 

Child of the holy spot, where none intrude 

But genii of the torrent, cliff, and wood — 

Nurslings of cloud and storm, the desert's fiery brood. 



But bursting suddenly, it calls, and flies, 

At breathless intervals, along the skies, 

As if some viewless sentinel were there 

Whose challenge peals at midnight through the air. 

Each sullen steed goes on, nor heeds its roar, 

Nor pauses when its voice is heard no more ; 

But snuffs the tainted breeze, and lifts his head, 

And slowly wheeling, with a cautious tread, 

Shuns, as in reverence, the mighty dead ; 

Or, rearing suddenly, with flashing eye, 

Where some young war-horse lies, he passes by ; 

Then, with unequal step, he smites the ground, 

Utters a startling neigh, and gazes round, 

And wonders that he hears no answering sound. 

This, while his rider can go by the bier 

Of slaughter'd men, and never drop a tear^ 

And only, when he meets a comrade there, 

Stretch'd calmly out, with brow and bosom bare, 

And stiffen'd hand uplifted in the air — 

With lip still curl'd, and open, glassy eye, 

Fix'd on the pageant that is passing by — 

And only then — in decency will ride 

Less stately in his strength, less lordly in his pride. 



MORNIXG AFTER A BATTLE. 

Who thinks of battle now 1 The stirring sounds 
Spring lightly from the trumpet, yet who bounds 
On this sad, still, and melancholy morn, 
As he was wont to bound, when the fresh horn 
Came dancing on the winds, and peal'd to heaven, 
In gone-by hours, before the battle even ? 
The very horses move with halting pace ; 
No more they heave their manes with fiery grace, 
With plunge, and reach, and step that leaves no trace; 
No more they spurn the bit, and sudden fling 
Their light hoofs on the air. The bugles sing, 
And yet the meteor mane and rolling eye 
Lighten no longer at their minstrelsy ; 
No more their housings blaze, no more the gold 
Or purple flashes from the opening fold ; 
No rich-wrought stars are glittering in their pride 
Of changing hues ; all, all, is crimson-dyed. 
They move with slow, far step ; they hear the tread 
That measures out the tombing of the dead; 
The cannon speaks, but now no longer rolls 
In heavy thunders to the answering poles ; 



MUSIC OF THE NIGHT. 

Theke are harps that complain to the presenceof night, 
To the presence of night alone — 
In a near and unchangeable tone — 
Like winds, full of sound, that go whispering by, 
As if some immortal had stoop'd from the sky, 
And breathed out a blessing — and flown ! 

Yes ! harps that complain to the breezes of night, 

To the breezes of night alone ; 
Growing fainter and fainter, as ruddy and bright 
The sun rolls aloft in his drapery of light, 

Like a conqueror, shaking his brilliant hair 

And flourishing robe, on the edge of the air ! 
Burning crimson and gold 
On the clouds that unfold, 
Breaking onward in flame, while an ocean divides 
On his right and his left — So the Thunderer rides, 
When he cuts a bright path through the heaving tides, 

Rolling on, and erect, in a charioting throne ! 

Yes ! strings that lie still in the gushing of day, 

That awake, all alive, to the breezes of night. 
There are hautboys and flutes too, for ever at play, 
When the. evening is near, and the sun is away, 

Breathing out the still hymn of delight. 
These strings by invisible fingers are play'd — 

By spirits, unseen, and unknown, 
But thick as the stars, all this music is made ; 
And these flutes, alone, 

In one sweet dreamy tone, 
Are ever blown, 

For ever and for ever. 
The live-long night ye hear the sound, 
Like distant waters flowing round 
In ringing caves, while heaven is sweet 

With crowding tunes, like halls 

Where fountain-music falls, 
And rival minstrels meet. 



156 



JOHN NEAL. 



NIGHT. 

'Tis dark abroad. The majesty of Night 
Bows down superbly from her utmost height, 
Stretches her starless plumes across the world, 
And all the banners of the wind are furl'd. 
How heavily we breathe amid such gloom, 
As if we slumber'd in creation's tomb. 
It is the noon of that tremendous hour 
When life is helpless, and the dead have power ; 
When solitudes are peopled ; when the sky 
Is swept by shady wings that, sailing by, 
Proclaim their watch is set ; when hidden rills 
Are chirping on their course, and all the hills 
Are bright with armour ; when the starry vests, 
And glittering plumes, and fiery twinkling crests 
Of moon-light sentinels are sparkling round, 
And all the air is one rich floating sound ; 
When countless voices, in the day unheard, 
Are piping from their haunts, and every bird 
That loves the leafy wood and blooming bower 
And echoing cave, is singing to her flower ; 
When every lovely, every lonely place, 
Is ringing to the light and sandal'd pace 
Of twinkling feet ; and all about, the flow 
Of new-born fountains, murmuring as they go ; 
When watery tunes are richest, and the call 
Of wandering streamlets, as they part and fall 
In foaming melody, is all around, 
Like fairy harps beneath enchanted ground- 
Sweet, drowsy, distant music ! like the breath 
Of airy flutes that blow before an infant's death. 

It is that hour when listening ones will weep 
And know not why ; when we would gladly sleep 
Our last, last sleep, and feel no touch of fear, 
Unconscious where we are, or what is near, 
Till we are startled by a falling tear, 
That unexpected gather'd in our eye, 
While we were panting for yon blessed sky ; 
That hour of gratitude, of whispering prayer, 
When we can hear a worship in the air ; 
When we are lifted from the earth, and feel 
Light fanning wings around us faintly wheel, 
And o'er our lids and brow a blessing steal; 
And then, as if our sins were all forgiven, 
And all our tears were wiped, and we in heaven ! 



ONTARIO. 

No sound is on the ear, no boatman's oar 
Drops its dull signal to the watchful shore ; 
But all is listening, as it were to hear 
Some seraph harper stooping from her sphere 
And calling on the desert to express 
Its sense of Silence in her loveliness. 
What holy dreaming comes in nights like these, 
When, like yon wave, unruffled by a breeze, 
The mirrors of the memory all are spread 
And fanning pinions sail around y our head ; 
When all that man may love, alive or dead, 
Come murmuring sweet, unutterable things, 
And nestle on his heart with their young wings, 
And all perchance may come, that he may fear, 
And mutter doubtful curses in his ear ; 
Hang on his loaded soul, and fill his brain 
With indistinct forebodings, dim, and vain.... 



The moon goes lightly up her thronging way, 
And shadowy things are brightening into day ; 
And cliff and shrub and bank and tree and stone 
Now move upon the eye, and now are gone. 
A dazzling tapestry is hung around, 
A gorgeous carpeting bestrews the ground ; 
The willows glitter in the passing beam 
And shake their tangling lustres o'er the stream ; 
And all the full rich foliage of the shore 
Seems with a quick enchantment frosted o'er, 
And dances at the faintest breath of night, 
And trembles like a plume of spangles in the light !.... 

This dark cool wave is bluer than the deep, 
Where sailors, children of the tempest, sleep; 
And dropp'd with lights as pure, as still, as those 
The wide-drawn hangings of the skies disclose, 
Far lovelier than the dim and broken ray, 
That Ocean's flashing surges send astray.... 

This is the mirror of dim Solitude, 
On which unholy things may ne'er intrude ; 
That frowns and ruffles when the clouds appear, 
Refusing to reflect their shapes of fear. 
Ontario's deeps are spread to multiply 
But sunshine, stars, the moon, and clear-blue sky. 

No pirate barque was ever seen to ride, 
With blood-red streamer, chasing o'er that tide ; 
Till late, no bugle o'er those waters sang 
With aught but huntsman's orisons, that rang 
Their clear, exulting, bold, triumphant strain, 
Till all the mountain echoes laugh'd again ; 
Till caverns, depths, and hills, would all reply, 
And heaven's blue dome ring out the sprightly 
melody. 



TREES. 



The heave, the wave and bend 
Of everlasting trees, whose busy leaves 
Rustle their songs of praise, while Ruin weaves 
A robe of verdure for their yielding bark — 
While mossy garlands, full and rich and dark, 
Creep slowly round them ! Monarchs of the wood, 
Whose mighty sceptres sway the mountain brood — 
Whose aged bosoms, in their last decay, 
Shelter the wing'd idolaters of Day — 
Who, mid the desert wild, sublimely stand, 
And grapple with the storm-god, hand to hand, 
Then drop like weary pyramids away, 
Stupendous monuments of calm decay ! 



INVASION OF THE SETTLER. 

Whebe now fresh streamlets answer to the hues 
Of passing seraph-wings ; and fiery dews 
Hang thick on every bush, when morning wakes, 
Like sprinkled flame ; and all the green-wood shakes 
With liquid jewelry, that Night hath flung 
Upon her favourite tresses, while they swung 
And wanton'd in the wind — henceforth will be 
No lighted dimness, such as you see, 
In yonder faint, mysterious scenery, 
Where all the woods keep festival, and seem, 
Beneath the midnight sky, and mellow beam 
Of yonder breathing light, as if they were 
Branches and leaves of unimbodied air. 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



[Bom, 1794.] 



Mr. Bstast was born in Cummington, Mas- 
sachusetts, on the third day of November, 1794. 
At a very early age he gave indications of superior 
genius, and his father, an eminent physician, dis- 
tinguished for erudition and taste as well as for 
extensive and thorough knowledge of science, 
watched with deep interest the development of his 
faculties under the most careful and judicious in- 
struction. At ten years of age he made very cre- 
ditable translations from some of the Latin poets, 
which were printed in a newspaper at Northamp- 
ton, and during the vehement controversies between 
the Federalists and Democrats, which marked the 
period of Jefferson's administration, he wrote " The 
Embargo," a political satire, which was printed in 
Boston in 1808. Tasso when nine years of age 
wrote some lines to his mother which have been 
praised, Cowley at ten finished his " Tragical 
History of Pyramus and Thisbe," Pope when 
twelve his " Ode to Solitude," and " the wondrous 
boy Chatterton," at the same age, some verses 
entitled " A Hymn for Christmas Day ;" but none 
of these pieces are superior to that which gave a 
title to the volume of our precocious American. 
The satire was directed against President Jeffer- 
son and his party, and has recently been quoted 
to prove the author an inconsistent politician, the 
last forty years having furnished no ground, it may 
be supposed, for such an accusation. The descrip- 
tion of a caucus, in the following extract, shows 
that there has been little change in the character 
of such assemblies, and it will be confessed that 
the lines are remarkably spirited and graphic for 
so young an author : 

u E'en while I sin?, see Faction urge her claim, 
Mislead with falsehood, and with zeal inflame ; 
Lift her black banner, spread her empire wide, 
And stalk triumphant with a Fury's stride. 
She blows her brazen trump, and, at the sound, 
A motley throng, obedient, flock around ; 
A mist of changing hue o'er all she flings, 
And darkness perches on all her dragon wings ! 

"Oh, might some patriot rise, the gloom dispel, 
Chase Error's mist, and break her magic spell ! 
But vain the wish, for, hark ! the murmuring meed 
Of hoarse applause from yonder shed proceed ; 
Enter, and view the thronging concourse there, 
Intent, with gaping mouth and stupid stare; 
While, in the midst, their supnle leader stands, 
Harangues aloud, and flourishes his hands; 
To adulation tunes his servile throat, 
And sues, successful, for each blockhead's vote." 

Some of the democrats affected to believe that 
Master Bryant was older than was confessed, or 
that another person had written "The Embargo;" 
but the book was eagerly read, and in a few months 
a second edition appeared, with some additional 
pieces. To this was prefixed the following ad- 
vertisement : 



" A doubt having been intimated in the Monthly 
Anthology of June last, whether a youth of thirteen 
years could have been the author of this poem — 
in justice to Ins merits the friends of the writer 
feel obliged to certify the fact from their personal 
knowledge of himself and his family, as well as 
his literary improvement and extraordinary talents. 
They would premise, that they do not come un- 
called before the public to bear this testimony. 
They would prefer that he should be judged by his 
works, without favour or affection. As the doubt 
has been suggested, they deem it merely an act of 
justice to remove it, after which they leave him a 
candidate for favour in common with other literary 
adventurers. They therefore assure the public 
that Mr. Bryant, the author, is a native of Cum- 
mington, in the county of Hampshire, and in the 
month of November last arrived at the age of four- 
teen years. These facts can be authenticated by 
many of the inhabitants of that place, as well as 
by several of his friends, who give this notice ; and 
if it be deemed worthy of further inquiry, the prin- 
ter is enabled to disclose their names and places 
of residence." 

In the sixteenth year of his age, Bryant en- 
tered an advanced class of Williams College, in 
which he soon became distinguished for his attain- 
ments generally, and especially for his proficiency 
in classical learning. In 1812 he obtained from 
the faculty an honourable discharge, for the pur- 
pose of entering upon the study of the law, and in 
1815 he was admitted to the bar, and commenced 
the practice of his profession in the village of Great 
Barrington, where he was soon after married. 

When but little more than eighteen years of 
age he had written his noble poem of "Thanatop- 
sis," which was published in the North American 
Review for 1816.* In 1821 he delivered before 
the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College 
his longest poem, « The Ages," in which, from a 
survey of the past eras of the world, and of the 
successive advances of mankind in knowledge, vir- 
tue, and happiness, he endeavours to justify 7 and 
confirm the hopes of the philanthropist for the 
future destinies of man. It is in the stanza of 
Spenser, and in its versification is not inferior to 
" The Faerie Queene." « To a Waterfowl," " In- 
scription for an entrance to a Wood," and several 
other pieces of nearly as great merit were likewise 
written during his residence at Great Barrington. 

Having passed ten years in successful practice in 
the courts, he determined to abandon the unconge- 
nial business of a lawyer, and devote his attention 
more exclusively to literature. With this view, 
in 1825, he removed to the city of New York, and 

* See note on page 92. 

157 



158 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



with a friend, established " The New York Re- 
view and Atheneum Magazine," in which he pub- 
lished several of his finest poems, and in " The 
Hymn to Death" paid a touching tribute to the 
memory of his father, who died in that year. In 
1826 he assumed the chief diieetion of the "Even- 
ing Post," one of the oldest and most influential 
political and commercial gazettes in this country, 
with which he has ever since been connected. 
In 1827, 1828, and 1829, he was associated with 
Mr. Verplanck and Mr. Sands in the production 
of " The Talisman," an annual ; and he wrote 
two or three of the "Tales of Glauber Spa," to 
which, besides himself, Miss Sedgwick, Mr. Paul- 
ding, Mr. Leggett, and Mr. Sands were contributors. 
An intimate friendship subsisted between him and 
Mr. Sands, and when that brilliant writer died, in 
1832, he assisted Mr. Verplanck in editing his 
works. 

In the summer of 1834, Mr. Bryant visited 
Europe, with his family, intending to devote a few 
years to literary studies, and to the education of 
his children. He travelled through France, Ger- 
many, and Italy, and resided several months in 
each of the cities of Florence, Pisa, Munich, and 
Heidelberg. The dangerous illness of his partner 
and associate, the late William Leggett, com- 
pelled him to return hastily in the early part of 
1836. The summer of 1840 he passed in Florida 
and the Valley of the Mississippi, and in 1844 he 
revisited Europe. He resides still in the city of 
New York, and continues to devote the chief part 
of his time to the editorship of the Evening Post, 
which has been for many years the leading journal 
of the democratic party. 

In 1832 a collection of all the poems Mr. Bry- 
ant had then written was published in New York ; 
it was soon after reprinted in Boston, and a copy 
of it reaching Washington Irving, who was 
then in England, he caused it to be published in 
London, where it has since passed through several 
editions. In 1842 he published " The Fountain 
and other Poems;" in 1844 "The White-Footed 
Deer and other Poems," and in 1846 a splendid 
edition of his complete Poetical Works, illustrated 
with engravings from pictures by Leutze,has been 
published in Philadelphia by Carey & Hart. No 
volume has issued from the American press, of 
which the country should be more proud. We 
may send it abroad as a representative of our lite- 
rature, and as a proof of our proficiency in the arts. 

The many and high excellencies of Mr. Bryant 
have been almost universally recognised. With 
men of every variety of tastes he is a favourite. 
His works abound with passages of profound re- 
flection which the philosopher meditates in his 
closet, and with others of such simple beauty and 
obvious intention as please the most illiterate. 
In his pages are illustrated all the common defini- 
tions of poetiy, yet they are pervaded by a single 
purpose and spirit. Of the essential but inferior 
characteristics of poetry, which make it an art, he 
has a perfect mastery. Very few equal him in 
grace and power of expression. Every line has 
compactness, precision, and elegance, and flows 



with its fellows in exquisite harmony. His man- 
ner is on all occasions fitly chosen for his subject. 
His verse is solemn and impressive, or airy and 
playful, as suits his purpose. His beautiful imagery 
is appropriate, and has that air of freshness which 
distinguishes the productions of an author writing 
from his own observations of life and nature ra- 
ther than from books. 

Mr. Bryant is a translator to the world of the 
silent language of the universe. He " conforms 
his life to the beautiful order of God's works." In 
the meditation of nature he has learned high les- 
sons of philosophy and religion. With no other 
poet does the subject spring so naturally from the 
object; the moral, the sentiment, from the contem- 
plation of the things about him. There is nothing 
forced in his inductions. By a genuine earnest- 
ness he wins the sympathy of his reader, and pre- 
pares him to anticipate his thought. By an imper- 
ceptible influence he carries him from the beginning 
to the end of a poem, and leaves him infused with 
the very spirit in which it is conceived. 

In his descriptions of nature there is remarkable 
fidelity. They convey in an extraordinary degree 
the actual impression of what is grand and beauti- 
ful and peculiar in our scenery. The old and 
shadowy forests stand as they grew up from the 
seeds God planted, the sea-like prairies stretching 
in airy undulations beyond the eye's extremest 
vision, our lakes and mountains and rivers, he 
brings before us in pictures warmly coloured with 
the hues of the imagination, and as truthful as 
those which Cole puts on the canvas. 

It has been complained that there is very little 
sentiment, very little of the blending of passion 
with philosophy, in Bryant's poetry ; that his 
antique and dignified simplicity is never warmed 
with human sympathy. This is true in a degree, 
but in many of his poems are passages of touching 
pathos, and his interest in his race appears, con- 
trary to the general experience, to increase with 
his age. 

It has been denied by some persons, reasoning 
from our descent, education, language, and man- 
ners, identifying us so closely with another people, 
that we can have a distinctive national literature. 
But there are very few of Bryant's poems that 
could have been written in any country but our 
own. They breathe the very spirit of our young 
and vigorous life. He feels not more sensibly the 
grandeur and beauty of creation as manifested only 
in our own land, than he does the elevating influ- 
ences of that freedom and power which is enjoyed 
by none but the citizens of this republic. To the 
thoughtful critic every thing in his verse belongs 
to America, and is as different from what marks 
the poetry of England as it is from that which 
most distinguishes the poetry of Germany or 
France. 

Mr. Bryant is still in the meridian of his life; 
among the most recent of his productions are some 
of the finest he has written ; and we may look 
with confidence to an increase of the bases of his 
high reputation, second now to that of no contem- 
porary who writes in our language. 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



159 



THE PRAIRIES. 

These are the gardens of the desert, these 
The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful, 
For which the speech of England has no name — 
The prairies. I behold them for the first, 
And my heart swells, while the dilated sight 
Takes in the encircling vastness. Lo ! they stretch 
In airy undulations, far away, 
As if the ocean, in his gentlest swell, 
Stood still, with all his rounded billows fix'd, 
And motionless forever. — Motionless 1 — 
No — they are all unchain'd again. The clouds 
Sweep over with their shadows, and, beneath, 
The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye ; 
Dark hollows seem to glide along and chase 
The sunny ridges. Breezes of the south ! 
Who toss the golden and the flame-like flowers, 
And pass the prairie-hawk that, poised on high, 
Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not — ye have 
Among the palms of Mexico and vines [play'd 
Of Texas, and have crisp'd the limpid brooks 
That from the fountains of Sonora glide 
Into the calm Pacific — have ye fann'd 
A nobler or a lovelier scene than this? 
Man hath no part in all this glorious work : 
The hand that built the firmament hath heaved 
And smoothed these verdant swells, and sown their 

slopes 
With herbage, planted them with island groves, 
And hedged them round with forests. Fitting floor 
For this magnificent temple of the sky — 
With flowers whose glory and whose multitude 
Rival the constellations I The great heavens 
Seem to stoop down upon the scene in love, — 
A nearer vault, and of a tenderer blue, 
Than that which bends above the eastern hills. 

As o'er the verdant waste I guide my steed, 
Among the high, rank grass that sweeps his sides, 
The hollow beating of his footstep seems 
A sacrilegious sound. I think of those 
Upon whose rest he tramples. Are they here — 
The dead of other daysl — and did the dust 
Of these fair solitudes once stir with life 
And burn with passion'? Let the mighty mounds 
That overlook the rivers, or that rise 
In the dim forest, crowded with old oaks, 
Answer. A race, that long has pass'd away, 
Built them; — a disciplined and populous race 
Heap'd, with long toil, the earth, while yet the 
Was hewing the Pentelicus to fonns [Greek 

Of symmetry, and rearing on its rock 
The glittering Parthenon. These ample fields 
Nourish'd their harvests ; here their herds were fed, 
When haply by their stalls the bison low'd, 
And bow'd his maned shoulder to the yoke. 
All day this desert murmur'd with their toils, 
Till twilight blush'd, and lovers walk'd, and woo'd 
In a forgotten language, and old tunes, 
From instruments of unremember'd form, 
Gave the soft winds a voice. The red man came — 
The roaming hunter-tribes, warlike and fierce, 
And the mOund-builders vanish'd from the earth. 
The solitude of centuries untold 



Has settled where they dwelt. The prairie-wolf 
Hunts in their meadows, and his fresh-dug den 
Yawns by my path. The gopher mines the ground 
Where stood their swarming cities. All is gone — 
All — save the piles of earth that hold their bones — 
The platforms where they worshipp'd unknown 

gods— 
The barriers which they builded from the soil 
To keep the foe at bay — till o'er the walls 
The wild beleaguerers broke, and, one by one, 
The strongholds of the plain were forced, and heap'd 
With corpses. The brown vultures of the wood 
Flock'd to those vast, uncover'd sepulchres, 
And sat, unscared and silent, at their feast. 
Haply some solitary fugitive, 
Lurking in marsh and forest, till the sense 
Of desolation and of fear became 
Bitterer than death, yielded himself to die. 
Man's better nature triumph'd. Kindly words 
Welcomed and soothed him ; the rude conquerors 
Seated the captive with their chiefs ; he chose 
A bride among their maidens, and at length 
Seem'd to forget, — yet ne'er forgot, — the wife 
Of his first love, and her sweet little ones 
Butcher'd, amid their shrieks, with all his race. 

Thus change the forms of being. Thus arise 
Races of living things, glorious in strength, 
And perish, as the quickening breath of God 
Fills them, or is withdrawn. The red man, too — 
Has left the blooming wilds he ranged so long, 
And, nearer to the Rocky Mountains, sought 
A wider hunting-ground. The beaver builds 
No longer by these streams, but far away, 
On waters whose blue surface ne'er gave back 
The white man's face — among Missouri's springs, 
And pools whose issues swell the Oregon, 
He rears his little Venice. In these plains 
The bison feeds no more. Twice twenty leagues 
Beyond remotest smoke of hunter's camp, 
Roams the majestic brute, in herds that shake 
The earth with thundering steps — yet here I meet 
His ancient footprints stamp'd beside the pool. 

Still this great solitude is quick with life. 
Myriads of insects, gaudy as the flowers 
They flutter over, gentle quadrupeds, 
And birds, that scarce have learn'd the fear of man, 
Are here, and sliding reptiles of the ground, 
Startlingly beautiful. The graceful deer 
Bounds to the wood at my approach. The bee, 
A more adventurous colonist than man, 
With whom he came across the eastern deep, 
Fills the savannas with his murmurings, 
And hides his sweets, as in the golden age, 
Within the hollow oak. I listen long 
To his domestic hum, and think I hear 
The sound of that advancing multitude 
Which soon shall fill these deserts. From the 

ground 
Comes up the laugh of children, the soft voice 
Of maidens, and the sweet and solemn hymn 
Of Sabbath worshippers. The low of herds 
Blends with the rustling of the heavy grain 
Over the dark-brown furrows. All at once 
A fresher wind sweeps by, and breaks my dream, 
And I am in the wilderness alone. 



100 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



THANATOPSIS. 

To him who in the love of nature holds 
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
A various language ; for his gayer hours 
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile 
And eloquence of beauty ; and she glides 
Into his darker musings, with a mild 
And healing sympathy, that steals away 
Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts 
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight 
Over thy spirit, and sad images 
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, 
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, 
Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart; — 
Go forth, under the open sky, and list 
To Nature's teachings, while from all around — 
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air — 
Comes a still voice — Yet a few days, and thee 
The all-beholding sun shall see no more 
In all his course ; nor yet in the cold ground, 
Where thy pale form is laid with many tears, 
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist 
Thy image. Earth, that nourish' d thee, shall claim 
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, 
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up 
Thine individual being, shalt thou go 
To mix for ever with the elements, — 
To be a brother to the insensible rock, 
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain 
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak 
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould. 

Yet not to thine eternal resting-place 
Shalt thou retire alone — nor couldst thou wish 
Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down 
With patriarchs of the infant world — with kings, 
The powerful of the earth — the wise, the good, 
Fair forms, and hoary seers, of ages past, 
All in one mighty sepulchre. — The hills 
Rock-ribb'd, and ancient as the sun, — the vales 
Stretching in pensive quietness between ; 
The venerable woods — rivers that move 
In majesty, and the complaining brooks 
That make the meadows green; and, pour'd round 
Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste, — [all, 
Are but the solemn decorations all 
Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun, 
The planets, all the infinite host of heaven, 
Are shining on the sad abodes of death, 
Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread 
The globe, are but a handful to the tribes 
That slumber in its bosom. — Take the wings 
Of morning, and the Barcan desert pierce, 
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound 
Save his own dashings — yet the dead are there ; 
And millions in those solitudes, since first 
The flight of years began, have laid them down 
In their last sleep — the dead there reign alone. 

So shalt thou rest, — and what if thou withdraw 
Unheeded by the living — and no friend 
Take note of thy departure 1 All that breathe 
Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh 
When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care 
Plod on, and each one, as before, will chase 



His favourite phantom ; yet all these shall leave 

Their mirth and their employments, and shall come 

And make their bed with thee. As the long train 

Of ages glide away, the sons of men, 

The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes 

In the full strength of years, matron, and maid, 

And the sweet babe, and the gray-headed man, — 

Shall one by one be gather'd to thy side, 

By those who, in their turn, shall follow them. 

So live, that, when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan, that moves 
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave, at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustain'd and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one that draws the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 



FOREST HYMN. 

The groves were God's first temples. Ere man 
learn'd 
To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, 
And spread the roof above them, — ere he framed 
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back 
The sound of anthems ; in the darkling wood, 
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down, 
And offer'd to the Mightiest solemn thanks, 
And supplication. For his simple heart 
Might not resist the sacred influences, 
Which, from the stilly twilight of the place, 
And from the gray old trunks, that high in heaven 
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound 
Of the invisible breath, that sway'd at once 
All their green tops, stole over him, and bow'd 
His spirit with the thought of boundless power, 
And inaccessible majesty. Ah, why 
Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect 
God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore 
Only among the crowd, and under roofs 
That our frail hands have raised 1 Let me, at least, 
Here, in the shadow of this aged wood, 
Offer one hymn — thrice happy, if it find 
Acceptance in his eat. 

Father, thy hand 
Hath rear'd these venerable columns, thou 
Didst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look 
Upon the naked earth, and, forthwith, rose [down 
All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun, 
Budded, and shook their green leaves in thy breeze, 
And shot towards heaven. The century-living crow, 
Whose birth was in their tops, grew old and died 
Among their branches ; till, at last, they stood, 
As now they stand, massy, and tall, and dark, 
Fit shrine for humble worshipper to hold 
Communion with his Maker. These dim vaults, 
These winding aisles, of human pomp or pride 
Report not. No fantastic carvings show, 
The boast of our vain race, to change the form 
Of thy fair works. But thou art here — thou fill'st 
The solitude. Thou art in the soft winds, 
That run along the summit of these trees 
In music ; — thou art in the cooler breath, 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



161 



That, from the inmost darkness of the place, • 

Comes, scarcely felt; — the barky trunks, the ground, 

The fresh, moist ground, are all instinct with thee. 

Here is continual worship; — nature, here, 

In the tranquillity that thou dost love, 

Enjoys thy presence. Noiselessly around, 

From perch to perch, the solitary bird 

Passes ; and yon clear spring, that, midst its herbs, 

Wells softly forth, and visits the strong roots 

Of half the mighty forest, tells no tale 

Of all the good it does. Thou hast not left 

Thyself without a witness, in these shades, 

Of thy perfections. Grandeur, strength, and grace, 

Are here to speak of thee. This mighty oak, 

By whose immovable stem I stand, and seem 

Almost annihilated, — not a prince, 

In all that proud old world beyond the deep, 

E'er wore his crown as loftily as he 

Wears the green coronal of leaves with which 

Thy hand has graced him. Nestled at his root 

Is beauty, such as blooms not in the glare 

Of the broad sun. That delicate forest flower, 

With delicate breath, and look so like a smile, 

Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mould, 

An emanation of the indwelling Life, 

A visible token of the upholding Love, 

That are the soul of this wide universe. 

My heart is awed within me, when I think 
Of the great miracle that still goes on 
In silence, round me — the perpetual work 
Of thy creation, finish'd, yet renew'd 
Forever. Written on thy works, I read 
The lesson of thy own eternity. 
Lo ! all grow old and die — but see, again, 
How on the faltering footsteps of decay 
Youth presses — ever gay and beautiful youth, 
In all its beautiful forms. These lofty trees 
Wave not less proudly that their ancestors 
Moulder beneath them. O, there is not lost 
One of earth's charms : upon her bosom yet, 
After the flight of untold centuries, 
The freshness of her far beginning lies, 
And yet shall lie. Life mocks the idle hate 
Of his arch-enemy, Death — yea, seats himself 
Upon the tyrant's throne — the sepulchre, 
And of the triumphs of his ghastly foe 
Makes his own nourishment. For he came forth 
From thine own bosom, and shall have no end. 

There have been holy men who hid themselves 
Deep in the woody wilderness, and gave 
Their lives to thought and prayer, till they outlived 
The generation born with them, nor seem'd 
Less aged than the hoary trees and rocks 
Around them ; — and there have been holy men 
Who deem'd it were not well to pass life thus. 
But let me often to these solitudes 
Retire, and in thy presence reassure 
My feeble virtue. Here its enemies, 
The passions, at thy plainer footsteps shrink, 
And tremble and are still. 0, God ! when thou 
Dost scare the world with tempests, set on fire 
The heavens with falling thunderbolts, or fill, 
With all the waters of the firmament, 
The swift, darn whirlwind that uproots the woods 
And drowns the villages ; when, at thy call, 
21 



Uprises the great deep and throws himself 
Upon the continent, and overwhelms 
Its cities — who forgets not, at the sight 
Of these tremendous tokens of thy power, 
His pride, and lays his strifes and follies by 1 
O, from these sterner aspects of thy face 
Spare me and mine, nor let us need the w T rath 
Of the mad, unchain'd elements to teach 
Who rules them. Be it ours to meditate 
In these calm shades thy milder majesty, 
And to the beautiful order of thy works 
Learn to conform the order of our lives. 



HYMN TO THE NORTH STAR. 

The sad and solemn night 
Has yet her multitude of cheerful fires ; 

The glorious host of light 
Walk the dark hemisphere till she retires ; 
All through her silent watches, gliding slow, 
Her constellations come, and climb the heavens, 
and go. 

Day, too, hath many a star 
To grace his gorgeous reign, as bright as they : 

Through the blue fields afar, 
Unseen, they follow in his flaming way : 
Man\ a bright lingerer, as the eve grows dim, 
Tells what a radiant troop arose and set with him. 

And thou dost see them rise, 
Star of the Pole ! and thou dost see them set. 

Alone, in thy cold skies, 
Thou keep'st thy old, unmoving station yet, 
Nor join'st the dances of that glittering train, 
Nor dipp'st thy virgin orb in the blue western main. 

There, at morn's rosy birth, 
Thou lookest meekly through the kindling air, 

And eve, that round the earth 
Chases the day, beholds thee watching there ^ 
There noontide finds thee, and the hour that calls 
The shapes of polar flame to scale heaven's azure 
walls. 

Alike, beneath thine eye, 
The deeds of darkness and of light are done ; 

High towards the star-lit sky 
Towns blaze — the smoke of battle blots the sun — 
The night-storm on a thousand hills is loud — 
And the strong wind of day doth mingle sea and 
cloud. 

On thy unaltering blaze 
The half-wreck'd mariner, his compass lost, 

Fixes his steady gaze, 
And steers, undoubting, to the friendly coast; 
And they who stray in perilous wastes, by night, 
Are glad when thou dost shine to guide their foot- 
steps right. 

And, therefore, bards of old, 
Sages, and hermits of the solemn wood, 

Did in thy beams behold 
A beauteous type of that unchanging good, 
That bright, eternal beacon, by whose ray 
The voyager of time should shape his heedful way 
o2 



102 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



THE ANTIQUITY OF FREEDOM. 

Hehe are old trees, tall oaks, and gnarled pines, 
That stream with gray -green mosses ; here the 

ground 
Was never touch'd by spade, and flowers spring up 
Unsown, and die ungather'd. It is sweet 
To linger here, among the flitting birds 
And leaping squirrels, wandering brooks and winds 
That shake the leaves, and scatter as they pass 
A fragrance from the cedars thickly set 
With pale blue berries. In these peaceful shades — 
Peaceful, unpruned, immeasurably old — 
My thoughts go up the long dim path of years, 
Back to the earliest days of Liberty. 

Freedom ! thou art not, as poets dream, 
A fair young girl, with light and delicate limbs, 
And wavy tresses gushing from the cap 
With which the Roman master crown'd his slave, 
When he took off the gyves. A bearded man, 
Arm'd to the teeth, art thou : one mailed hand 
Grasps the broad shield, and one the sword; thy 
Glorious in beauty though it be, is scarr'd [brow, 
With tokens of old wars ; thy massive limbs 
Are strong and struggling. Power at thee has 

launch'd 
His bolts, and with his lightnings smitten thee ; 
They could not quench the life thou hast from Hea- 
Merciless Power has dug thy dungeon deep, [ven. 
And his swart armourers, by a thousand fires, 
Have forged thy chain ; yet while he deems thee 

bound, 
The finks are shiver'd, and the prison walls 
Fall outward ; terribly thou springest forth, 
As springs the flame above a burning pile, 
And shoutest to the nations, who return 
Thy shoutings, while the pale oppressor flies. 

Thy birth-right was not given by human hands : 
Thou wert twin-born with man. In pleasant fields, 
While yet our race was few, thou sat'st with him, 
To tend the quiet flock and watch the stars, 
And teach the reed to utter simple airs. 
Thou by his side, amid the tangled wood, 
Didst war upon the panther and the wolf, 
His only foes : and thou with him didst draw 
The earliest furrows on the mountain side, 
Soft with the Deluge. Tyranny himself, 
The enemy, although of reverend look, 
Hoary with many years, and far obey'd, 
Is later born than thou ; and as he meets 
The grave defiance of thine elder eye, 
The usurper trembles in his fastnesses. 

Thou shalt wax stronger with the lapse of years, 
But he shall fade into a feebler age ; 
Feebler, yet subtler ; he shall weave his snares, 
And spring them on thy careless steps, and clap 
His wither'd hands, and from their ambush call 
His hordes to fall upon thee. He shall send 
Quaint maskers, forms of fair and gallant mien, 
To catch thy gaze, and uttering graceful words 
To charm thy ear ; while his sly imps, by stealth, 
Twine round thee threads of steel, light thread on 

thread, 
That grow to fetters ; or bind down thy arms 



With chains conceal'd in chaplets. Oh ! not yet 
Mayst thou unbrace thy corslet, nor lay by 
Thy sword, nor yet, O Freedom ! close thy lids 
In slumber ; for thine enemy never sleeps. 
And thou must watch and combat, till the day 
Of the new Earth and Heaven. But wouldst thou 
Awhile from tumult and the frauds of men, [rest 
These old and friendly solitudes invite 
Thy visit. They, while yet the forest trees 
Were young upon the unviolated earth, 
And yet the moss-stains on the rock were new, 
Beheld thy glorious childhood, and rejoiced. 



THE RETURN OF YOUTH. 

My friend, thou sorrowest for thy golden prime, 

For thy fair youthful years too swift of flight ; 
Thou musest, with wet eyes, upon the time 

Of cheerful hopes that fill'd the world with light, 
Years when thy heart was bold, thy hand was strong, 

Thy tongue was prompt the generous thought to 
speak, 
And willing faith was thine, and scorn of wrong 

Summon'd the sudden crimson to thy cheek. 

Thou lookest forward on the coming days, 

Shuddering to feel their shadow o'er thee creep ; 
A path, thick-set with changes and decays, 

Slopes downward to the place of common sleep ; 
And they who walk'd with thee in life's first stage, 

Leave one by one thy side, and, waiting near, 
Thou seest the sad companions of thy age — 

Dull love of rest, and weariness, and fear. 

Yet grieve thou not, nor think thy youth is gone, 

Nor deem that glorious season e'er could die. 
Thy pleasant youth, a little while withdrawn, 

Waits on the horizon of a brighter sky ; 
Waits, like the morn, that folds her wing and hides, 

Till the slow stars bring back her dawning hour ; 

Waits, like the vanish'd spring, that slumbering 

bides, ^ ' v - ' . ,., -?- 

Her own sweet time to waken bud and flower. 

There shall he welcome thee, when thou shalt stand 

On his bright morning hills, with smiles more 
sweet 
Than when at first he took thee by the hand, 

Through the fair earth to lead thy tender feet. 
He shall bring back, but brighter, broader still, 

Life's early glory to thine eyes again, 
Shall clothe thy spirit with new strength, and fill 

Thy leaping heart with warmer love than then. 

Hast thou not glimpses, in the twilight here, 

Of mountains where immortal morn prevails? 
Comes there not, through the silence, to thine ear 

A gentle rustling of the morning gales ; 
A murmur, wafted from that glorious shore, 

Of streams that water banks for ever fair, 
And voices of the loved ones gone before, 

More musical in that celestial air] 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



163 



THE WINDS. 

Ye winds, ye unseen currents of the air, 
Softly ye play'd a few brief hours ago ; 

Ye bore the murmuring bee ; ye toss'd the hair 
O'er maiden cheeks, that took a fresher glow; 

Ye roll'd the round, white cloud through depths of 
blue ; 

Ye shook from shaded flowers the lingering dew; 

Before you the catalpa's blossoms flew, 

Light blossoms, dropping on the grass like snow. 

How are ye changed ! Ye take the cataract's sound, 
Ye take the whirlpool's fury and its might ; 

The mountain shudders as ye sweep the ground ; 
The valley woods lie prone beneath your flight. 

The clouds before you sweep like eagles past; 

The homes of men are rocking in your blast ; 

Ye lift the roofs like autumn leaves, and cast, 
Skyward, the whirling fragments out of sight. 

The weary fowls of heaven make wing in vain, 

To scape your wrath; ye seize and dash them dead. 
Against the earth ye drive the roaring rain ; 

The harvest field becomes a river's bed ; 
And torrents tumble from the hills around, 
Plains turn to lakes, and villages are drown'd, 
And wailing voices, midst the tempest's sound, 
Rise, as the rushing floods close over head. 

Ye dart upon the deep, and straight is heard 
A wilder roar, and men grow pale, and pray ; 

Ye fling its waters round you, as a bird 

Flings o'er his shivering plumes the fountain's 
spray. 

See! to the breaking mast the sailor clings; 

Ye scoop the ocean to its briny springs, 

And take the mountain billow on your wings, 
And pile the wreck of navies round the bay. 

Why rage ye thus? — no strife for liberty [fear, 
Has made you mad ; no tyrant, strong through 

Has chain'd your pinions, till ye wrench'd them free, 
And rush'd into the unmeasured atmosphere : 

For ye were born in freedom where ye blow; 

Free o'er the mighty deep to come and go ; 

Earth's solemn woods were yours, her wastes of 
snow, 
Her isles where summer blossoms all the year. 

0, ye wild winds ! a mightier power than yours 

In chains upon the shores of Europe lies ; 
The sceptred throng, whose fetters he endures, 

Watch his mute throes with terror in their eyes : 
And armed warriors all around him stand, 
And, as he struggles, tighten every band, 
And lift the heavy spear, with threatening hand, 
To pierce the victim, should he strive to rise. 

Yet, O, when that wrong'd spirit of our race, 

Shall break.as soon he must, his long-worn chains, 
And leap in freedom from his prison-place, 

Lord of his ancient hills and fruitful plains, 
Let him not rise, like these mad winds of air, 
To waste the loveliness that time could spare, 
To fill the earth with wo, and blot her fair 

Unconscious breast with blood from human veins. 



But may he, like the spring-time, come abroad, 

Who crumbles winter's gyves with gentle might, 
When in the genial breeze, the breath of God, 

Come spouting up the unseal'd springs to light; 

Flowers start from their dark prisons at his feet, 

The woods, long dumb, awake to hymnings sweet, 

And morn and eve, whose glimmerings almost meet, 

Crowd back to narrow bounds the ancient night. 



OH MOTHER OF A MIGHTY RACE ! 

Oh mother of a mighty race, 
Yet lovely in thy youthful grace ! 
The elder dames, thy haughty peers, 
Admire and hate thy blooming years. 

With words of shame 
And taunts of scorn they join thy name. 

For on thy cheeks the glow is spread 
That tints the morning hills with red ; 
Thy step — the wild deer's rustling feet 
Within thy woods, are not more fleet ; 

Thy hopeful eye 
Is bright as thine own sunny sky. 

Ay, let them rail — those haughty ones — 
While safe thou dwellest with thy sons. 
They do not know how loved thou art — 
How many a fond and fearless heart 

Would rise to throw 
Its life between thee and the foe ! 

They know not. in their hate and pride, 
What virtues with thy children bide; 
How true, how good, thy graceful maids 
Make bright, like flowers, the valley shades ; 

What generous men 
Spring, like thine oaks, by hill and glen : 

What cordial welcomes greet the guest 
By the lone rivers of the west ; 
How faith is kept, and truth revered, 
And man is loved, and God is fcar'd, 

In woodland homes, 
And where the solemn ocean foams ! 

There 's freedom at thy gates, and rest 
For earth's down-trodden and oppress'd, 
A shelter for the hunted head, 
For the starved labourer toil and bread. 

Power, at thy bounds, 
Stops and calls back his baffled hounds. 

Oh, fair young mother ! on thy brow 
Shall sit a nobler grace than now. 
Deep in the brightness of thy skies 
The thronging years in glory rise, 

And, as they fleet, 
Drop strength and riches at thy feet. 

Thine eye, with every coming hour, 
Shall brighten, and thy form shall tower ; 
And when thy sisters, elder born, 
Would brand thy name with words of scorn, 

Before thine eye, 
Upon their lips the taunt shall die ! 



164 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



SONG OF MARION'S MEN. 

Our band is few, but true and tried, 

Our leader frank and bold ; 
The British soldier trembles 

When Marion's name is told. 
Our fortress is the good green wood, 

Our tent the cypress tree ; 
We know the forest round us, 

As seamen know the sea. 
We know its walls of thorny vines, 

Its glades of reedy grass, 
Its safe and silent islands 

Within the dark morass. 

Wo to the English soldiery 

That little dread us near ! 
On them shall light at midnight 

A strange and sudden fear: 
When, waking to their tents on fire, 

They grasp their arms in vain, 
And they who stand to face us 

Are beat to earth again ; 
And they who fly in terror deem 

A mighty host behind, 
And hear the tramp of thousands 

Upon the hollow wind. 

Then sweet the hour that brings release 

From danger and from toil : 
We talk the battle over, 

And share the battle's spoil. 
The woodland rings with laugh and shout, 

As if a hunt were up, 
And woodland flowers are gather'd 

To crown the soldier's cup. 
With merry songs we mock the wind 

That in the pine-top grieves, 
And slumber long and sweetly, 

On beds of oaken leaves. 

Well knows the fair and friendly moon 

The band that Marion leads — 
The glitter of their rifles, 

The scampering of their steeds. 
T is life to guide the fiery barb 

Across the moonlight plain ; 
'T is life to feel the night-wind 

That lifts his tossing mane. 
A moment in the British camp — 

A moment — and away 
Back to the pathless forest, 

Before the peep of day. 

Grave men there are by broad Santee, 

Grave men with hoary hairs, 
Their hearts are all with Marion, 

For Marion are their prayers. 
And lovely ladies greet our band 

With kindliest, welcoming, 
With smiles like those of summer, 

And tears like those of spring. 
For them we wear these trusty arms, 

And lay them down no more, 
Till we have driven the Briton 

Forever from our shore. 



TO THE PAST. 

Thou unrelenting Past ! 
Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain, 

And fetters, sure and fast, 
Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign. 

Far in thy realm withdrawn, 
Old empires sit in sullenness and gloom ; 

And glorious ages gone 
Lie deep within the shadow of thy womb. 

Childhood, with all its mirth, 
Youth, manhood, age, that draws us to the ground. 

And last, man's life on earth, 
Glide to thy dim dominions, and are bound. 

Thou hast my better years, 
Thou hast my earlier friends — the good — the kind, 

Yielded to thee with tears — 
The venerable form — the exalted mind. 

My spirit yearns to bring 
The lost ones back — yearns with desire intense, 

And struggles hard to wring 
Thy bolts apart, and pluck thy captives thence. 

In vain — thy gates deny 
All passage, save to those who hence depart ; 

Nor to the streaming eye 
Thou givest them back — nor to the broken heart. 

In thy abysses hide 
Beauty and excellence unknown — to thee 

Earth's wonder and her pride 
Are gather'd, as the waters to the sea. 

Labours of good to man, 
Unpublish'd charity — unbroken faith — 

Love, that midst grief began, 
And grew with years, and falter'd not in death. 

Full many a mighty name 
Lurks in thy depths, unutter'd, unrevered ; 

With thee are silent fame, 
Forgotten arts, and wisdom disappear'd. 

Thine, for a space, are they— 
Yet shalt thou yield thy treasures up at last ; 

Thy gates shall yet give way, 
Thy bolts shall fall, inexorable Past ! 

All that of good and fair 
Has gone into thy womb, from earliest time, 

Shall then come forth, to wear 
The glory and the beauty of its prime. 

They have not perish'd — no ! 
Kind words, remember'd voices, once so sweet, 

Smiles, radiant long ago, 
And features, the great soul's apparent seat ; 

All shall come back, each tie 
Of pure affection shall be knit again; 

Alone shall evil die, 
And sorrow dwell a prisoner in thy reign. 

And then shall I behold 
Him, by whose kind paternal side I sprung, 

And her, who, still and cold, 
Fills the next grave — the beautiful and young 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



165 



THE HUNTER OF THE PRAIRIES. 

Ar, this is freedom ! — these pure skies 

Were never stain' d with village smoke : 
The fragrant wind, that through them flies, 

Is breathed from wastes by plough unbroke. 
Here, with my rifle and my steed, 

And her who left the world for me, 
I plant me, where the red deer feed 

In the green desert — and am free. 

For here the fair savannas know 

No barriers in the bloomy grass ; 
Wherever breeze of heaven may blow, 

Or beam of heaven may glance, I pass. 
In pastures, measureless as air, 

The bison is my noble game ; 
The bounding elk, whose antlers tear 

The branches, falls before my aim. 

Mine are the river-fowl that scream 

From the long stripe of waving sedge ; 
The bear, that marks my weapon's gleam, 

Hides vainly in the forest's edge ; 
In vain the she-wolf stands at bay ; 

The brinded catamount, that lies 
Hign in the boughs to watch his prey, 

Even in the act of springing, dies. 

With what free growth the elm and plane 

Fling their huge arms across my way, 
Gray, old, and cumber'd with a train 

Of vines, as huge, and old, and gray ! 
Free stray the lucid streams, and find 

No taint in these fresh lawns and shades ; 
Free spring the flowers that scent the wind 

Where never scythe has swept the glades. 

Alone the fire, when frostwinds sere 

The heavy herbage of the ground, 
Gathers his annual harvest here, 

With roaring like the battle's sound, 
And hurrying flames that sweep the plain, 

And smoke-streams gushing up the sky : 
I meet the flames with flames again, 

And at my door they cower and die. 

Here, from dim woods, the aged past 

Speaks solemnly ; and I behold 
The boundless future in the vast 

And lonely river, seaward roll'd. 
Who feeds its founts with rain and dew 1 

Who moves, I ask, its gliding mass, 
And trains the bordering vines, whose blue, 

Bright clusters tempt me as I pass 1 

Broad are these streams — my steed obeys, 

Plunges, and bears me through the tide. 
Wide are these woods — I thread the maze 

Of giant stems, nor ask a guide. 
I hunt, till day's last glimmer dies 

O'er woody vale and grassy height ; 
And kind the voice, and glad the eyes 

That welcome my return at night. 



AFTER A TEMPEST. 

The day had been a day of wind and storm; — 

The wind was laid, the storm was overpast, — 
And, stooping from the zenith, bright and warm 

Shone the great sun on the wide earth at last. 

I stood upon the upland slope, and cast 
My eye upon a broad and beauteous scene, 

Where the vast plain lay girt by mountains vast, 
And hills o'er hills lifted their heads of green, 
With pleasant vales scoop'd out and villages be- 
tween. 

The rain-drops glisten'd on the trees around, 

Whose shadows on the tall grass were not stirr'd, 
Save when a shower of diamonds to the ground 

Was shaken by the flight of startled bird ; 

For birds were warbling round, and bees were 
About the flowers ; the cheerful rivulet sung [heard 

And gossip'd, as he hasten'd ocean-ward ; 
To the gray oak the squirrel, chiding, clung, 
And chirping from the ground the grasshopper 
upsprung. 

And from beneath the leaves that kept them dry 

Flew many a glittering insect here and there, 
And darted up and down the butterfly, 

That seem'd a living blossom of the air. 

The flocks came scattering from the thicket, where 
The violent rain had pent them ; in the way 

Stroll'd groups of damsels frolicsome and fair ; 
The farmer swung the scythe or tum'd the hay, 
And 'twixt the heavy swaths his children were at 
play. 

It was a scene of peace — and, like a spell, 
Did that serene and golden sunlight fall 

Upon the motionless wood that clothed the fell, 
And precipice upspringing like a wall, 
And glassy river and white waterfall, 

And happy living things that trod the bright 
And beauteous scene ; while far beyond them all, 

On many a lovely valley, out of sight, 

Was pour'd from the blue heavens the same soft, 
golden light. 

I look'd, and thought the quiet of the scene 
An emblem of the peace that yet shall be, 

When, o'er earth's continents and isles between, 
The noise of war shall cease from sea to sea, 
And married nations dwell in harmony ; 

When millions, crouching in the dust to one, 
No more shall beg their lives on bended knee, 

Nor the black stake be dress'd, nor in the sun 

The o'erlabour'd captive toil, and wish his life were 
done. 

Too long, at clash of arms amid her bowers 
And pools of blood, the earth has stood aghast, 

The fair earth, that should only blush with flowers 
And ruddy fruits ; but not for aye can last 
The storm, and sweet the sunshine when 't is past. 

Lo, the clouds roll away — they break — they fly, 
And, like the glorious light of summer, cast 

O'er the wide landscape from the embracing sky, 

On all the peaceful world the smile of heaven 
shall lie. 



1UG 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



THE RIVULET. 



This little rill that, from the springs 
Of yonder grove, its current brings, 
Plays on the slope a while, and then 
Goes prattling into groves again, 
Oft to its warbling waters drew 
My little feet, when life was new. 
When woods in early green were dress'd, 
And from the chambers of the west 
The warmer breezes, travelling out, 
Breathed the new scent of flowers about, 
My truant steps from home would stray, 
Upon its grassy side to play, 
List the brown thrasher's vernal hymn, 
And crop the violet on its brim, 
With blooming cheek and open brow, 
As young and gay, sweet rill, as thou. 

And when the days of boyhood came, 
And I had grown in love with fame, 
Duly I sought thy banks, and tried 
My first rude numbers by thy side. 
Words cannot tell how bright and gay 
The scenes of life before me lay. 
Then glorious hopes, that now to speak 
Would bring the blood into my cheek, 
Pass'd o'er me ; and I wrote, on high, 
A name I deem'd should never die. 

Years change thee not. Upon yon hill 
The tall old maples, verdant still, 
Yet tell, in grandeur of decay, 
How swift the years have pass'd away, 
Since first, a child, and half-afraid, 
I wander'd in the forest shade. 
Thou, ever-joyous rivulet, 
Dost dimple, leap, and prattle yet ; 
And sporting with the sands that pave 
The windings of thy silver wave, 
And dancing to thy own wild chime, 
Thou laughest at the lapse of time. 
The same sweet sounds are in my ear 
My early childhood loved to hear ; 
As pure thy limpid waters run, 
As bright they sparkle to the sun ; 
As fresh and thick the bending ranks 
Of herbs that line thy oozy banks ; 
The violet there, in soft May dew, 
Comes up, as modest and as blue ; 
As green amid thy current's stress, 
Floats the scarce-rooted water-cress ; 
And the brown ground-bird, in thy glen, 
Still chirps as merrily as then. 

Thou changest not — but I am changed, 
Since first thy pleasant banks I ranged ; 
And the grave stranger, come to see 
The play-place of his infancy, 
Has scarce a single trace of him 
Who sported once upon thy brim. 
The visions of my youth are past — 
Too bright, too beautiful to last. 
I 've tried the world — it wears no more 
The colouring of romance it wore. 
Yet well has Nature kept the truth 
She promised to my earliest youth : 



The radiant beauty, shed abroad 
On all the glorious works of God, 
Shows freshly, to my sober'd eye, 
Each charm it wore in days gone by. 

A few brief years shall pass away, 
And I, all trembling, weak, and gray, 
Bow'd to the earth, which waits to fold 
My ashes in the embracing mould, 
(If haply the dark will of fate 
Indulge my life so long a date,) 
May come for the last time to look 
Upon my childhood's favourite brook. 
Then dimly on my eye shall gleam 
The sparkle of thy dancing stream ; 
And faintly on my ear shall fall 
Thy prattling current's merry call ; 
Yet shalt thou flow as glad and bright 
As when thou met'st my infant sight. 

And I shall sleep — and on thy side, 
As ages after ages glide, 
Children their early sports shall try, 
And pass to hoary age, and die. 
But thou, unchanged from year to year, 
Gayly shalt play and glitter here; 
Amid young flowers and tender grass 
Thy endless infancy shalt pass ; 
And, singing down thy narrow glen, 
Shalt mock the fading race of men. 



JUNE. 

I gazed upon the glorious sky 

And the green mountains round; 
And thought, that when I came to lie 

Within the silent ground, 
'T were pleasant, that in flowery June, 
When brooks sent up a cheerful tune, 

And groves a joyous sound, 
The sexton's hand, my grave to make, 
The rich, green mountain turf should break. 

A cell within the frozen mould, 

A coffin borne through sleet, 
And icy clods above it roll'd, 

While fierce the tempests beat — 
Away ! — I will not think of these — 
Blue be the sky and soft the breeze, 

Earth green beneath the feet, 
And be the damp mould gently press'd 
Into my narrow place of rest. 

There, through the long, long summer hours, 

The golden light should lie, 
And thick, young herbs and groups of flowers 

Stand in their beauty by. 
The oriole should build and tell 
His love-tale, close beside my cell ; 

The idle butterfly 
Should rest him there, and there be heard 
The housewife-bee and humming bird. 

And what, if cheerful shouts, at noon, 

Come, from the village sent, 
Or songs of maids, beneath the moon, 

With fairy laughter blent 1 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



16*i 



And what if, in the evening light, 
Betrothed lovers walk in sight 

Of my low monument'? 
I would the lovely scene around 
Might know no sadder sight nor sound. 

I know, I know I should not see 
The season's glorious show, 
Nor would its brightness shine for me, 

Nor its wild music flow ; 
But if, around my place of sleep, 
The friends I love should come to weep, 

They might not haste to go. 
Soft airs, and song, and light, and bloom 
Should keep them lingering by my tomb. 

These to their soften'd hearts should bear 

The thought of what has been, 
And speak of one who cannot share 

The gladness of the scene ; 
Whose part, in all the pomp that fills 
The circuit of the summer hills, 
Is — that his grave is green ; 
And deeply would their hearts rejoice 
To hear, again, his living voice. 



TO THE EVENING WIND. 

Spirit that breathest through my lattice, thou 
That cool'st the twilight of the sultry day ! 

Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow; 
Thou hast been out upon the deep at play, 

Riding all day the wild blue waves till now, 
Roughening their crests, and scattering high 
their spray, 

And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee 

To the scorch' d land, thou wanderer of the sea ! 

Nor I alone — a thousand bosoms round 
Inhale thee in the fulness of delight ; 

And languid forms rise up, and pulses bound 
Livelier, at coming of the wind of night ; 

And languishing to hear thy welcome sound, 
Lies the vast inland, stretch'd beyond the sight. 

Go forth, into the gathering shade ; go forth, — 

God's' blessing breathed upon the fainting earth ! 

Go, rock the little wood-bird in his nest, 

Curl the still waters, bright with stars, and rouse 

The wide, old wood from his majestic rest, 
Summoning, from the innumerable boughs, 

The strange, deep harmonies that haunt his breast : 
Pleasant shall be thy way where meekly bows 

The shutting flower, and darkling waters pass, 

And where the o'ershadowing branches sweep the 
grass. 

Stoop o'er the place of graces, and softly sway 
The sighing herbage by the gleaming stone ; 

That they who near the churchyard willows stray, 
And listen in the deepening gloom, alone, 

May think of gentle souls that pass'd away, 
Like thy pure breath, into the vast unknown, 

Sent forth from heaven among the sons of men, 

And gone into the boundless heaven again. 



The faint old man shall lean his silver head 
To feel thee ; thou shalt kiss the child asleep, 

And dry the moisten'd curls that overspread 
His temples, while his breathing grows more 
deep; 

And they who stand about the sick man's bed, 
Shall joy to listen to thy distant sweep, 

And softly part his curtains to allow 

Thy visit, grateful to his burning brow. 

Go — but the circle of eternal change, 

Which is the life of nature, shall restore, 

With sounds and scents from all thy mighty cange 
Thee to thy birth-place of the deep once more 

Sweet odours in the sea-air, sweet and strange, 
Shall tell the home-sick mariner of the shore ; 

And, listening to thy murmur, he shall deem 

He hears the rustling leaf and running stream. 



LINES ON REVISITING THE COUNTRY 



I stand upon my native hills again, 

Broad, round, and green, that in the summer sky, 
With garniture of waving grass and grain, 

Orchards, and beechen forests, basking lie, 
While deep the sunless glens are scoop'd between, 
Where brawl o'er shallow beds the streams unseen. 

A lisping voice and glancing eyes are near, 
And ever restless feet of one, who, now, 

Gathers the blossoms of her fourth bright year; 
There plays a gladness o'er her fair young brow, 

As breaks the varied scene upon her sight, 

Upheaved and spread in verdure and in light. 

For I have taught her, with delighted eye, 
To gaze upon the mountains, to behold, 

With deep affection, the pure, ample sky, 
And clouds along its blue abysses roll'd, 

To love the song of waters, and to hear 

The melody of winds with charmed ear. 

Here, I have 'scaped the city's stifling heat, 
Its horrid sounds, and its polluted air; 

And where the season's milder fervours beat, 
And gales, that sweep the forest borders, bear 

The song of bird, and sound of running stream, 

Am come a while to wander and to dream. 

Ay, flame thy fiercest, sun ! thou canst not wake, 
In this pure air, the plague that walks unseen. 

The maize leaf and the maple bough but take, 
From thy strong heats, a deeper, glossier green. 

The mountain wind, that faints not in thy ray, 

Sweeps the blue streams of pestilence away. 

The mountain wind ! most spiritual thing of all 
The wide earth knows — when, in the sultry 
time, 

He stoops him from his vast, cerulean hall, 
He seems the breath of a celestial clime ; 

As if from heaven's wide-open gates did flow, 

Health and refreshment on the world below. 



168 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



THE OLD MAN'S COUNSEL. 

Among our hills and valleys, I have known 
Wise and grave men, who, while their diligent 

hands 
Tended or gather'd in the fruits of earth, 
Were reverent learners in the solemn school 
Of Nature. Not in vain to them were sent 
Seed-time and harvest, or the vernal shower 
That darken' d the brown tilth, or snow that beat 
On the white winter hills. Each brought, in turn, 
Some truth ; some lesson on the life of man, 
Or recognition of the Eternal Mind, 
Who veils his glory with the elements. 

One such I knew long since, a white-hair'd man, 
Pithy of speech, and merry when he would ; 
A genial optimist, who daily drew 
From what he saw his quaint moralities. 
Kindly he held communion, though so old, 
With me, a dreaming boy, and taught me much, 
That books tell not, and I shall ne'er forget. 

The sun of May was bright in middle heaven, 
And steep'd the sprouting forests, the green hills, 
And emerald wheat-fields, in his yellow light. 
Upon the apple tree, where rosy buds 
Stood cluster' d, ready to burst forth in bloom, 
The robin warbled forth his full, clear note 
For hours, and wearied not. Within the woods, 
Whose young and half-transparent leaves scarce 

cast 
A shade, gay circles of anemones 
Danced on their stalks ; the shad-bush, white with 

flowers, 
Brighten'd the glens ; the new-leaved butternut, 
And quivering poplar, to the roving breeze 
Gave a balsamic fragrance. In the fields, 
I saw the pulses of the gentle wind 
On the young grass. My heart was touch'd with 

j°y> 

At so much beauty, flushing every hour 

Into a fuller beauty ; but my friend, 

The thoughtful ancient, standing at my side, 

Gazed on it mildly sad. I ask'd him why. 

"Well may'st thou join in gladness," he replied, 

"With the glad earth, her springing plants and 

flowers, 
And this soft wind, the herald of the green, 
Luxuriant summer. Thou art young, like them, 
And well mayst thou rejoice. But while the flight 
Of seasons fills and knits thy spreading frame, 
It withers mine, and thins my hair, and dims 
These eyes, whose fading light shall soon be 

quench'd 
In utter darkness. Hearest thou that bird 1" 

I listen'd, and from midst the depth of woods 
Heard the low signal of the grouse, that wears 
A sable ruff around his mottled neck : 
Partridge they call him b}>' our northern streams, 
And pheasant by the Delaware. He beat 
'Gainst his barr'd sides his speckled wings, and 

made 
A sound like distant thunder; slow the strokes 



At first, then fast and faster, till at length 
They pass'd into a murmur, and were still. 

"There hast thou," said my friend, "a fitting type 
Of human life. 'T is an old truth, I know, 
But images like these will freshen truth. 
Slow pass our days in childhood, every day 
Seems like a century ; rapidly they glide 
In manhood, and in life's decline they fly; 
Till days and seasons flit before the mind 
As flit the snow-flakes in a winter storm, 
Seen rather than distinguished. Ah ! I seem 
As if I sat within a helpless bark, 
By swiftly-running waters hurried on 
To shoot some mighty cliff. Along the banks 
Grove after grove, rock after frowning rock, 
Bare sands, and pleasant homesteads ; flowery 

nooks, 
And isles and whirlpools in the stream, appear 
Each after each; but the devoted skiff 
Darts by so swiftly, that their images 
Dwell not upon the mind, or only dwell 
In dim confusion ; faster yet I sweep 
By other banks, and the great gulf is near. 

" Wisely, my son, while yet thy days are long, 
And this fair change of seasons passes slow, 
Gather and treasure up the good they yield — 
All that they teach of virtue, of pure thoughts, 
And kind affections, reverence for thy Gon, 
And for thy brethren ; so, when thou shalt come 
Into these barren years that fleet away 
Before their fruits are ripe, thou mayst not bring 
A mind unfurnish'd, and a wither'd heart." 

Long since that white-hair'd ancient slept — but 

still, 
When the red flower-buds crowd the orchard 

bough, 
And the ruff 'd grouse is drumming far within 
The woods, his venerable form again 
Is at my side, his voice is in my ear. 



AN EVENING REVERIE.* 

The summer day has closed — the sun is set: 
Well have they done their office, those bright hours, 
The latest of whose train goes softly out 
In the red west. The green blade of the ground 
Has risen, and herds have cropp'd it; the young 

twig 
Has spread its plaited tissues to the sun; 
Flowers of the garden and the waste have blown, 
And wither'd ; seeds have fallen upon the soil 
From bursting cells, and in their graves await 
Their resurrection. Insects from the pools 
Have fill'd the air a while with humming wings, 
That now are still forever; painted moths 
Have wander'd the blue sky, and died again; 
The mother-bird hath broken, for her brood 
Their prison-shells, or shoved them from the nest, 

* From an unfinished poem. 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



1G9 



Plumed for their earliest flight. In bright alcoves, 
In woodland cottages with barky walls, 
In noisome cells of the tumultuous town, 
Mothers have clasp'd with joy the new-born babe. 
Graves, by the lonely forest, by the shore 
Of rivers and of ocean, by the ways 
Of the throng'd city, have been hollow'd out, 
And fill'd, and closed. This day hath parted friends, 
That ne'er before were parted ; it hath knit 
New friendships ; it hath seen the maiden plight 
Her faith, and trust her peace to him who long 
Hath woo'd ; and it hath heard, from lips which late 
Were eloquent of love, the first harsh word, 
That told the wedded one her peace was flown. 
Farewell to the sweet sunshine ! One glad day 
Is added now to childhood's merry days, 
And one calm day to those of quiet age. 
Still the fleet hours run on ; and as I lean 
Amid the thickening darkness, lamps are lit 
By those who watch the dead, and those who twine 
Flowers for the bride. The mother from the eyes 
Of her sick infant shades the painful light, 
And sadly listens to his quick-drawn breath. 

thou great Movement of the universe, 
Or Change, or Flight of Time — for ye are one ! 
That bearest, silently, this visible scene 
Into Night's shadow, and the streaming rays 
Of starlight, whither art thou bearing me ? 
I feel the mighty current sweep me on, 
Yet know not whither. Man foretells afar 
The courses of the stars ; the very hour 
He knows when they shall darken or grow bright : 
Yet doth the eclipse of sorrow and of death 
Come unfo re warned. Who next, of those I love, 
Shall pass from life, or, sadder yet, shall fall 
From virtue ? Strife with foes, or bitterer strife 
With friends, or shame, and general scorn of 

men — 
Which, who can bear? — or the fierce rack of pain, 
Lie they within my path? Or shall the years 
Push me, with soft and inoffensive pace, 
Into the stilly twilight of my age ? 
Or do the portals of another life, 
Even now, while I am glorying in my strength, 
Impend around mel ! beyond that bourne, 
In the vast cycle of being, which begins 
At that broad threshold, with what fairer forms 
Shall the great law of change and progress clothe 
Its workings? Gently — so have good men taught — 
Gently, and without grief, the old shall glide 
Into the new, the eternal flow of things, 
Like a bright river of the fields of heaven, 
Shall journey onward in perpetual peace. 



HYMN OF THE CITY. 



Not in the solitude 
Alone, may man commune with Heaven, or see 

Only in savage wood 
And sunny vale, the present Deity ; 

Or only hear his voice 
Where the winds whisper and the waves rejoice. 



Even here do I behold 
Thy steps, Almighty ! — here, amidst the crowd 

Through the great city roll'd, 
With everlasting murmur, deep and loud — 

Choking the ways that wind 
'Mongst the proud piles, the work of human kind. 

Thy golden sunshine comes 
From the round heaven, and on their dwellings lies, 

And lights their inner homes — 
For them thou fill'st with air the unbounded skies, 

And givest them the stores 
Of ocean, and the harvests of its shores. 

Thy spirit is around, 
Quickening the restless mass that sweeps along ; 

And this eternal sound — 
Voices and footfalls of the numberless throng — 

Like the resounding sea, 
Or like the rainy tempest, speaks of thee. 

And when the hours of rest 
Come, like a calm upon the mid-sea brine, 

Hushing its billowy breast — 
The quiet of that moment, too, is thine ; 

It breathes of Him who keeps 
The vast and helpless city while it sleeps. 



TO A WATERFOWL. 

Whither, 'midst falling dew, 
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, 
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue 

Thy solitary way! 

Vainly the fowler's eye 
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, 
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky, 

Thy figure floats along. 

Seek'st thou the plashy brink 
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, 
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink 

On the chafed ocean side? 

There is a power whose care 
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, — 
The desert and illimitable air, — 

Lone wandering, but not lost. 

All day thy wings have fann'd, 
At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, 
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, 

Though the dark night is near. 

And soon that toil shall end ; 
Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest, 
And scream among thy fellows ; reeds shall bend, 

Soon, o'er thy shelter'd nest. 

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven 
Hath swallow'd up thy form ; yet, on my heart 
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, 

And shall not soon depart. 
P 



170 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



He who, from zone to zone, 
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone, 

Will lead my steps aright. 



THE BATTLE-FIELD. 



Oxce this soft turf, this rivulet's sands, 
Were trampled by a hurrying crowd, 

And fiery hearts and armed hands 
Encounter'd in the battle-cloud. 

Ah ! never shall the land forget 

How gush'd the life-blood of her brave — 
Gush'd, warm with hope and courage yet, 

Upon the soil they fought to save. 

Now, all is calm, and fresh, and still ; 

Alone the chirp of flitting bird, 
And talk of children on the hill, 

And bell of wandering kine are heard. 

No solemn host goes trailing by 

The black-mouth'd gun and staggering wain : 
Men start not at the battle-cry ; 

O ! be it never heard again. 

Soon rested those who fought; but thou 
Who minglest in the harder strife 

For truths which men receive not now, 
Thy warfare only ends with life. 

A friendless warfare ! lingering long 
Through weary day and weary year. 

A wild and many-weapon'd throng 

Hang on thy front, and flank, and rear. 

Yet, nerve thy spirit to the proof, 
And blench not at thy chosen lot. 

The timid good may stand aloof, 

The sage may frown — yet faint thou not, 

Nor heed the shaft too surely cast, 
The hissing, stinging bolt of scorn; 

For with thy side shall dwell, at last, 
The victory of endurance born. 

Truth, crush'd to earth, shall rise again: 
The eternal years of God are hers; 

But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, 
And dies among his worshippers. 

Yea, though thou lie upon the dust, 

When they who help'd thee flee in fear, 

Die full of hope and manly trust, 
Like those who fell in battle here. 

Another hand thy sword shall wield, 
Another hand the standard wave, 

Till from the trumpet's mouth is peal'd 
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave. 



THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS. 

The melancholy days are come, 

The saddest of the year, 
Of wailing winds, and naked woods, 

And meadows brown and sear. 
Heap'd in the hollows of the grove, 

The wither'd leaves lie dead; 
They rustle to the eddying gust, 

And to the rabbit's tread. 
The robin and the wren are flown, 

And from the shrubs the jay, 
And from the wood-top calls the crow, 

Through all the gloomy day. 

Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, 

That lately sprang and stood 
In brighter light and softer airs, 

A beauteous sisterhood? 
Alas ! they all are in their graves ; 

The gentle race of flowers 
Are lying in their lowly beds, 

With the fair and good of ours. 
The rain is falling where they lie, 

But the cold November rain 
Calls not, from out the gloomy earth, 

The lovely ones again. 

The wind-flower and the violet, 

They perish'd long ago, 
And the brier-rose and the orchis died, 

Amid the summer glow ; 
But on the hill the golden-rod, 

And the aster in the wood, 
And the yellow sun-flower by the brook 

In autumn beauty stood, 
Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, 

As falls the plague on men, 
And the brightness of their smile was gone, 

From upland, glade, and glen. 

And now, when comes the calm, mild day, 

As still such days will come, 
To call the squirrel and the bee 

From out their winter home ; 
When the sound of .dropping nuts is heard, 

Though all the trees are still, 
And twinkle in the smoky light 

The waters of the rill, 
The south wind searches for the flowers 

Whose fragrance late he bore, 
And sighs to find them in the wood 

And by the stream no more. 

And then I think of one who in 

Her youthful beauty died, 
The fair, meek blossom that grew up 

And faded by my side ; 
In the cold, moist earth we laid her, 

When the forest cast the leaf, 
And we wept that one so lovely 

Should have a life so brief: 
Yet not unmeet it was that one, 

Like that young friend of ours, 
So gentle and so beautiful, 

Should perish with the flowers. 



WILLIAM C. BRYANT. 



171 



THE FUTURE LIFE. 

How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps 
The disembodied spirits of the dead, 

When all of thee that time could wither sleeps 
And perishes among the dust we tread 1 

For I shall feel the sting of ceaseless pain 
If there I meet thy gentle presence not ; 

Nor hear the voice I love, nor read again 
In thy serenest eyes the tender thought. 

Will not thy own meek heart demand me there 7 
That heart whose fondest throbs to me were given! 

My name on earth was ever in thy prayer, 

Shall it be banish'd from thy tongue in heaven 1 ? 

In meadows framed by heaven's life-breathing wind, 
In the resplendence of that glorious sphere, 

And larger movements of the unfetter'd mind, 
Wilt thou forget the love that join'd us here; 

The love that lived through all the stormy past, 
And meekly with my harsher nature bore, 

And deeper grew, and tenderer to the last, — 
Shall it expire with life, and be no more 1 

A happier lot than mine, and larger light, 

Await thee there ; for thou hast bow'd thy will 

In cheerful homage to the rule of right, 
And lovest all, and renderest good for ill. 

For me, the sordid cares in which I dwell 

Shrink and consume the heart, as heat the scroll ; 

And wrath has left its scar — that fire of hell 
Has left its frightful scar upon my soul. 

Yet, though thou wear'st the glory of the sky, 
Wilt thou not keep the same beloved name, 

The same fair thoughtful brow, and gentle eye, 
Lovelier in heaven's sweet climate, yet the same 1 

Shalt thou not teach me in that calmer home 
The wisdom that I learn'd so ill in this — 

The wisdom which is love — till I become 
Thy fit companion in that land of bliss 1 



TO THE FRINGED GENTIAN. 

Thou blossom, bright w T ith autumn dew, 
And colour' d with the heaven's own blue, 
That openest, when the quiet light 
Succeeds the keen and frosty night. 

Thou comest not when violets lean 

O'er wandering brooks and springs unseen, 

Or columbines in purple dress'd, 

Nod o'er the ground-bird's hidden nest. 

Thou waitest late, and com'st alone, 
When woods are bare and birds are flown, 
And frosts and shortening days portend 
The aged year is near his end. 

Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye 
Look through its fringes to the sky, 
Blue — blue — as if that sky let fall 
A flower from its cerulean wall. 



I would that thus, when I shall see 
The hour of death draw near to me, 
Hope, blossoming within my heart, 
May look to heaven as I depart. 



OH, FAIREST OF THE RURAL MAIDS. 

Oh, fairest of the rural maids ! 
Thy birth was in the forest shades ; 
Green boughs, and glimpses of the sky, 
Were all that met thy infant eye. 

Thy sports, thy wanderings, when a child, 
Were ever in the sylvan wild ; 
And all the beauty of the place 
Is in thy heart and on thy face. 

The twilight of the trees and rocks 
Is in the light shade of thy locks ; 
Thy step is as the wind, that weaves 
Its playful way among the leaves. 

Thine eyes are springs, in whose serene 
And silent waters heaven is seen ; 
Their lashes are the herbs that look 
On their young figures in the brook. 

The forest depths, by foot unpress'd, 
Are not more sinless than thy breast ; 
The holy peace that fills the air 
Of those calm solitudes, is there. 



THE MAIDEN'S SORROW. 

Sevex long years has the desert rain 
Dropp'd on the clods that hide thy face ; 

Seven long years of sorrow and pain 
I have thought of thy burial place. 

Thought of thy fate in the distant west, 
Dying with none that loved thee near ; 

They who flung the earth on thy breast 
Tum'd from the spot without a tear. 

There, I think, on that lonely grave, 
Violets spring in the soft May shower ; 

There in the summer breezes wave 
Crimson phlox and moccasin flower. 

There the turtles alight, and there 
Feeds with her fawn the timid doe ; 

There, when the winter woods are bare, 
Walks the wolf on the crackling snow. 

Soon wilt thou wipe my tears away ; 

All my task upon earth is done ; 
My poor father, old and gray, 

Slumbers beneath the church-yard stone. 

In the dreams of my lonely bed, 
Ever thy form before me seems; 

All night long I talk with the dead, 
All day long I think of my dreams. 

This deep wound that bleeds and aches, 
This long pain, a sleepless pain — 

When the Father my spirit takes 
I shall feel it no more again. 



JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. 



[Born, 1795.] 



Mr. Percivae was born in Berlin, near Hart- 
ford, in Connecticut, on the fifteenth of September, 
1795. His father, an intelligent physician, died 
in 1807, and he was committed to the care of a 
guardian. His instruction continued to be care- 
fully attended to, however, and when fifteen years 
of age he entered Yale College. The condition 
of his health, which had been impaired by too close 
application to study, rendered necessary a tempo- 
rary removal from New Haven, but after an ab- 
sence of about a year he returned, and in 1815 
graduated with the reputation of being the first 
scholar of his class. He subsequently entered the 
Yale Medical School, and in 1820 received the 
degree of Doctor of Medicine. 

He began to write verses at an early age, and 
in his fourteenth year is said to have produced a 
satire in aim and execution not unlike Mr. Brt- 
axt's "Embargo." In the last year of his col- 
lege life he composed a dramatic piece to be spoken 
by some of the students at the annual commence- 
ment, which was afterwards enlarged and printed 
under the title of " Zamor, a Tragedy." He did 
not appear as an author before the public, how- 
ever, until 1821, when he published at New Haven, 
with some minor poems, the first part of his « Pro- 
metheus," which attracted considerable attention, 
and was favourably noticed in an article by Mr. 
Edward Everett, in the North American Re- 
view. 

In 1822 he published two volumes of miscella- 
neous poems and prose writings under the title of 
"Clio," the first at Charleston, South Carolina, 
and the second at New Haven. They contain 
"Consumption," "The Coral Grove," and other 
pieces which have been regarded as among the finest 
of his works. In the same year they were followed 
by an oration, previously delivered before the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society of Yale College, " On Some of 
the Moral and Political truths Derivable from His- 
tory," and the second part of " Prometheus." The 
whole of this poem contains nearly four hundred 
stanzas in the Spenserian measure. An edition of 
his principal poetical writings, embracing a few 
original pieces, appeared soon after in New York 
and was reprinted in London. 

In 1824 Dr. Percivae was appointed an assist- 
ant-surgeon in the army, and stationed at West 
Point with orders to act as Professor of Chemistry 
in the Military Academy. He had supposed that 
the duties of the office were so light as to allow 
him abundant leisure for the pursuit of his favourite 
studies, and when undeceived by the experience of 
a few months, he resigned his commission and went 
to Boston, where he passed in various literary avo- 
cations the greater portion of the year 1825. In 
this period he wrote his poem on the mind, in which 



I he intimates that its highest office is the creation 
of beauty, and that there are certain unchanging 
principles of taste, to which all works of art, all 
" linked sounds of most elaborate music," must be 
conformable, to give more than a feeble and tran- 
sient pleasure. 

Early in 1827 he published in New York the 
third volume of " Clio," and was afterwards engaged 
nearly two years in superintending the printing of 
the first quarto edition of Dr. Webster's Ameri- 
can Dictionary, a service for which he was emi- 
nently qualified by an extensive and critical ac- 
quaintance with ancient and modern languages. 
His next work was a new translation of Malte- 
Brux's Geography, from the French, which was 
not completed until 1843. 

From his boyhood Dr. Percival has been an 
earnest and constant student, and there are few 
branches of learning with which he is not familiar. 
Perhaps there is not in the country a man of more 
thorough and comprehensive scholarship. In 1835 
he was employed by the government of Connecti- 
cut to make a geological survey of that state, which 
he had already very carefully explored on his own 
account. His Report on the subject, which is very 
able and elaborate, was printed in an octavo volume 
of nearly five hundred pages, in 1842. While en- 
gaged in these duties he published, poetical trans- 
lations from the Polish, Russian, Servian, Bohe- 
mian, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Italian, 
Spanish, and Portuguese languages, and wrote a con- 
siderable portion of " The Dream of Day and other 
Poems," which appeared at New Haven in 1843. 
This is his last volume; it embraces more than 
one hundred and fifty varieties of measure, and 
its contents generally show his familiar acquaint- 
ance with the poetical art, which in his preface 
he observes, " requires a mastery of the riches 
and niceties of a language ; a full knowledge of 
the science of versification, not only in its own pe- 
culiar principles of rhythm and melody, but in its 
relation to elocution and music, with that delicate 
natural perception and that facile execution which 
render the composition of verse hardly less easy 
than that of prose ; a deep and quick insight into 
the nature of man, in all his varied faculties, in- 
tellectual and emotive ; a clear and full perception 
of the power and beauty of nature, and of all its 
various harmonies with our own thoughts and feel- 
ings ; and, to gain a high rank in the present age, 
wide and exact attainments in literature and art in 
general. Nor is the possession of such faculties 
and attainments all that is necessary ; but such a 
sustained and self-collected state of mind as gives 
one the mastery of his genius, and at the same time 
presents to him the ideal as an immediate reality, 
not as a remote conception." 

172 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



173 



There are few men who possess these high quali- 
ties in a more eminent degree than Percival ; 
but with the natural qualities of a great poet, and 
his comprehensive and thorough learning, he 
lacks the executive skill, or declines the labour, 
without which few authors gain immortality. He 
has considerable imagination, remarkable com- 
mand of language, and writes with a facility rarely 
equalled ; but when his thoughts are once committed 
to the page, he shrinks from the labour of revising, 



correcting, and condensing. He remarks in one 
of his prefaces, that his verse is « very far from 
bearing the marks of the file and the burnisher," 
and that he likes to see " poetry in the full ebulli- 
tion of feeling and fancy, foaming up with the 
spirit of life, and glowing with the rainbows of a 
glad inspiration." If by this he means that a poet 
should reject the slow and laborious process by 
which a polished excellence is attained, very few who 
have acquired good reputations will agree with him. 



CONCLUSION OF THE DREAM OF A 
DAY. 

A spirit stood before me, half unseen, 
Majestic and severe ; yet o'er him play'd 

A genial light — subdued though high his mien, 
As by a strong collected spirit sway'd — 

In even balance justly poised between [stay'd — 
Each wild extreme, proud strength by feeling 

Dwelling in upper realms serenely bright, 

Lifted above the shadowy sphere of night. 

He stood before me, and I heard a tone, 
Such as from mortal lips had never flow'd, 

Soft yet commanding, gentle yet alone, 

It bow'd the listener's heart — anon it glow'd 

Intensely fervent, then like wood-notes thrown 
On the- chance winds, in airy lightness rode — 

Now swell'd like ocean surge, now pausing fell 

Like the last murmur of a muffled bell. 

" Lone pilgrim through life's gloom," thus spake 
the shade, 

" Hold on with steady will along thy way : 
Thou, by a kindly favouring hand Wert made — 

Hard though thy lot, yet thine what can repay 
Long years of bitter toil — the holy aid 

Of spirit aye is thine, be that thy stay : 
Thine to behold the true, to feel the pure, 
To know the good and lovely — these endure. 

Hold on — thou hast in thee thy best reward ; 

Poor are the largest stores of sordid gain, 
If from the heaven of thought thy soul is barr'd, 

If the high spirit's bliss is sought in vain : 
Think not thy lonely lot is cold or hard, 

The world has never bound thee with its chain ; 
Free as the birds of heaven thy heart can soar, 
Thou canst create new worlds — whatwouldst thou 
more 1 

The future age will know thee — yea, even now 
Hearts beat and tremble at thy bidding, tears 

Flow as thou movest thy wand, thy word can bow 
Even ruder natures, the dull soul uprears 

As thou thy trumpet blast attunest — thou 
Speakest, and each remotest valley hears : 

Thou hast the gift of song — a wealth is thine, 

Richer than all the treasures of the mine. 

Hold on, glad spirits company thy path — 

They minister to thee, though all unseen : 
Even when the tempest lifts its voice in wrath, 



Thou joyest in its strength ; the orient sheen 
Gladdens thee with its beauty ; winter hath 

A holy charm that soothes thee, like the green 
Of infant May — all nature is thy friend, 
All seasons to thy life enchantment lend. 

Man, too, thou know'st and feelest — all the springs 
That wake his smile and tear, his joy and sorrow, 

All that uplifts him on emotion's wings, 

Each longing for a fair and blest to-morrow, 

Each tone that soothes or saddens, all that rings 
Joyously to him, thou canst fitly borrow 

From thy own breast, and blend it in a strain, 

To which each human heart beats back again. 

Thine the unfetter'd thought, alone controll'd 
By nature's truth ; thine the wide-seeing eye, 

Catching the delicate shades, yet apt to hold 
The whole in its embrace — before it lie 

Pictured in fairest light, as chart unroll'd, 
Fields of the present and of destiny : 

The voice of truth amid the senseless throng 

May now be lost; 'tis heard and felt ere long. 

Hold on — five for the world — live for all time — 
Rise in thy conscious power, but gently bear 

Thy form among thy fellows ; sternly climb 

The spirit's alpine peaks ; mid snow towers there 

Nurse the pure thought, but yet accordant chime 
With lowlier hearts in valleys green and fair, — 

Sustain thyself — yield to no meaner hand, 

Even though he rule awhile thy own dear land. 

Brief is his power, oblivion waits the churl 
Bound to his own poor self; his form decays, 

But sooner fades his name. Thou shalt unfurl 
Thy standard to the winds of future days — 

Well mayest thou in thy soul defiance hurl 

On such who would subdue thee ; thou shalt raise 

Thy name, when they are dust, and nothing more ■ 

Hold on — in earnest hope still look before. 

Nerved to a stern resolve, fulfil thy lot — 
Reveal the secrets nature has unveil'd thee ; 

All higher gifts by toil intense are bought — 
Has thy firm will in action ever fail'd thee 1 

Only on distant summits fame is sought — 

Sorrow and gloom thy nature has entail'd thee, 

But bright thy present joys, and brighter far 

The hope that draws thee like a heavenly star." 

The voice was still — its tone in distance dying 
Breathed in my ear, like harp faint heard at even, 
p2 



174 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



Soft as the autumn wind through sere leaves s ighing 
When flaky clouds athwart the moon are* driven 

Far through the viewless gloom the spirit flying, 
Wing'd his high passage to his native heaven, 

But o'er me still he seem'd in kindness bending, 

Fresh hope and firmer purpose to me lending. 



THE POET. 

Deep sunk in thought, he sat beside the river — 
Its wave in liquid lapses glided by, 
Nor watch'd, in crystal depth, his vacant eye 

The willow's high o'er- arching foliage quiver. 

From dream to shadowy dream returning ever, 
He sat, like statue, on the grassy verge ; 
His thoughts, a phantom train, in airy surge 

Stream'd visionary onward, pausing never. 

As autumn wind, in mountain forest weaving 
Its wondrous tapestry of leaf and bower, 
O'ermastering the night's resplendent flower 

With tints, like hues of heaven, the eye deceiving — 
So, lost in labyrinthine maze, he wove 
A wreath of flowers ; the golden thread was love. 



NIGHT. 



Am I not all alone 1 — The world is still 

In passionless slumber — not a tree but feels 
The far-pervading hush, and softer steals 

The misty river by. — Yon broad bare hill 
Looks coldly up to heaven, and all the stars 
Seem eyes deep fix'd in silence, as if bound 
By some unearthly spell — no other sound 
But the owl's unfrequent moan. — Their airy cars 

The winds have station'd on the mountain peaks. 

Am I not all alone] — A spirit speaks 

From the abyss of night, " Not all alone — 

Nature is round thee with her banded powers, 

And ancient genius haunts thee in these hours — 
Mind and its kingdom now are all thy own." 



CHORIAMBIC MELODY. 

Beab me afar o'er the wave, far to the sacred 

islands, 
Where ever bright blossoms the plain, where no 

cloud hangs on the highlands — 
There be my heart ever at rest, stirr'd by no wild 

emotion : 
There on the earth only repose, halcyon calm on the 

ocean. 

Lay me along, pillow'd on flowers, where steals in 

silence for ever 
Over its sands, still as at noon, far the oblivious 

river. 
Scarce through the grass whispers it by; deep in 

its wave you may number 
Pebble and shell, and image of flower, folded and 

bent in slumber. 



Spirit of life ! rather aloft, where on the crest of 

the mountain, 
Clear blow the winds, fresh from the north, sparkles 

and dashes the fountain, 
Lead me along, hot in the chase, still 'mid the storm 

high glowing — 
Only we live — only, when life, like the wild torrent, 

is flowing. 



SAPPHO. 

She stands in act to fall — her garland torn, 
Its wither'd rose-leaves round the rock are blowing; 
Loose to the winds her locks dishevell'd flowing 

Tell of the many sorrows she has borne. 

Her eye, up-turn'd to heaven, has lost its Are — 
One hand is press'd to feel her bosom's beating, 
And mark her lingering pulses back retreating — 

The other wanders o'er her silent lyre. 

Clear rolls the midway sun — she knows it not ; 
Vainly the winds waft by the flower's perfume ; 
To her the sky is hung in deepest gloom — 

She only feels the noon-beam burning hot. 

What to the broken heart the dancing waves, 
The air all kindling — what a sounding name ] 
! what a mockery, to dream of fame — 

It only lures us on to make us slaves. 

And Love — O ! what art thou with alt thy light 1 
Ineffable joy is round thee, till we know, 

Thou art but as a vision of the night — 
And then the bursting heart, how deep its wo. 

« They tell me I shall live — my name shall rise, 
When nature falls — ! blest illusion, stay — " 
A moment hopes and joys around her play; 

Then darkness hides her — faint she sinks and dies. 



THE FESTIVE EVENING. 

Cheerful glows the festive chamber ; 

In the circle pleasure smiles : 
Mounts the flame, like wreaths of amber : 

Bright as love, its warmth beguiles. 
Glad the heart with joy is lighted ; 
Hand with hand, in faith, is plighted, 

As around the goblet flows. 
Fill — fill — fill, and quaff the liquid rose ! 
Bright it glows — 

! how bright the bosom glows. 

Pure as light, our social meeting : 

Hei'e no passion dares invade. 
Joys we know, not light and fleeting : 

Flowers we twine, that never fade. 
Ours are links, not time can sever: 
Brighter still they glow for ever — 

Glow in yon eternal day. 
No — no — no, ye will not pass away — 
Ye will stay — 

Social joys, for ever stay ! 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



175 



THE SUN. 

Centhe of light and energy ! thy way 
'is through the unknown void ; thou hast thy 
throne, 
Morning, and evening, and at noon of day, 
Far in the blue, untended and alone : 
Ere the first- waken'd airs of earth had blown, 
On thou didst march, triumphant in thy light ; 
Then thou didst send thy glance, which still 
hath flown 
Wide through the never-ending worlds of night, 
And yet thy full orb bums with flash as keen and 
bright. 

We call thee Lord of Day, and thou dost give 

To earth the fire that animates her crust, 
And wakens all the forms that move and live, 

From the fine, viewless mould which lurks in 
dust, 

To him who looks to heaven, and on his bust 
Bears stamp'd the seal of God, who gathers there 

Lines of deep thought, high feeling, daring trust 
In his own center'd powers, who aims to share 
In all his soul can frame of wide, and great, and fair. 

Thy path is high in heaven ; we cannot gaze 
On the intense of light that girds thy car; 

There is a crown of glory in thy rays, 
Which bears thy pure divinity afar, 
To mingle with the equal light of star, — 

For thou, so vast to us, art in the whole 
One of the sparks of night that fire the air, 

And, as around thy centre planets roll, 

So thou, too, hast thy path around the central soul. 

I am no fond idolater to thee, 

One of the countless multitude, who burn, 
As lamps, around the one Eternity, 

In whose contending forces systems turn 

Their circles round that seat of life, the urn 
Where all must sleep, if matter ever dies : 

Sight fails me here, but fancy can discern 
With the wide glance of her all-seeing eyes, 
Where, in the heart of worlds, the ruling Spirit lies. 

And thou, too, hast thy world, and unto thee 

We are as nothing; thou goest forth alone, 
And movest through the wide, aerial sea, 
Glad as a conqueror resting on his throne 
From a new victory, where he late had shown 
Wider his power to nations ; so thy light 
Comes with new pomp, as if thy strength had 

grown 
With each revolving day, or thou, at night, 
Had lit again thy fires, and thus renew'd thy might. 

Age o'er thee has no power : thou bring'st the same 
Light to renew the morning, as when first, 

If not eternal, thou, with front of flame, 
On the dark face of earth in glory burst, 
And warm'd the seas, and in their bosom nursed 

The earliest things of life, the worm and shell ; 
Till, through the sinking ocean, mountains 
pierced, 

And then came forth the land whereon we dwell, 

Rear'd, like a magic fane, above the watery swell. 



And there thy searching heat awoke the seeds 
Of all that gives a charm to earth, and lends 
An energy to nature ; all that feeds 

On the rich mould, and then, in bearing, bends 
Its fruits again to earth, wherein it blends 
The last and first of life ; of all who bear 

Their forms in motion, where the spirit tends, 
Instinctive, in their common good to share, 
Which lies in things that breathe, or late were 
living there. 

They live in thee : without thee, all were dead 
And dark ; no beam had lighted on the waste, 

But one eternal night around had spread 
Funereal gloom, and coldly thus defaced 
This Eden, which thy fairy hand hath graced 

With such uncounted beauty ; all that blows 
In the fresh air of spring, and, growing, braced 

Its form to manhood, when it stands and glows 

In the full-temper'd beam, that gladdens as it goes. 

Thou lookest on the earth, and then it smiles ; 

Thy light is hid, and all things droop and mourn ; 
Laughs the wide sea around her budding isles, 
When through their heaven thy changing car is 

borne ; 
Thou wheel'st away thy flight, the woods are 
shorn 
Of all their waving locks, and storms awake ; 

All, that was once so beautiful, is torn 
By the wild winds which plough the lonely lake, 
And, in their maddening rush, the crested moun- 
tains shake. 

The earth lies buried in a shroud of snow ; 

Life lingers, and would die, but thy return 
Gives to their gladden'd hearts an overflow 

Of all the power that, brooded in the urn 

Of their chill'd frames, and then they proudly 
spurn 
All bands that would confine, and give to air 

Hues, fragrance, shapes of beauty, till they burn, 
When, on a dewy morn, thou dartest there 
Eich waves of gold to wreathe with fairer light the 
fair. 

The vales are thine ; and when the touch of spring 
Thrills them, and gives them gladness, in thy light 

They glitter, as the glancing swallow's wing 
Dashes the water in his winding flight, 
And leaves behind a wave that crinkles bright, 

And widens outward to the pebbled shore, — 
The vales are thine ; and when they wake from 
night, 

The dews that bend the grass-tips, twinkling o'er 

Their soft and oozy beds, look upward, and adore. 

The hills are thine : they catch thy newest beam, 
And gladden in thy parting, where the wood 

Flames out in every leaf, and drinks the stream, 
That flows from out thy fulness, as a flood 
Bursts from an unknown land, and rolls the food 

Of nations in its waters : so thy rays 

Flow and give brighter tints than ever bud, 

When a clear sheet of ice reflects a blaze 

Of many twinkling gems, as every gloss'd bough 
plays. 



17G 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



Thine are the mountains, where they purely lift 

Snows that have never wasted, in a sky 
Which hath no stain ; below, the storm may drift 

Its darkness, and the thunder-gust roar by ; 

Aloft in thy eternal smile they lie, 
Dazzling, but cold ; thy farewell glance looks there ; 

And when below thy hues of beauty die, 
Girt round them, as a rosy belt, they bear, 
Into the high, dark vault, a brow that still is fair. 

The clouds are thine, and all their magic hues 
Are pencill'd by thee ; when thou bendest low, 

Or comest in thy strength, thy hand imbues 
Their waving fold with such a perfect glow 
Of all pure tints, the fairy pictures throw 

Shame on the proudest art; the tender stain 
Hung round the verge of heaven, that as a bow 

Girds the wide world, and in their blended chain 

All tints to the deep gold that flashes in thy train : 

These are thy trophies, and thou bend'st thy arch, 
The sign of triumph, in a seven-fold twine, 

Where the spent storm is hasting on its march, 
And there the glories of thy light combine, 
And form with perfect curve a lifted line, 

Striding the earth and air ; man looks, and tells 
How peace and mercy in its beauty shine, 

And how the heavenly messenger impels 

Her glad wings on the path, that thus in ether 
swells. 

The ocean is thy vassal ; thou dost sway 

His waves to thy dominion, and they go 
Where thou, in heaven, dost guide them on their 
way, 
Rising and falling in eternal flow ; 
Thou lookest on the waters, and they glow; 
They take them wings, and spring aloft in air, 
And change to clouds, and then, dissolving, 
throw 
Their treasures back to earth, and, rushing, tear 
The mountain and the vale, as proudly on they 
bear. 

I, too, have been upon thy rolling breast, 
Widest of waters ; I have seen thee lie 

Calm, as an infant pillow'd in its rest 

On a fond mother's bosom, when the sky, 
Not smoother, gave the deep its azure dye, 

Till a new heaven was arch'd and glass'd below; 
And then the clouds, that, gay in sunset, fly, 

Cast on it such a stain, it kindled so, 

As in the cheek of youth the living roses grow. 

I, too, have seen thee on thy surging path, 

When the night-tempest met thee: thou didst 
dash 

Thy white arms high in heaven, as if in wrath, 
Threatening the angry sky ; thy waves did lash 
The labouring vessel, and with deadening crash 

Rush madly forth to scourge its groaning sides ; 
Onward thy billows came, to meet and clash 

In a wild warfare, till the lifted tides 

Mingled their yesty tops, where the dark storm- 
cloud rides. 

In thee, first light, the bounding ocean smiles, 
When the quick winds uprear it in a swell, 



That rolls, in glittering green, around the isles, 
Where ever-springing fruits and blossoms dwell; 
O ! with a joy no gifted tongue can tell, 

I hurry o'er the waters, when the sail 

Swells tensely, and the light keel glances well 

Over the curling billow, and the gale 

Comes off the spicy groves to tell its winning tale. 

The soul is thine : of old thou wert the power 

Who gave the poet life ; and I in thee 
Feel my heart gladden at the holy hour 

When thou art sinking in the silent sea ; 

Or when I climb the height, and wander free 
In thy meridian glory, for the air 

Sparkles and burns in thy intensity, 
I feel thy light within me, and I share 
In the full glow of soul thy spirit kindles there. 



CONSUMPTION. 

There is a sweetness in woman's decay, 
When the light of beauty is fading away, 
When the bright enchantment of youth is gone, 
And the tint that glow'd, and the eye that shone, 
And darted around its glance of power, 
And the lip that vied with the sweetest flower 
That ever in Psestum's* garden blew, 
Or ever was steep'd in fragrant dew, 
When all that was bright and fair is fled, 
But the loveliness lingering round the dead. 

! there is a sweetness in beauty's close, 
Like the perfume scenting the wither'd rose; 
For a nameless charm around her plays, 
And her eyes are kindled with hallow'd rays ; 
And a veil of spotless purity 
Has mantled her cheek with its heavenly dye, 
Like a cloud whereon the queen of night 
Has pour'd her softest tint of light ; 
And there is a blending of white and blue, 
Where the purple blood is melting through 
The snow of her pale and tender cheek; 
And there are tones that sweetly speak 
Of a spirit who longs for a purer day, 
And is ready to wing her flight away. 

In the flush of youth, and the spring of feeling, 
When life, like a sunny stream, is stealing 
Its silent steps through a flowery path, 
And all the endearments that pleasure hath 
Are pour'd from her full, o'erflowing horn, 
When the rose of enjoyment conceals no thorn, 
In her lightness of heart, to the cheery song 
The maiden may trip in the dance along, 
And think of the passing moment, that lies, 
Like a fairy dream, in her dazzled eyes, 
And yield to the present, that charms around 
With all that is lovely in sight and sound ; 
Where a thousand pleasing phantoms flit, 
With the voice of mirth, and the burst of wit, 
And the music that steals to the bosom's core, 
And the heart in its fulness flowing o'er 
With a few big drops, that are soon repress'd, 
For short is the stay of grief in her breast : 

* Biferique rosaria Pasti.— Virg. 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



177 



In this enliven'd and gladsome hour 

The spirit may burn with a brighter power ; 

But dearer the calm and quiet day, 

When the heaven-sick soul is stealing away. 

And when her sun is low declining, 
And life wears out with no repining, 
And the whisper, that tells of early death, 
Is soft as the west wind's balmy breath, 
When it comes at the hour of still repose, 
To sleep in the breast of the wooing rose : 
And the lip, that swell'd with a living glow, 
Is pale as a curl of new-fallen snow : 
And her cheek, like the Parian stone, is fair, — 
But the hectic spot that flushes there 
When the tide of life, from its secret dwelling, 
In a sudden gush, is deeply swelling. 
And giving a tinge to her icy lips, 
Like the crimson rose's brightest tips, 
As richly red, and as transient too 
As the clouds in autumn's sky of blue, 
That seem like a host of glory, met 
To honour the sun at his golden set ; 
O ! then, when the spirit is taking wing, 
How fondly her thoughts to her dear one cling, 
As if she would blend her soul with his 
In a deep and long-imprinted kiss ; 
So fondly the panting camel flies, 
Where the glassy vapour cheats his eyes ; 
And the dove from the falcon seeks her nest, 
And the infant shrinks to its mother's breast. 
And though her dying voice be mute, 
Or faint as the tones of an unstrung lute, 
And though the glow from her cheek be fled, 
And her pale lips cold as the marble dead, 
Her eye still beams unwonted fires, 
With a woman's love, and a saint's desires, 
And her last, fond, lingering look is given 
To the love she leaves, and then to heaven, 
As if she would bear that love away 
To a purer world, and a brighter day. 



TO THE EAGLE. 

Bird of the broad and sweeping wing, 

Thy home is high in heaven, 
Where wide the storms their banners fling, 

And the tempest clouds are driven. 
Thy throne is on the mountain top ; 

Thy fields, the boundless air; 
And hoary peaks, that proudly prop 

The skies, thy dwellings are. 

Thou sittest like a thing of light, 

Amid the noontide blaze : 
The midway sun is clear and bright; 

It cannot dim thy gaze. 
Thy pinions, to the rushing blast, 

O'er the bursting billow, spread, 
Where the vessel plunges, hurry past, 

Like an angel of the dead. 

Thou art perch'd aloft on the beetling crag, 
And the waves are white below, 

And on, with a haste that cannot lag, 
They rush in an endless flow. 
23 



Again thou hast plumed thy wing for flight 

To lands beyond the sea, 
And away, like a spirit wreathed in light, 

Thou hurriest, wild and free. 

Thou hurriest over the myriad waves, 

And thou leavest them all behind ; 
Thou sweepest that place of unknown graves, 

Fleet as the tempest wind. 
When the night-storm gathers dim and dark 

With a shrill and boding scream, 
Thou rushest by the foundering bark, 

Quick as a passing dream. 

Lord of the boundless realm of air, 

In thy imperial name, 
The hearts of the bold and ardent dare 

The dangerous path of fame. 
Beneath the shade of thy golden wings, 

The Roman legions bore, 
From the river of Egypt's cloudy springs, 

Their pride, to the polar shore. 

For thee they fought, for thee they fell, 

And their oath was on thee laid ; 
To thee the clarions raised their swell, 

And the dying warrior pray'd. 
Thou wert, through an age of death and fears, 

The image of pride and power, 
Till the gather'd rage of a thousand years 

Burst forth in one awful hour. 

And then a deluge of wrath it came, 

And the nations shook with dread ; 
And it swept the earth till its fields were flame, 

And piled with the mingled dead. 
Kings were roll'd in the wasteful flood, 

With the low and crouching slave ; 
And together lay, in a shroud of blood, 

The coward and the brave. 

And where was then thy fearless flight? 

" O'er the dark, mysterious sea, 
To the lands that caught the setting light, 

The cradle of Liberty. 
There, on the silent and lonely shore, 

For ages, I watch'd alone, 
And the world, in its darkness, ask'd no mere 

Where the glorious bird had flown. 

"But then came a bold and hardy few, 

And they breasted the unknown wave ; 
I caught afar the wandering crew; 

And I knew they were high and brave. 
I wheel'd around the welcome bark, 

As it sought the desolate shore, 
And up to heaven, like a joyous lark, 

My quivering pinions bore. 

" And now that bold and hardy few 

Are a nation wide and strong ; 
And danger and doubt I have led them through, 

And they worship me in song; 
And over their bright and glancing arms, 

On field, and lake, and sea, 
With an eye that fires, and a spell that charms, 

I guide them to victory." 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



PREVALENCE OF POETRY. 

The world is full of poetry — the air 
Is living with its spirit ; and the waves 
Dance to the music of its melodies, 
And sparkle in its brightness. Earth is veil'd, 
And mantled with its beauty ; and the walls, 
That close the universe with crystal in, 
Are eloquent with voices, that proclaim 
The unseen glories of immensity, 
In harmonies, too perfect, and too high, 
For aught but beings of celestial mould, 
And speak to man in one eternal hymn, 
Unfading beauty, and unyielding power. 

The year leads round the seasons, in a choir 
Forever charming, and forever new, 
Blending the grand, the beautiful, the gay, 
The mournful, and the tender, in one strain, 
Which steals into the heart, like sounds, that rise 
Far off, in moonlight evenings, on the shore 
Of the wide ocean, resting after storms ; 
Or tones, that wind around the vaulted roof, 
And pointed arches, and retiring aisles 
Of some old, lonely minster, where the hand, 
Skilful, and moved, with passionate love of art, 
Plays o'er the higher keys, and bears aloft 
The peal of bursting thunder, and then calls, 
By mellow touches, from the softer tubes, 
Voices of melting tenderness, that blend 
With pure and gentle musings, till the soul, 
Commingling with the melody, is borne, 
Rapt, and dissolved in ecstasy, to heaven. 

'Tis not the chime and flow of words, that move 
In measured file, and metrical array ; 
'T is not the union of returning sounds, 
Nor all the pleasing artifice of rhyme, 
And quantity, and accent, that can give 
This all-pervading spirit to the ear, 
Or blend it with the movings of the soul. 
'Tis a mysterious feeling, which combines 
Man with the world around him, in a chain 
Woven of flowers, and dipp'd in sweetness, till 
He taste the high communion of his thoughts, 
With all existence, in earth and heaven, 
That meet him in the charm of grace and power. 
'T is not the noisy babbler, who displays, 
In studied phrase, and ornate epithet, 
And rounded period, poor and vapid thoughts, 
Which peep from out the cumbrous ornaments 
That overload their littleness. Its words 
Are few, but deep and solemn ; and they break 
Fresh from the fount of feeling, and are full 
Of all that passion, which, on Carmel, fired 
The holy prophet, when his lips were coals, 
His language wing'd with terror, as when bolts 
Leap from the brooding tempest, arm'd with wrath, 
Commission'd to affright us, and destroy. 

Passion, when deep, is still : the glaring eye 
That reads its enemy with glance of fire, 
The lip, that curls and writhes in bitterness, 
The brow contracted, till its wrinkles hide 
The keen, fix'd orbs, that burn and flash below, 
The hand firm clench' d and quivering, and the 
foot 



Planted in attitude to spring, and dart 

Its vengeance, are the language it employs. 

So the poetic feeling needs no words 

To give it utterance ; but it swells, and glows, 

And revels in the ecstasies of soul, 

And sits at banquet with celestial forms, 

The beings of its own creation, fair 

And lovely, as e'er haunted wood and wave, 

When earth was peopled, in its solitudes, 

With nymph and naiad — mighty, as the gods, 

Whose palace was Olympus, and the clouds, 

That hung, in gold and flame, around its brow ; 

Who bore, upon their features, all that grand 

And awful dignity of front, which bows 

The eye that gazes on the marble Jove, 

Who hurls, in wrath, his thunder, and the god, 

The image of a beauty, so divine, 

So masculine, so artless, that we seem 

To share in his intensity of joy, 

When, sure as fate, the bounding arrow sped, 

And darted to the scaly monster's heart. 

This spirit is the breath of Nature, blown 
Over the sleeping forms of clay, who else 
Doze on through life in blank stupidity, 
Till by its blast, as by a touch of fire, 
They rouse to lofty purpose, and send out, 
In deeds of energy, the rage within. 
Its seat is deeper in the savage breast, 
Than in the man of cities ; in the child, 
Than in the maturer bosoms. Art may prune 
Its rank and wild luxuriance, and may train 
Its strong out-breakings, and its vehement gusts 
To soft refinement, and amenity ; 
But all its energy has vanish'd, all 
Its maddening, and commanding spirit gone, 
And all its tender touches, and its tones 
Of soul-dissolving pathos, lost and hid 
Among the measured notes, that move as dead 
And heartless, as the puppets in a show. 

Well I remember, in my boyish days, 
How deep the feeling, when my eye look'd forth 
On Nature, in her loveliness, and storms ; 
How my heart gladden'd, as the light of spring 
Came from the sun, with zephyrs, and with 

showers, 
Waking the earth to "beauty, and the woods 
To music, and the atmosphere to blow, 
Sweetly and calmly, with its breath of balm. 
! how I gazed upon the dazzling blue 
Of summer's heaven of glory, and the waves, 
That roll'd, in bending gold, o'er hill and plain; 
And on the tempest, when it issued forth, 
! In folds of blackness, from the northern sky, 
And stood above the mountains, silent, dark, 
Frowning, and terrible ; then sent abroad 
The lightning, as its herald, and the peal, 
That roll'd in deep, deep volleys, round the hills, 
The warning of its coming, and the sound, 
That usher'd in its elemental war. 
And, O ! I stood, in breathless longing fix'd, 
Trembling, and yet not fearful, as the clouds 
Heaved their dark billows on the roaring winds, 
That sent, from mountain top, and bending wood, 
A long, hoarse murmur, like the rush of waves, 
That burst, in foam and fury, on the shore. 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



179 



Nor less the swelling of my heart, when high 
Rose the blue arch of autumn, cloudless, pure 
As nature, at her dawning, when she sprang 
Fresh from the hand that wrought her ; where the eye 
Caught not a speck upon the soft serene, 
To stain its deep cerulean, but the cloud, 
That floated, like a lonely spirit, there, 
White as the snow of Zemla, or the foam 
That on the mid-sea tosses, cinctured round, 
In easy undulations, with a belt 
Woven of bright Apollo's golden hair. 
Nor, when that arch, in winter's clearest night, 
Mantled in ebon darkness, strew'd with stars 
Its canopy, that seem'd to swell, and swell 
The higher, as I gazed upon it, till, 
Sphere after sphere, evolving, on the height 
Of heaven, the everlasting throne shone through, 
In glory's effulgence, and a wave, 
Intensely bright, roll'd, like a fountain, forth 
Beneath its sapphire pedestal, and stream'd 
Down the long galaxy, a flood of snow, 
Bathing the heavens in light, the spring, that gush'd, 
In overflowing richness, from the breast 
Of all-maternal nature. These I saw, 
And felt to madness ; but my full heart gave 
No utterance to the ineffable within. 
Words were too weak ; they were unknown ; but still 
The feeling was most poignant : it has gone ; 
And all the deepest flow of sounds, that e'er 
Pour'd, in a torrent fulness, from the tongue 
Rich with the wealth of ancient bards, and stored 
With all the patriarchs of British song 
Hallow'd and render'd glorious, cannot tell 
Those feelings, which have died, to live no more. 



CLOUDS. 

Ye Clouds, who are the ornament of heaven ; 
Who give to it its gayest shadowings, 
And its most awful glories ; ye who roll 
In the dark tempest, or at dewy evening 
Hang low in tenderest beauty ; ye who, ever 
Changing your Protean aspects, now are gather'd, 
Like fleecy piles, when the mid-sun is brightest, 
Even in the height of heaven, and there repose, 
Solemnly calm, without a visible motion, 
Hour after hour, looking upon the earth 
With a serenest smile : — or ye who rather 
Heap'd in those sulphury masses, heavily 
Jutting above their bases, like the smoke 
Pour'd from a furnace or a roused volcano, 
Stand on the dun horizon, threatening 
Lightning and storm — who, lifted from the hills, 
March onward to the zenith, ever darkening, 
And heaving into more gigantic towers 
And mountainous piles of blackness — who then roar 
With the collected winds within jowc womb, 
Or the far utter'd thunders — who ascend 
Swifter and swifter, till wide overhead 
Your vanguards curl and toss upon the tempest 
Like the stirr'd ocean on a reef of rocks 
Just topping o'er its waves, while deep below 
The pregnant mass of vapour and of flame 



Rolls with an awful pomp, and grimly lowers, 
Seeming to the struck eye of fear the car 
Of an offended spirit, whose swart features 
Glare through the sooty darkness — fired with ven- 
geance, 
| And ready with uplifted hand to smite 
And scourge a guilty nation ; ye who lie, 
After the storm is over, far away, 
Crowning the dripping forests with the arch 
Of beauty, such as lives alone in heaven, 
Bright daughter of the sun, bending around 
From mountain unto mountain, like the wreath 
Of victory, or like a banner telling 
Of joy and gladness ; ye who round the moon 
Assemble when she sits in the mid-sky 
In perfect brightness, and encircle her 
With a fair wreath of all aerial dyes : 
Ye who, thus hovering round her, shine like moun- 
tains 
Whose tops are never darken'd, but remain, 
Centuries and countless ages, reard for temples 
Of purity and light ; or ye who crowd 
To hail the new-born day, and hang for him, 
Above his ocean-couch, a canopy 
Of all inimitable hues and colours, 
Such as are only pencil'd by the hands 
Of the unseen ministers of earth and air, 
Seen only in the tinting of the clouds, 
And the soft shadowing of plumes and flowers ; 
Or ye who, following in his funeral train. 
Light up your torches at his sepulchre. 
And open on us through the clefted hills 
Far glances into glittering worlds beyond 
The twilight of the grave, where all is light, 
Golden and glorious light, too full and high 
For mortal eye to gaze on, stretching out 
Brighter and ever brighter, till it spread, 
Like one wide, radiant ocean, without bounds, 
One infinite sea of glory: — Thus, ye clouds, 
And in innumerable other shapes 
Of greatness or of beauty, ye attend us, 
To give to the wide arch above us, life 
And all its changes. Thus it is to us 
A volume full of wisdom, but without ye 
One awful iiniformity had ever 
With too severe a majesty oppress'd us. 



MORNING AMONG THE HILLS. 

A :stight had pass'd away among the hills, 
And now the first faint tokens of the dawn 
Show'd in the east. The bright and dewy star, 
Whose mission is to usher in the morn, 
Look'd through the cool air, like a blessed thing 
In a far purer world. Below there lay, 
Wrapp'd round a woody mountain tranquilly, 
A misty cloud. Its edges caught the light, 
That now came up from out the unseen depth 
Of the full fount of day, and they were laced 
With colours ever brightening. I had waked 
From a long sleep of many changing dreams, 
And now in the fresh forest air I stood 
Nerved to another dav of wandering. 



180 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



Before me rose a pinnacle of rock, 

Lifted above the wood that hemm'd it in, 

And now already glowing. There the beams 

Came from the far horizon, and they wrapp'd it 

In light and glory. Round its vapoury cone 

A crown of far-diverging rays shot out, 

And gave to it the semblance of an altar 

Lit for the worship of the undying flame, 

That center'd in the circle of the sun, 

Now coming from the ocean's fathomless caves, 

Anon would stand in solitary pomp 

Above the loftiest peaks, and cover them 

With splendour as a garment. Thitherward 

T bent my eager steps ; and through the grove, 

Now dark as deepest night, and thickets hung 

With a rich harvest of unnumber'd gems, 

Waiting a clearer dawn to catch the hues 

Shed from the starry fringes of its veil 

On cloud, and mist, and dew, and backward thrown 

In infinite reflections, on I went, 

Mounting with hasty foot, and thence emerging, 

I scaled that rocky steep, and there awaited 

Silent the full appearing of the sun. 

Below there lay a far-extended sea, 
Rolling in feathery waves. The wind blew o'er it, 
And toss'd it round the high-ascending rocks, 
And swept it through the half-hidden forest tops, 
Till, like an ocean waking into storm, 
It heaved and welter'd. Gloriously the light 
Crested its billows, and those craggy islands 
Shone on it like to palaces of spar 
Built on a sea of pearl. Far overhead, 
Thy sky, without a vapour or a stain, 
Intensely blue, even deepen'd into purple, 
When nearer the horizon it received 
A tincture from the mist that there dissolved 
Into the viewless air, — the sky bent round, 
The awful dome of a most mighty temple, 
Built by omnipotent hands for nothing less 
Than infinite worship. There I stood in silence — 
I had no words to tell the mingled thoughts 
Of wonder and of joy that then came o'er me, 
Even with a whirlwind's rush. So beautiful, 
So bright, so glorious ! Such a majesty 
In yon pure vault! So many dazzling tints 
In yonder waste of waves, — so like the ocean 
With its unnumber'd islands there encircled 
By foaming surges, that the mounting eagle, 
Lifting his fearless pinion through the clouds 
To bathe in purest sunbeams, seem'd an ospray 
Hovering above his prey, and yon tall pines, 
Their tops half-mantled in a snowy veil, 
A frigate with full canvass, bearing on 
To conquest and to glory. But even these 
Had round them something of the lofty air 
In which they moved ; not like \o things of earth, 
But heighten'd, and made glorious, as became 
Such pomp and splendour. 

Who can tell the brightness, 
That every moment caught a newer glow, 
That circle, with its centre like the heart 
Of elemental fire, and spreading out 
In floods of liquid gold on the blue sky 
And on the ophaline waves, crown'd with a rainbow 
Bright as the arch that bent above the throne 



Seen in a vision by the holy man 
In Patmos ! who can tell how it ascended, 
And flow'd more widely o'er that lifted ocean, 
Till instantly the unobstructed sun 
Roll'd up his sphere of fire, floating away — 
Away in a pure ether, far from earth, 
And all its clouds, — and pouring forth unbounded 
His arrowy brightness ! From that burning centre 
At once there ran along the level line 
Of that imagined sea, a stream of gold — 
Liquid and flowing gold, that seem'd to tremble 
Even with a furnace heat, on to the point 
Whereon I stood. At once that sea of vapour 
Parted away, and melting into air, 
Rose round me, and I stood involved in light, 
As if a flame had kindled up, and wrapp'd me 
In its innocuous blaze. Away it roll'd, 
Wave after wave. They climb'd the highest rocks, 
Pour'd over them in surges, and then rush'd 
Down glens and valleys, like a wintry torrent 
Dash'd instant to the plain. It seem'd a moment, 
And they were gone, as if the touch of fire 
At once dissolved them. Then I found myself 
Midway in air ; ridge after ridge below, 
Descended with their opulence of woods 
Even to the dim-seen level, where a lake 
Flash'd in the sun, and from it wound a line, 
Now silvery bright, even to the farthest verge 
Of the encircling hills. A waste of rocks 
Was round me — but below how beautiful, 
How rich the plain ! a wilderness of groves 
And ripening harvests ; while the sky of June — ■ 
The soft, blue sky of June, and the cool air, 
That makes it then a luxury to live, 
Only to breathe it, and the busy echo 
Of cascades, and the voice of mountain brooks, 
Stole with such gentle meanings to my heart, 
That where I stood seem'd heaven. 



THE DESERTED WIFE. 

He comes not — I have watched the moon go 
down, 
But yet he comes not. — Once it was not so. 
He thinks not how these bitter tears do flow, 
The while he holds his riot in that town. 
Yet he will come, and chide, and I shall weep ; 
And he will wake my infant from its sleep, 
To blend its feeble wailing with my tears. 

! how I love a mother's watch to keep, 

Over those sleeping eyes, that smile, which cheers 
My heart, though sunk in sorrow, fix'd and deep. 

1 had a husband once, who loved me — now 
He ever wears a frown upon his brow, 
And feeds his passion on a wanton's lip, 
As bees, from laurel flowers, a poison sip ; 
But yet I cannot hate — ! there were hours, 
When I could hang forever on his eye, 
And time, who stole with silent swiftness by, 
Strew'd, as he hurried on, his path with flowers. 
I loved him then — he loved me too. — My heart 
Still finds its fondness kindle if he smile ; 

The memory of our loves will ne'er depart ; 
And though he often sting me with a dart, 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



181 



Venom'd and barb'd, and waste upon the vile 
Caresses, which his babe and mine should share ; 
Though he should spurn me, I will calmly bear 
His madness, — and should sickness come and lay 
Its paralyzing hand upon him, then 
I would, with kindness, all my wrongs repay, 
Until the penitent should weep, and say, 
How injured, and how faithful I had been ! 



THE CORAL GROVE. 

Deep in the wave is a coral grove, 
Where the purple mullet and gold-fish rove ; 
Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue, 
That never are wet with falling dew, 
But in bright and changeful beauty shine, 
Far down in the green and glassy brine. 
The floor is of sand, like the mountain drift, 
And the pearl-shells spangle the flinty snow; 
From coral rocks the sea-plants lift 
Their boughs, where the tides and billows flow ; 
The water is calm and still below, 
For the winds and waves are absent there, 
And the sands are bright as the stars that glow 
In the motionless fields of upper air : 
There, with its waving blade of green, 
The sea-flag streams through the silent water, 
x\nd the crimson leaf of the dulse is seen 
To blush, like a banner bathed in slaughter: 
There, with a light and easy motion, 
The fan-coral sweeps through the clear, deep sea ; 
And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean 
Are bending like corn on the upland lea: 
And life, in rare and beautiful forms, 
Is sporting amid those bowers of stone, 
And is safe, when the wrathful spirit of storms 
Has made the top of the wave his own : 
And when the ship from his fury flies, 
Where the myriad voices of ocean roar, 
When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies, 
And demons are waiting the wreck on shore; 
Then, far below, in the peaceful sea, 
The purple mullet and gold-fish rove, 
Where the waters murmur tranquilly, 
Through the bending twigs of the coral grrove. 



DECLINE OF THE IMAGINATION. 

Wtit have ye linger'd on your way so long, 

Bright visions, who were wont to hear my call, 
And with the harmony of dance and song 

Keep round my dreaming couch a festival 1 
Where are ye gone, with all your eyes of light, 

And where the flowery voice I loved to hear, 
When, through the silent watches of the night, 

Ye whisper'd like an angel in my ear 1 
! fly not with the rapid wing of time, 

But with your ancient votary kindly stay; 
And while the loftier dreams, that rose sublime 

In years of higher hope, have flown away : 
! with the colours of a softer clime, 

Give your last touches to the dying day. 



GENIUS SLUMBERING. 

He sleeps, forgetful of his once bright fame ; 

He has no feeling of the glory gone ; 
He has no eye to catch the mounting flame, 

That once in transport drew his spirit on ; 
He lies in dull, oblivious dreams, nor cares 
Who the wreathed laurel bears. 

And yet, not all forgotten, sleeps he there ; 

There are who still remember how he bore 
Upward his daring pinions, till the air 

Seem'd living with the crown of light he wore ; 
There are who, now his early sun has set, 
Nor can, nor will forget. 

He sleeps, — and yet, around the sightless eye 
And the press'd lip, a darken'd glory plays ; 

Though the high powers in dull oblivion lie, 
There hovers still the light of other days ; 

Deep in that soul a spirit, not of earth, 

Still struggles for its birth. 

He will not sleep forever, but will rise 

Fresh to more daring labours ; now, even now, 

As the close shrouding mist of morning flies, 
The gather'd slumber leaves his lifted brow; 

From his half-open'd eye, in fuller beams, 

His waken'd spirit streams. 

Yes, he will break his sleep ; the spell is gone ; 

The deadly charm departed ; see him fling 
Proudly his fetters by, and hurry on, 

Keen as the famish'd eagle darts her wing ; 
The goal is still before him, and the prize 
Still woos his eager eyes. 

He rushes forth to conquer: shall they take — 
They, who, with feebler pace, still kept their way, 

When he forgot the contest — shall they take, 
Now he renews the race, the victor's bay ! 

Still let them strive — when he collects his might, 

He will assert his right. 

The spirit cannot always sleep in dust, 
Whose essence is ethereal ; they may try 

To darken and degrade it; it may rust 
Dimly a while, but cannot wholly die ; 

And, when it wakens, it will send its fire 

Intenser forth and higher. 



GENIUS WAKING. 

Slumber's heavy chain hath bound thee— 

Where is now thy fire 1 
Feebler wings are gathering round thee — 

Shall they hover higher] 
Can no power, no spell, recall thee 

From inglorious dreams ? 
O, could glory so appal thee, 

With his burning beams ! 

Thine was once the highest pinion 

In the midway air; 
With a proud and sure dominion, 

Thou didst upward bear, 
Like the herald, wing'd with lightning, 

From the Olvmpian throne, 
Q 



182 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



Ever mounting, ever brightening, 
Thou wert there alone. 

Where the pillar'd props of heaven 

Glitter with eternal snows, 
Where no darkling clouds are driven, 

Where no fountain flows — 
Far above the rolling thunder, 

When the surging storm 
Rent its sulphury folds asunder, 

We beheld thy form. 

O, what rare and heavenly brightness 

Flow'd around thy phimes, 
As a cascade's foamy whiteness 

Lights a cavern's glooms ! 
Wheeling through the shadowy ocean, 

Like a shape of light, 
With serene and placid motion, 

Thou wert dazzling bright. 

From that cloudless region stooping, 

Downward thou didst rush, 
Not with pinion faint and drooping 

But the tempest's gush. 
Up again undaunted soaring, 

Thou didst pierce the cloud, 
When the warring winds were roaring 

Fearfully and loud. 

Where is now that restless longing 

After higher things 1 
Come they not, like visions, thronging 

On their airy wings ] 
Why should not their glow enchant thee 

Upward to their bliss 7 
Surely danger cannot daunt thee 

From a heaven like this 1 

But thou slumberest; faint and quivering 

Hangs thy ruffled wing ; 
Like a dove in winter shivering, 

Or a feebler thing. 
Where is now thy might and motion, 

Thy imperial flight 1 
Where is now thy heart's devotion ? 

Where thy spirit's light] 

Hark! his rustling plumage gathers 

Closer to his side ; 
Close, as when the storm-bird weathers 

Ocean's hurrying tide. 
Now his nodding beak is steady — 

Wide his burning eye — 
Now his open wings are ready, 

And his aim — how high ! 

Now he curves his neck, and proudly 

Now is stretch'd for flight — 
Hark ! his wings — they thunder loudly, 

And their flash — how bright ! 
Onward — onward over mountains, 

Through the rock and storm, 
Now, like sunset over fountains, 

Flits bis glancing form. 

Glorious bird, thy dream has left thee — 
Thou hast reach'd thy heaven — 

Lingering slumber hath not reft thee 
Of the glory given. 



With a bold, a fearless pinion, 

On thy starry road, 
None, to fame's supreme dominion, 

Mightier ever trode. 



NEW ENGLAND. 

Hail to the land whereon we tread, 

Our fondest boast ; 
The sepulchre of mighty dead, 
The truest hearts that ever bled, 
W T ho sleep on Glory's brightest bed, 

A fearless host: 
No slave is here ; our unchain'd feet 
Walk freely as the waves that beat 

Our coast. 

Our fathers cross'd the ocean's wave 

To seek this shore; 
They left behind the coward slave 
To welter in his living grave ; 
With hearts unbent, and spirits brave, 

They sternly bore 
Such toils as meaner souls had quell'd ; 
But souls like these, such toils impell'd 

To soar. 

Hail to the morn, when first they stood 

On Bunker's height, 
And, fearless, stemm'd the invading flood, 
And wrote our dearest rights in blood, 
And mow'd in ranks the hireling brood, 

In desperate fight! 
O, 'twas a proud, exulting day, 
For even our fallen fortunes lay 

In light. 

There is no other land like thee, 

No dearer shore; 
Thou art the shelter of the free ; 
The home, the port of Liberty, 
Thou hast been, and shalt ever be, 

Till time is o'er. 
Ere I forget to think upon 
My land, shall mother curse the son 

She bore.v 

Thou art the firm, unshaken rock, 

On which we rest; 
And, rising from thy hardy stock, 
Thy sons the tyrants frown shall mock, 
And slavery's galling chains unlock, 

And free the oppress'd: 
All, who the wreath of Freedom twine 
Beneath the shadow of their vine, 

Are bless'd. 

We love thy rude and rocky shore, 

And here we stand — 
Let foreign navies hasten o'er, 
And on our heads their fury pour, 
And peal their cannon's loudest roar, 

And storm our land ; 
They still shall find our lives are given 
To die for home ; — and leant on Heaven 

Our hand. 



JAMES G. 


' 

PERCIVAL. 183 


MAY. 


THE LAST DAYS OF AUTUMN. 


I feel a newer life in every gale ; 


Now the growing year is over, 


The winds, that fan the flowers, 


And the shepherd's tinkling bell 


And with their welcome breathings fill the sail, 


Faintly from its winter cover 


Tell of serener hours, — 


Rings a low farewell : — 


Of hours that glide unfelt away 


Now the birds of Autumn shiver, 


Beneath the sky of May. 


Where the wither'd beech-leaves quiver, 




O'er the dark and lazy river, 


The spirit of the gentle south-wind calls 


In the rocky dell. 


From his blue throne of air, 




And where his whispering voice in music falls, 
Beauty is budding there ; 
The bright ones of the valley break 
Their slumbers, and awake. 


Now the mist is on the mountains, 
Reddening in the rising sun ; 

Now the flowers around the fountains 
Perish one by one : — 




Not a spire of grass is growing, 


The waving verdure rolls along the plain, 

And the wide forest weaves, 
To welcome back its playful mates again, 


But the leaves that late were glowing, 
Now its blighted green are strowing 
With a mantle dun. 


A canopy of leaves ; 


Now the torrent brook is stealing 


And from its darkening shadow floats 


Faintly down the furrow'd glade — 


A gush of trembling notes. 


Not as when in winter pealing, 




Such a din is made, 


Fairer and brighter spreads the reign of May ; 


That the sound of cataracts falling 


The tresses of the woods 


Gave no echo so appalling, 


With the light dallying of the west-wind play ; 


As its hoarse and heavy brawling 


And the full-brimming floods, 


In the pine's black shade. 


As gladly to their goal they run, 
Hail the returning sun. 


Darkly blue the mist is hovering 

Round the clifted rock's bare height — 




All the bordering mountains covering 




With a dim, uncertain light : — 


* 




Now, a fresher wind prevailing, 


TO SENECA LAKE. 


Wide its heavy burden sailing, 




Deepens as the day is failing, 


Ox thy fair bosom, silver lake, 


Fast the gloom of night. 


The wild swan spreads his snowy sail, 


Slow the blood-stain'd moon is riding 


And round his breast the ripples break, 


Through the still and hazy air, 


As down he bears before the gale. 


Like a sheeted spectre gliding 




In a torch's glare : — 


On thy fair bosom, waveless stream, 


Few the hours, her light is given — 


The dipping paddle echoes far, 


Mingling clouds of tempest driven 


And flashes in the moonlight gleam, 


O'er the mourning face of heaven, 


And bright reflects the polar star. 
The waves along thy pebbly shore, 


All is blackness there. 




As blows the north-wind, heave their foam, 


THE FLIGHT OF TIME. 


And curl around the dashing oar, 





As late the boatman hies him home. 


Faintly flow, thou falling river, 




Like a dream that dies away ; 


How sweet, at set of sun, to view 


Down to ocean gliding ever, 


Thy golden mirror spreading wide, 


Keep thy calm unruffled way: 


And see the mist of mantling blue 


Time with such a silent motion, 


Float round the distant mountain's side. 


Floats along, on wings of air, 




To eternity's dark ocean, 


At midnight hour, as shines the moon, 


Burying all its treasures there. 


A sheet of silver spreads below, 


Roses bloom, and then they wither ; 


And swift she cuts, at highest noon, 


Cheeks are bright, then fade and die • 


Light clouds, like wreaths of purest snow. 


Shapes of light are wafted hither — 




Then, like visions hurry by : 


On thy fair bosom, silver lake, 


Quick as clouds at evening driven 


! I could ever sweep the oar, 


O'er the many-colour'd west, 


When early birds at morning wake, 


Years are bearing us to heaven, 


And evening tells us toil is o'er. 


Home of happiness and rest. 



184 



JAMES G. PERCIVAL. 



IT IS GREAT FOR OUR COUNTRY 
TO DIE. 

! it is great for our country to die, where ranks 
are contending : 
Bright is the wreath of our fame ; Glory awaits 
us for aye — 
Glory, that never is dim, shining on with light 
never ending — 
Glory that never shall fade, never, O ! never 
away. 

! it is sweet for our country to die — how softly 
reposes 
Warrior youth on his bier, wet by the tears of 
his love, 
Wet by a mother's warm tears ; they crown him 
with garlands of roses, 
Weep, and then joyously turn, bright where he 
triumphs above. 

Not to the shades shall the youth descend, who 
for country hath perish'd : 
Hebe awaits him in heaven, welcomes him 
there with her smile ; 
There, at the banquet divine, the patriot spirit is 
cherish'd ; 
Gods love the young, who ascend pure from 
the funeral pile. 

Not to Elysian fields, by the still, oblivious river; 
Not to the isles of the bless'd, over the blue, 
rolling sea ; 
But on Olympian heights, shall dwell the devoted 
forever ; 
There shall assemble the good, there the wise, 
valiant, and free. 

! then, how great for our country to die, in the 
front rank to perish, 
Firm with our breast to the foe, Victory's shout 
in our ear : 
Long they our statues shall crown, in songs our 
memory cherish ; 
We shall look forth from our heaven, pleased 
the sweet music to hear. 



EXTRACT FROM PROMETHEUS. 

Our thoughts are boundless, though our frames 
are frail, 

Our souls immortal, though our limbs decay ; 
Though darken'd in this poor life by a veil 

Of suffering, dying matterj we shall play 

In truth's eternal sunbeams ; on the way 
To heaven's high capitol our cars shall roll ; 

The temple of the Power whom all obey, 
That is the mark we tend to, for the soul 
Can take no lower flight, and seek no meaner goal. 



I feel it — though the flesh is weak, I feel 
The spirit has its energies untamed 

By all its fatal wanderings ; time may heal 

The wounds which it has suffer'd ; folly claim'd 
Too large a portion of its youth; ashamed 

Of those low pleasures, it would leap and fly, 
And soar on wings of lightning, like the famed 

Elijah, when the chariot, rushing by, 

Bore him with steeds of fire triumphant to the sky. 

We are as barks afloat upon the sea, 

Helmless and oarless, when the light has fled, 
The spirit, whose strong influence can free 

The drowsy soul, that slumbers in the dead 

Cold night of mortal darkness ; from the bed 
Of sloth he rouses at her sacred call, 

And, kindling in the blaze around him shed, 
Rends with strong effort sin's debasing thrall, 
And gives to God his strength, his heart, his mind, 

his all. 
Our home is not on earth ; although we sleep, 

And sink in seeming death a while, yet, then, 
The awakening voice speaks loudly, and we leap 

To life, and energy, and light, again; 

We cannot slumber always in the den 
Of sense and selfishness ; the day will break, 

Ere we forever leave the haunts of men ; 
Even at the parting hour the soul will wake, 
Nor, like a senseless brute, its unknown journey 

take. 
How awful is that hour, when conscience stings 

The hoary wretch, who, on his death-bed hears, 
Deep in his soul, the thundering voice that rings, 

In one dark, damning moment, crimes of years, 
And, screaming like a vulture in his ears, 
Tells, one by one, his thoughts and deeds of shame , 

How wild the fury of his soul careers ! 
His swart eye flashes with intensest flame, 
And like the torture's rack the wrestling of his 
frame. 



HOME. 



My place is in the quiet vale, 

The chosen haunt of simple thought ; 
I seek not Fortune's flattering gale, 

I better love the peaceful lot. 

I leave the world of noise and show, 
To wander by my native brook ; 

I ask, in life's unruffled flow, 

No treasure but my friend and book. 

These better suit the tranquil home, 
Where the clear water murmurs by ; 

And if I wish a while to roam, 
I have an ocean in the sky. 

Fancy can charm and feeling bless 

With sweeter hours than fashion knows ; 

There is no calmer quietness 

Than home around the bosom throws. 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



[Born, 1795. Died, 1820.] 



The author of the « Culprit Fay" was born in the 
city of New York, on the seventh day of August, 
1795. His father died while he was very young, 
and I believe left his family in possession of but 
little property. Young Drake, therefore, expe- 
rienced some difficulties in acquiring his education. 
He entered Columbia College, however, at an early 
period, and passed through that seminary with a 
reputation for scholarship, taste, and admirable so- 
cial qualities. He soon after made choice of the 
medical profession, and became a student, first, with 
Doctor RortfAiNE, and subsequently with Doctor 
Powell, both of whom were at that time popular 
physicians in New York. 

Soon after completing his professional studies he 
was married to Miss Sarah Eckford, a daughter 
of the well-known marine architect, Hexry Eck- 
ford, through whom he inherited a moderate for- 
tune. His health, about the same time, began to 
decline, and in the winter of 1819 he visited New 
Orleans, to which city his mother, who had married 
a second husband, had previously removed with his 
three sisters. He had anticipated some benefit from 
the sea-voyage, and the mild climate of Louisiana, 
but was disappointed, and in the spring of 1820 he 
returned to New York. His disease — consump- 
tion — was now too deeply seated for hope of resto- 
ration to be cherished, and he gradually withdrew 
himself from society, and sought quiet among his 
books, and in the companionship of his wife and 
most intimate friends. He lingered through the 
summer, and died near the close of September, in 
the twenty-sixth year of his age. 

He began to write verses when very young, and 
was a contributor to several gazettes before he was 
sixteen years old. He permitted none but his most 
intimate friends to know his signatures, and some- 
times kept the secrets of his authorship entirely to 
himself. The first four of the once celebrated 
series of humorous and satirical odes, known as 
the "Croaker Pieces," were written by him, for 
the New York "Evening Post," in which they 
appeared between the tenth and the twentieth of 
March, 1819. After the publication of the fourth 
number, Drake made Halleck, then recently 
arrived in New York, a partner, and the remainder 
of the pieces were signed " Croaker and Co." The 
last one written by Drake was " The American 
Flag," printed on the twenty-ninth of May, and 
the last of the series, " Curtain Conversations," 
was contributed by Haleeck, on the twenty-fourth 
of July. These pieces related to persons, events, 
and scenes, with which most of the readers in New 
Fork were familiar, and as they were distinguished 
alike for playful humour, and an easy and spirited 
diction, they became very popular, and many efforts 
were made to find out the authors. Both Drake 
and Haleeck were unknown as poets, and, as they 



kept the secret from their friends, a considerable 
period elapsed before they were discovered. 

The " Croakers" are now, however, well nigh 
forgotten, save a few of the least satirical numbers, 
which Haleeck has preserved in the collections 
of his own and of his friend's writings ; and the 
reputation of either author rests on more elaborate 
and ingenious productions. The longest poem by 
Drake is " The Culprit Fay," a story exhibiting 
the most delicate fancy, and much artistic skill, 
which was not printed until several years after 
his death. It was composed hastily among the 
highlands of the Hudson, in the summer of 1819. 
The author was walking w r ith some friends, on a 
warm, moonlit evening, when one of the party 
remarked, that "it would be difficult to write a 
fairy poem, purely imaginative, without the aid of 
human characters." When the friends were reas- 
sembled, two or three days afterwards, "The Cul- 
prit Fay" was read to them, nearly as it is printed 
in this volume. 

Drake placed a very modest estimate on his 
own productions, and it is believed that but a small 
portion of them have been preserved. When on 
his death-bed, a friend inquired of him what dis- 
position he would have made with his poems ] 
"O, burn them," he replied, "they are quite value- 
less." Written copies of a number of them were, 
however, in circulation, and some had been in- 
correctly printed in the periodicals ; and, for this 
reason, Commodore Dekat, the husband of the 
daughter and only child of the deceased poet, in 
1836 published the single collection of them which 
has appeared. It includes, beside " The Culprit 
Fay," eighteen shorter pieces, some of which are 
very beautiful. 

Drake was unassuming and benevolent in his 
manners and his feelings, and he had an unfailing 
fountain of fine humour, which made him one of 
the most pleasant of companions. Haleeck closes 
a tributary poem published soon after his death, 
in the « New York Review," with the following 
stanzas — 

When hearts, whose truth was proven, 
Like thine, are laid in earth, 

There should a wreath be woven 
To tell the world their worth. 

And I, who woke each morrow 

To clasp thy hand in mine, 
Who shared thy joy and sorrow, 

Whose weal and wo were thine,— 

It should be mine to braid it 

Around thy faded brow ; 
But I've in vain essay'd it, 

And feel I cannot now. 

While memory bids me weep thee, 

Nor thoughts nor words are free, 
The grief is fix'd too deeply 

That mourns a man like thee. 

q2 185 



18G 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



THE CULPRIT FAY. 



" My visual orbs are purged from film, and, lo! 

Instead of Anster's turnip-bearing vales 
I see old fairy land's miraculous show ! 

Her trees of tinsel kiss'd by freakish gales, 
Her Ouphs that, cloak'd in leaf-gold, skim the breeze, 

And fairies, swarming -" 

Tennant's Anster Fair. 



'Tis the middle watch of a summer's night — 

The earth is dark, but the heavens are bright; 

Naught is seen in the vault on high 

But the moon, and the stars, and the cloudless sky, 

And the flood which rolls its milky hue, 

A river of light on the welkin blue. 

The moon looks down on old Cronest, 

She mellows the shades on his shaggy breast, . 

And seems his huge gray form to throw 

In a silver cone on the wave below ; 

His sides are broken by spots of shade, 

By the walnut bough and the cedar made, 

And through their clustering branches dark 

Glimmers and dies the fire-fly's spark — 

Like starry twinkles that momently break 

Through the rifts of the gathering tempest's rack. 



The stars are on the moving stream, 

And fling, as its ripples gently flow, 
A burnish'd length of wavy beam 

In an eel-like, spiral line below; 
The winds are whist, and the owl is still, 

The bat in the shelvy rock is hid. 
And naught is heard on the lonely hill 
But the cricket's chirp, and the answer shrill 

Of the gauze-winged katy-did; 
And the plaint of the wailing whip-poor-will, 

Who moans unseen, and ceaseless sings, 
Ever a note of wail and wo, 

Till morning spreads her rosy wings, 
And earth and sky in her glances glow. 

in. 

'T is the hour of fairy ban and spell : 
The wood-tick has kept the minutes well ; 
He has counted them all with click and stroke 
Deep in the heart of the mountain-oak, 
And he has awaken'd the sentry elve 

Who sleeps with him in the haunted tree, 
To bid him ring the hour of twelve, 

And call the fays to their revelry ; 
Twelve small strokes on his tinkling bell — 
('Twas made of the white snail's pearly shell: — ) 
" Midnight comes, and all is well ! 
Hither, hither, wing your way ! 
'Tis the dawn of the fairy-day." 



They come from beds of lichen green, 
They creep from the mullen's velvet screen ; 

Some on the backs of beetles fly 
From the silver tops of moon-touched trees, 

Where they swung in their cobweb hammocks 
And rock'd about in the evening breeze ; [high, 



Some from the hum-bird's downy nest — 
They had driven him out by elfin power, 

And, pillow'd on plumes of his rainbow breast, 
Had slumber'd there till the charmed hour; 

Some had lain in the scoop of the rock, 
With glittering ising-stars inlaid ; 

And some had open'd the four-o'clock, 
And stole within its purple shade. 

And now they throng the moonlight glade, 
Above — below — on every side, 

Their little minim forms array'd 
In the tricksy pomp of fairy pride ! 



They come not now to print the lea, 

In freak and dance around the tree, 

Or at the mushroom board to sup, 

And drink the dew from the buttercup ; — 

A scene of sorrow waits them now, 

For an Ouphe has broken his vestal vow; 

He has loved an earthly maid, 

And left for her his woodland shade ; 

He has lain upon her lip of dew, 

And sunn'd him in her eye of blue, 

Fann'd her cheek with his wing of air, 

Play'd in the ringlets of her hair, 

And, nestling on her snowy breast, 

Forgot the lily-king's behest. 

For this the shadowy tribes of air 

To the elfin court must haste away : — 
And now they stand expectant there, 

To hear the doom of the culprit Fay. 



The throne was rear'd upon the grass, 
Of spice-wood and of sassafras; 
On pillars of mottled tortoise-shell 

Hung the burnished canopy — 
And o'er it gorgeous curtains fell 

Of the tulip's crimson drapery. 
The monarch sat on his judgment-seat, 

On his brow the crown imperial shone, 
The prisoner Fay was at his feet, 

And his peers were ranged around the throne. 
He waved his sceptre in the air, 

He look'd around and calmly spoke ; 
His brow was grave and his eye severe, 

But his voice in a soften'd accent broke : 



VII. 

" Fairy ! Fairy ! list and mark : 

Thou hast broke thine elfin chain ; 
Thy flame-wood lamp is quench'd and dark, 

And thy wings are dyed with a deadly stam- 
Thou hast sullied thine elfin purity 

In the glance of a mortal maiden's eye, 
Thou hast scorn'd our dread decree, 

And thou shouldst pay the forfeit high, 
But well I know her sinless mind 

Is pure as the angel forms above, 
Gentle and meek, and chaste and kind, 

Such as a spirit well might love ; 
Fairy ! had she spot or taint, 
Bitter had been thy punishment 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



187 



Tied to the hornet's shardy wings ; 

Toss'd on the pricks of nettles' stings; 

Or seven long ages doom'd to dwell 

With the lazy worm in the walnut-shell ; 

Or every night to writhe and bleed 

Beneath the tread of the centipede; 

Or bound in a cobweb dungeon dim, 

Your jailer a spider huge and grim, 

Amid the carrion bodies to lie, 

Of the worm, and the bug, and the murder'd fly : 

These it had been your lot to bear, 

Had a stain been found on the earthly fair. 

Now list, and mark our mild decree — 

Fairy, this your doom must be : 



"Thou shalt seek the beach of sand 

Where the water bounds the elfin land ; 

Thou shalt watch the oozy brine 

Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright moonshine, 

Then dart the glistening arch below, 

And catch a drop from his silver bow. 

The water-sprites will wield their arms 

And dash around, with roar and rave, 
And vain are the woodland spirits' charms, 

They are the imps that rule the wave. 
Yet trust thee in thy single might : 
If thy heart be pure and thy spirit right, 
Thou shalt win the warlock fight. 



"If the spray-bead gem be won, 

The stain of thy wing is wash'd away: 

But another errand must be done 
Ere thy crime be lost for aye ; 

Thy flame-wood lamp is quench'd and dark, 

Thou must reillume its spark. 

Mount thy steed and spur him high 

To the heaven's blue canopy ; 

And when thou seest a shooting star, 

Follow it fast, and follow it far — 

The last faint spark of its burning train 

Shall light the elfin lamp again. 

Thou hast heard our sentence, Fay ; 

Hence ! to the water-side, away !" 



The goblin mark'd his monarch well ; 

He spake not, but he bow'd him low, 
Then pluck'd a crimson colen-bell, 

And turn'd him round in act to go. 
The way is long, he cannot fly, 

His soiled wing has lost its power, 
And he winds adown the mountain high, 

For many a sore and weary hour. 
Through dreary beds of tangled fern, 
Through groves of nightshade dark and dern, 
Over the grass and through the brake, 
Where toils the ant and sleeps the snake ; 

Now o'er the violet's azure flush 
He skips along in lightsome mood ; 

And now he thrids the bramble-bush, 
Till its points are dyed in fairy blood. 
He has leap'd the bog, he has pierced the brier, 
He has swum the brook, and waded the mire, 



Till his spirits sank, and his limbs grew weak, 
And the red wax'd fainter in his cheek. 
He had fallen to the ground outright, 

For rugged and dim was his onward track, 
But there came a spotted toad in sight, 

And he laugh'd as he jump'd upon her back : 
He bridled her mouth with a silkweed twist, 

He lash'd her sides with an osier thong ; 
And now, through evening's dewy mist, 

With leap and spring they bound along, 
Till the mountain's magic verge is past, 
And the beach of sand is reach'd at last. 



Soft and pale is the moony beam, 
Moveless still the glassy stream ; 
The wave is clear, the beach is bright 

With snowy shells and sparkling stones ; 
The shore-surge comes in ripples light, 

In murmurings faint and distant moans ; 
And ever afar in the silence deep 
Is heard the splash of the sturgeon's leap, 
And the bend of his graceful bow is seen — 
A glittering arch of silver sheen, 
Spanning the wave of burnish'd blue, 
And dripping with gems of the river-dew. 

XII. 

The elfin cast a glance around, 

As he lighted down from his courser toad, 
Then round his breast his wings he wound, 

And close to the river's brink he strode ; 
He sprong on a rock, he breathed a prayer, 

Above his head his arms he threw, 
Then toss'd a tiny curve in air, 

And headlong plunged in the waters blue. 



Up sprung the spirits of the waves, 

From the sea-silk beds in their coral caves, 

W^ith snail-plate armour snatch 'd in haste, 

They speed their way through the liquid waste ; 

Some are rapidly borne along 

On the mailed shrimp or the prickly prong, 

Some on the blood-red leeches glide, 

Some on the stony star-fish ride, 

Some on the back of the lancing squab, 

Some on the sideling soldier-crab ; 

And some on the jellied quarl, that flings 

At once a thousand streamy stings ; 

They cut the wave with the living oar, 

And hurry on to the moonlight shore, 

To guard their realms and chase away 

The footsteps of the invading Fay. 

xiv. 

Fearlessly he skims along, 
His hope is high, and his limbs are strong, 
He spreads his arms like the swallow's wing. 
And throws his feet with a frog-like fling ; 
His locks of gold on the waters shine, 

At his breast the tiny foam-bees rise, 
His back gleams bright above the brine, 

And the wake-line foam behind him lies. 
But the water-sprites are gathering near 

To check his course along 1 the tide; 



188 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



Their warriors come in swift career 

And hem him round on every side ; 
On his thigh the leech has fix'd his hold, 
The quarl's long arms are round him roll'd, 
The prickly prong has pierced his skin, 
And the squab has thrown his javelin, 
The gritty star has rubb'd him raw, 
And the crab has struck with his giant claw ; 
He howls with rage, and he shrieks with pain, 
He strikes around, but his blows are vain ; 
Hopeless is the unequal fight, 
Fairy ! naught is left but flight. 



He turn'd him round, and fled amain 

With hurry and dash to the beach again, 

He twisted over from side to side, 

And laid his cheek to the cleaving tide ; 

The strokes of his plunging arms are fleet, 

And with all his might he flings his feet, 

But the water-sprites are round him still, 

To cross his path and work him ill. 

They bade the wave before him rise ; 

They flung the sea-fire in his eyes, 

And they stunn'd his ears with the scallop stroke, 

With the porpoise heave and the drum-fish croak. 

! but a weary wight was he 

When he reach'd the foot of the dogwood tree. 

— Gash'd and wounded, and stiff and sore, 

He laid him down on the sandy shore ; 

He bless'd the force of the charmed line, 

And he bann'd the water goblin's spite, 
For he saw around in the sweet moonshine 
Their little wee faces above the brine, 

Giggling and laughing with all their might 
At the piteous hap of the Fairy wight. 

xyi. 

Soon he gather'd the balsam dew 

From the sorrel-leaf and the henbane bud ; 
Over each wound the balm he drew, 

And with cobweb lint he stanch'd the blood. 
The mild west wind was soft and low, 
It cool'd the heat of his burning brow, 
And he felt new life in his sinews shoot, 
As he drank the juice of the calamus root ; 
And now he treads the fatal shore, 
As fresh and vigorous as before. 

XVII. 

Wrapp'd in musing stands the sprite : 
'T is the middle wane of night ; 

His task is hard, his way is far, 
But he must do his errand right 

Ere dawning mounts her beamy car, 
And rolls her chariot wheels of light ; 
And vain are the spells of fairy-land ; 
He must work with a human hand. 

XVIII. 

He cast a sadden'd look around, 

But he felt new joy his bosom swell, 

When, glittering on the shadow'd ground, 
He saw a purple muscle-shell ; 



Thither he ran, and he bent him low, 
He heaved at the stern and he heaved at the bow, 
And he pushed her over the yielding sand, 
Till he came to the verge of the haunted land. 
She was as lovely a pleasure-boat 

As ever fairy had paddled in, 
For she glow'd with purple paint without, 

And shone with silvery pearl within ; 
A sculler's notch in the stern he made, 
An oar he shaped of the bootle blade ; 
Then sprung to his seat with a lightsome leap, 
And launched afar on the calm, blue deep. 



The imps of the river yell and rave ; 
They had no power above the wave, 
But they heaved the billow before the prow, 

And they dash'd the surge against her side, 
And they struck her keel with jerk and blow, 

Till the gunwale bent to the rocking tide. 
She wimpled about to the pale moonbeam, 
Like a feather that floats on a wind-toss'd stream ; 
And momently athwart her track 
The quarl uprear'd his island back, 
And the fluttering scallop behind would float, 
And patter the water about the boat ; 
But he bail'd her out with his colen-bell, 

And he kept her trimm'd with a wary tread, 
While on every side like lightning fell 

The heavy strokes of his bootle-biade. 



Onward still he held his way, 

Till he came where the column of moonshine lay, 

And saw beneath the surface dim 

The brown-back'd sturgeon slowly swim : 

Around him were the goblin train — 

But he scull'd with all his might and main, 

And folio w'd wherever the sturgeon led, 

Till he saw him upward point his head ; 

Then he dropp'd his paddle-blade, 

And held his colen-goblet up 

To catch the drop in its crimson cup. 



With sweeping tail and quivering fin, 

Through the wave the sturgeon flew, 
And, like the heaven-shot javelin, 

He sprung above the waters blue. 
Instant as the star-fall light, 

He plunged him in the deep again, 
But left an arch of silver bright, 

The rainbow of the moony main. 
It was a strange and lovely sight 

To see the puny goblin there ; 
He seem'd an angel form of light, 

With azure wing and sunny hair, 

Throned on a cloud of purple fair, 
Circled with blue and edged with white, 
And sitting at the fall of even 
Beneath the bow of summer heaven. 

XXII. 

A moment, and its lustre fell ; 
But ere it met the billow blue, 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



189 



He caught within his crimson bell 

A droplet of its sparkling dew — 

Joy to thee, Fay ! thy task is done, 

Thy wings are pure, for the gem is won — 

Cheerly ply thy dripping oar, 

And haste away to the elfin shore. 



He turns, and, lo ! on either side 

The ripples on his path divide ; 

And the track o'er which his boat must pass 

Is smooth as a sheet of polish'd glass. 

Around, their limbs the sea-nymphs lave, 

With snowy arms half-swelling out, 
While on the gloss'd and gleamy wave 

Their sea-green ringlets loosely float; 
They swim around with smile and song; 

They press the bark with pearly hand, 
And gently urge her course along, 

Toward the beach of speckled sand ; 

And, as he lightly leap'd to land, 
They bade adieu with nod and bow, 

Then gayly kiss'd each little hand, 
And dropp'd in the crystal deep below. 



A moment stay'd the fairy there ; 

He kiss'd the beach and breathed a prayer ; 

Then spread his wings of gilded blue, 

And on to the elfin court he flew ; 

As ever ye saw a bubble rise, 

And shine with a thousand changing dyes, 

Till, lessening far, through ether driven, 

It mingles with the hues of heaven ; 

As, at the glimpse of morning pale, 

The lance-fly spreads his silken sail, 

And gleams with Mendings soft and bright, 

Till lost in the shades of fading night ; 

So rose from earth the lovely Fay — 

So vanish'd, far in heaven away ! 

Up, Fairy ! quit thy chick-weed bower, 
The cricket has call'd the second hour, 
Twice again, and the lark will rise 
To kiss the streaking of the skies — 
Up ! thy charmed armour don, 
Thou 'It need it ere the night be gone. 



He put his acorn helmet on ; 

It was plumed of the silk of the thistle-down : 

The corslet plate that guarded his breast 

Was once the wild bee's golden vest ; 

His cloak, of a thousand mingled dyes, 

Was formed of the wings of butterflies; 

His shield was the shell of a lady-bug queen, 

Studs of gold on a ground of green; 

And the quivering lance which he brandish'd bright, 

Was the sting of a wasp he had slain in fight. 

Swift he bestrode his fire-fly steed; 

He bared his blade of the bent grass blue; 
He drove his spurs of the cockle-seed, 

And away like a glance of thought he flew, 
To skim the heavens, and follow far 
The fiery trail of the rocket-star. 



The moth-fly, as he shot in air, 

Crept under the leaf, and hid her there ; 

The katy-did forgot its lay, 

The prowling gnat fled fast away, 

The fell mosqueto check'd his drone 

And folded his wings till the Fay was gone, 

And the wily beetle dropp'd his head, 

And fell on the ground as if he were dead; 

They crouch'd them close in the darksome shade, 

They quaked all o'er with awe and fear, 
For they had felt the blue-bent blade, 

And writhed at the prick of the elfin spear; 
Many a time, on a summer's night, 
When the sky was clear and the moon was 

bright, 
They had been roused from the haunted ground 
By the yelp and bay of the fairy hound ; 

They had heard the tiny bugle-horn, 
They had heard the twang of the maize-silk string, 

When the vine-twig bows were tightly drawn, 

And the needle-shaft through air was borne, 
Feather'd with down of the hum-bird's wing. 
And now they deem'd the courier ouphe, 

Some hunter-sprite of the elfin ground ; 
And they watch'd till they saw him mount the 
roof 

That canopies the world around ; 
Then glad they left their covert lair, 
And freak'd about in the midnight air. 



Up to the vaulted firmament 

His path the fire-fly courser bent, 

And at every gallop on the wind, 

He flung a glittering spark behind; 

He flies like a feather in the blast 

Till the first light cloud in heaven is past. 

But the shapes of air have begun their work, 
And a drizzly mist is round him cast, 

He cannot see through the mantle murk, 
He shivers with cold, but he urges fast; 

Through storm and darkness, sleet and shade, 
He lashes his steed and spurs amain, 
For shadowy hands have twitch'd the rein, 

And flame-shot tongues around him play'd, 
And near him many a fiendish eye 
Glared with a fell malignity, 
And yells of rage, and shrieks of fear, 
Came screaming on his startled ear. 



His wings are wet around his breast, 
The plume hangs dripping from his crest, 
His eyes are blurr'd with the lightning's glare, 
And his ears are stunn'd with the thunder's blare, 
But he gave a shout, and his blade he drew, 

He thrust before and he struck behind, 
Till he pierced their cloudy bodies through, 

And gash'd their shadowy limbs of wind ; 
Howling the misty spectres flew, 

They rend the air with frightful • ies, 
For he has gain'd the welkin blue, 

And the land of clouds beneath him lies 



190 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



XXIX. 

Up to the cope careering swift, 

In breathless motion fast, 
Fleet as the swallow cuts the drift, 

Or the sea-roc rides the blast, 
The sapphire sheet of eve is shot, 

The sphered moon is past, 
The earth but seems a tiny blot 

On a sheet of azure cast. 
! it was sweet, in the clear moonlight, 

To tread the starry plain of even, 
To meet the thousand eyes of night, 

And feel the cooling breath of heaven ! 
But the Elfin made no stop or stay 
Till he came to the bank of the milky-way, 
Then he check'd his courser's foot, 
And watch'd for the glimpse of the planet-shoot. 



Sudden along the snowy tide 

That swell' d to meet their footsteps' fall, 
The sylphs of heaven were seen to glide, 

Attired in sunset's crimson pall ; 
Around the Fay they weave the dance, 

They skip before him on the plain, 
And one has taken his wasp-sting lance, 

And one upholds his bridle-rein ; 
With warblings wild they lead him on 

To where, through clouds of amber seen, 
Studded with stars, resplendent shone 

The palace of the sylphid queen. 
Its spiral columns, gleaming bright, 
Were streamers of the northern light ; 
Its curtain's light and lovely flush 
Was of the morning's rosy blush, 
And the ceiling fair that rose aboon 
The white and feathery fleece of noon. 

XXXI. 

But, ! how fair the shape that lay 

Beneath a rainbow bending bright; 
She seem'd to the entranced Fay 

The loveliest of the forms of light; 
Her mantle was the purple roll'd 

At twilight in the west afar ; 
'Twas tied with threads of dawning gold, 

And button'd with a sparkling star. 
Her face was like the lily roon 

That veils the vestal planet's hue ; 
Her eyes, two beamlets from the moon, 

Set floating in the welkin blue. 
Her hair is like the sunny beam, 
And the diamond gems which round it gleam 
Are the pure drops of dewy even 
That ne'er have left their native heaven. 



She raised her eyes to the wondering sprite, 

And they leap'd with smiles, for well I ween 
Never before in the bowers of light 

Had the form of an earthly Fay been seen. 
Long she look'd in his tiny face; 

Long with his butterfly cloak she play'd; 
She smooth'd his wings of azure lace, 

And handled the tassel of his blade ; 



And as he told in accents low 

The story of his love and wo, 

She felt new pains in her bosom rise, 

And the tear-drop started in her eyes. 

And " O, sweet spirit of earth," she cried, 

" Return no more to your woodland height, 
But ever here with me abide 

In the land of everlasting light! 
Within the fleecy drift we '11 lie, 

We'll hang upon the rainbow's rim; 
And all the jewels of the sky 

Around thy brow shall brightly beam! 
And thou shalt bathe thee in the stream 

That rolls its whitening foam aboon, 
And ride upon the lightning's gleam, 

And dance upon the orbed moon ! 
We'll sit within the Pleiad ring, 

We '11 rest on Orion's starry belt, 
And I will bid my sylphs to sing 

The song that makes the dew-mist melt; 
Their harps are of the umber shade, 

That hides the blush of waking day, 
And every gleamy string is made 

Of silvery moonshine's lengthen' d ray ; 
And thou shalt pillow on my breast, 

While heavenly breathings float around, 
And, with the sylphs of ether blest, 

Forget the joys of fairy ground." 

XXXIII. 

She was lovely and fair to see 

And the elfin's heart beat fitfully ; 

But lovelier far, and still more fair, 

The earthly form imprinted there; 

Naught he saw in the heavens above 

Was half so dear as his mortal love, 

For he thought upon her looks so meek, 

And he thought of the light flush on her cheek ; 

Never again might he bask and lie 

On that sweet cheek and moonlight eye, 

But in his dreams her form to see, 

To clasp her in his revery, 

To think upon his virgin bride, 

Was worth all heaven, and earth beside. 

XXXIV. 

"Lady," he cried, "I have sworn to-night, 

On the word of a fairy-knight, 

To do my sentence-task aright; 

My honour scarce is free from stain, 

I may not soil its snows again ; 

Betide me weal, betide me wo, 

Its mandate must be answer'd now." 

Her bosom heaved with many a sigh, 

The tear was in her drooping eye ; 

But she led him to the palace gate, 

And call'd the sylphs who hover'd there, 
And bade them fly and bring him straight 

Of clouds condensed a sable car. 
With charm and spell she blessM it there, 
From all the fiends of upper air; 
Then round him cast the shadowy shroud, 
And tied his steed behind the cloud ; 
And press'd his hand as she bade him fly 
Far to the verge of the northern sky, 



JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 



191 



For by its wane and wavering light 
There was a star would fall to-night. 



Borne afar on the wings of the blast, 
Northward away, he speeds him fast, 
And his courser follows the cloudy wain 
Till the hoof-strokes fall like pattering rain. 
The clouds roll backward as he flies, 
Each flickering star behind him lies, 
And he has reach'd the northern plain, 
And back'd his fire-fly steed again, 
Ready to follow in its flight 
The streaming of the rocket-light. 

xxxvr. 

The star is yet in the vault of heaven, 

But it rocks in the summer gale; 
And now 'tis fitful and uneven, 

And now 'tis deadly pale; 
And now 'tis wrapp'd in sulphur-smoke, 

And quench'd is its rayless beam, 
And now with a rattling thunder-stroke 

It bursts in flash and flame. 
As swift as the glance of the arrowy lance 

That the storm-spirit flings from high, 
The star-shot flew o'er the welkin blue, 

As it fell from the sheeted s^y. 
As swift as the wind in its trail behind 

The Elfin gallops along, 
The fiends of the clouds are bellowing loud, 

B ut the sylphid charm is strong ; 
He gallops unhurt in the shower of fire, 

While the cloud-fiends fly from the blaze; 
He watches each flake till its sparks expire, 

And rides in the light of its rays. 
But he drove his steed to the lightning's speed, 

And caught a glimmering spark; 
Then wheel'd around to the fairy ground, 

And sped through the midnight dark. 



Ouphe and Goblin! Imp and Sprite! 

Elf of eve ! and starry Fay ! 
Ye that love the moon's soft light, 

Hither — hither wend your way ; 
Twine ye in a jocund ring, 

Sing and trip it merrily, 
Hand to hand, and wing to wing, 

Round the wild witch-hazel tree. 

Hail the wanderer again 

With dance and song, and lute and lyre, 
Pure his wing and strong his chain, 

And doubly bright his fairy fire. 
Twine ye in an airy round, 

Brush the dew and print the lea; 
Skip and gambol, hop and bound, 

Round the wild witch-hazel tree. 

The beetle guards our holy ground, 
He flies about the haunted place, 

And if mortal there be found, 

He hums in his ears and flaps his face ; 



The leaf-harp sounds our roundelay, 
The owlet's eyes our lanterns be ; 

Thus we sing, and dance, and play, 
Round the wild witch-hazel tree. 

But, hark ! from tower on tree-top high, 

The sentry-elf his call has made : 
A streak is in the eastern sky, 

Shapes of moonlight ! flit and fade ! 
The hill-tops gleam in morning's spring, 
The sky -lark shakes his dappled wing, 
The day-glimpse glimmers on the lawn, 
The cock has crow'd, and the Fays are gone. 



BRONX. 

I sat me down upon a green bank-side, 

Skirting the smooth edge of a gentle river, 

Whose waters seem'd unwillingly to glide, 

Like parting friends, who linger while they sever; 

Enforced to go, yet seeming still unready, 

Backward they wind their way in many a wistful 
eddy. 

Gray o'er my head the yellow-vested willow 
Ruffled its hoary top in the fresh breezes, 

Glancing in light, like spray on a green billow, 
Or the fine frostwork which young winter freezes ; 

When first his power in infant pastime trying, 

Congeals sad autumn's tears on the dead branches 
lying. 

From rocks around hung the loose ivy dangling, 
And in the clefts sumach of liveliest green, 

Bright ising-stars the little beech was spangling, 
The gold-cup sorrel from his gauzy screen 

Shone like a fairy crown, enchased and beaded, 

Left on some morn, when light flash'd in their eyes 
unheeded. 

The humbird shook his sun-touch'd wings around, 
The bluefinch caroll'd in the still retreat ; 

The antic squirrel caper'd on the ground 
Where lichens made a carpet for his feet; 

Through the transparent waves, the ruddy minkle 

Shot up in glimmering sparks his red fin's tiny 
twinkle. 

There were dark cedars, with loose, mossy tresses, 
White-powder'd dog trees, and stiff hollies 
flaunting 
Gaudy as rustics in their May-day dresses, 

Blue pelloret from purple leaves upslanting 
A modest gaze, like eyes of a young maiden 
Shining beneath dropp'd lids the evening of hei 
wedding. 

The breeze fresh springing from the lips of morn, 

Kissing the leaves, and sighing so to lose 'em, 
The winding of the merry locust's horn, 

The glad spring gushing from the rock's bare 
bosom : 
Sweet sights, sweet sounds, all sights, all sounds 

excelling, 
O! 'twas a ravishing spot, forcn'd for a poet's 
dwelling. 



192 JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 


— 


And did I leave thy loveliness, to stand 


IV. 


Again in the dull world of earthly blindness 1 


Flag of the seas ! on ocean wave 




Pain'd with the pressure of unfriendly hands, 


Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave ; 




Sick of smooth looks, agued with icy kindness 1 


When death, careering on the gale, 

Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail, 
And frighted waves rush wildly back 




Left I for this thy shades, where none intrude, 
To prison wandering thought and mar sweet soli- 
tude] 




Before the broadside's reeling rack, 




Yet I will look upon thy face again, 


Each dying wanderer of the sea 




My own romantic Bronx, and it will be 


Shall look at once to heaven and thee, 




A face more pleasant than the face of men. 


And smile to see thy splendours fly 




Thy waves are old companions, I shall see 


In triumph o'er his closing eye. 




A well-remember'd form in each old tree, 






And hear a voice long loved in thy wild minstrelsy. 


v. 

Flag of the free heart's hope and home ! 






By angel hands to valour given ; 








The stars have lit the welkin dome, 




THE AMERICAN FLAG. 


And all thy hues were born in heaven. 






Forever float that standard sheet ! 




i. 


Where breathes the foe but falls before us, 




Whew Freedom from her mountain height 


With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, 




Unfurl'd her standard to the air, 


And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us 1 




She tore the azure robe of night, 






And set the stars of glory there. 






She mingled with its gorgeous dyes 






The milky baldric of the skies, 


TO SARAH. 




And striped its pure, celestial white, 







With streakings of the morning light ; 


i. 




Then from his mansion in the sun 


Owe happy year has fled, Sale, 




She call'd her eagle bearer down, 


Since you were all my own ; 




And gave into his mighty hand 


The leaves have felt the autumn blight, 




The symbol of her chosen land. 


The wintry storm has blown. 




n. 


We heeded not the cold blast, 




Majestic monarcn of the cloud, 


Nor the winter's icy air ; 




Who rear'st aloft thy regal form, 


For we found our climate in the heart, 




To hear the tempest trumpings loud 


And it was summer there. 




And see the lightning lances driven, 






When strive the warriors of the storm, 


ii» 




And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven, 


The summer sun is bright, Sale, 




Child of the sun ! to thee 't is given 


The skies are pure in hue ; 




To guard the banner of the free, 
To hover in the sulphur smoke, 


But clouds will sometimes sadden them, 
And dim their lovely blue ; 




To ward away the battle-stroke, 


And clouds may come to us, Sale, 




And bid its blendings shine afar, 
Like rainbows on the cloud of war, 


But sure they will not stay ; 
For there 's a spell in fond hearts 




The harbingers of victory ! 


To chase their gloom away. 




in. 


in. 




Flag of the brave ! thy folds shall fly, 


In sickness and in sorrow 




The sign of hope and triumph high, 


Thine eyes were on me still, 




When speaks the signal trumpet tone, 


And there was comfort in each glance 




And the long line comes gleaming on. 


To charm the sense of ill ; 




Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet, 


And were they absent now, Sale, 




Has dimm'd the glistening bayonet, 


I'd seek my bed of pain, 




Each soldier eye shall brightly turn 


And bless each pang that gave me back 




To where thy sky-born .glories burn ; 


Those looks of love again. 




And as his springing steps advance, 






Catch war and vengeance from the glance. 


IV. 




And when the cannon-mouthings loud 


0, pleasant is the welcome kiss, 




Heave in wild wreathes the battle-shroud, 


When day's dull round is o'er, 




And gory sabres rise and fall 


And sweet the music of the step 




Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall ; 


That meets me at the door. 




Then shall thy meteor glances glow, 


Though worldly cares may visit us, 




And cowering foes shall sink beneath 


I reck not when they fall, 




Each gallant arm that strikes below 


While I have thy kind lips, my Sael, 




That lovely messenger of death. 


To smile away them all. 





FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 



[Born, 1795.] 



Tre author of "Fanny," "Burns," "Marco 
Bozzans," etc., was born at Guilford in Connecti- 
cut, in August, 1795. In his eighteenth year he 
removed to the city of New York, where he has 
since resided. It is said that he evinced a taste for 
poetry, and wrote verses, at a very early period ; 
but the oldest of his effusions that I have seen 
are those under the signatures of ", Croaker," and 
" Croaker & Co.," published in the New York 
Evening Post, in 1819. In the production of 
these pleasant satires* he was associated with 
Doctor Drake, the author of the " Culprit Fay," 
a man of brilliant wit and delicate fancy, with 
whom he was long intimate. Drake died in 
1820, and his friend soon after wrote for the New 
York Review, then edited by Bryant, the lines 
to his memory, beginning — 

" Green be the turf above thee, 
Friend of my better diys ; 
None knew thee but to love thee, 
Nor named thee but to praise." 

Near the close of the year 1819, Haleeck pub- 
lished "Fanny," his longest poem, which has 
since passed through numerous editions, though 
its authorship has never been publicly avowed. It 
is a humorous satire, containing from twelve to 
fifteen hundred lines, and was written and printed 
in three weeks from its commencement. 

In 1827 he published a small volume, contain- 
ing "Alnwick Castle," "Marco Bozzaris," and a 
few other pieces, which had previously appeared 
in various miscellanies; and in 1836, an edition 
of all his serious poems then written, including 
"Burns," "Red Jacket," "The Field of the 
Grounded Arms," and those before alluded to. 
The last and most complete collection of his works 
appeared early in the present year. 

Mr. Haeeeck is the only one of our poets who 
possesses a decided local popularity. With the 
subjects of " Fanny," the " Croakers," and some 
of his other pieces, every person in New York is 
in some degree acquainted, and his name is che- 
rished in that city with fondness and enthusiasm. 
His humorous poems are marked with an uncom- 
mon ease of versification, a natural, unstudied 
flow of language, and a careless playfulness and 
felicity of jest. " Sometimes," remarks Mr. Bry- 
ant, "in the midst of a strain of harmonious 
diction, and soft and tender imagery, he surprises 
by an irresistible stroke of ridicule, as if he took 
pleasure in showing the reader that the poetical 
vision he had raised was but a cheat. Sometimes, 



* The curiosity of the town was greatly excited to 
know by whom these pieces had been written, and they 
were ascribed, at different times, to various literary gen- 
tlemen, while the real authors proved, for a long while, 
entirely unsuspected.— William Leggett. — The Critic. 
25 



with that aerial facility which is his peculiar en- 
dowment, he accumulates graceful and agreeable 
images in a strain of irony so fine, that did not 
the subject compel the reader to receive it as irony, 
he would take it for a beautiful passage of serious 
poetry — so beautiful, that he is tempted to regret 
that he is not in earnest, and that phrases so ex- 
quisitely chosen, and poetic colouring so brilliant, 
should be employed to embellish subjects to which 
they do not properly belong. At other times, he 
produces the effect of wit by dexterous allusion to 
contemporaneous events, introduced as illustra- 
tions of the main subject, with all the unconscious 
gracefulness of the most animated and familiar 
conversation. He delights in ludicrous contrasts, 
produced by bringing the nobleness of the ideal 
world into comparison with the homeliness of the 
actual ; the beauty and grace of nature with the 
awkwardness of art. He venerates the past and 
laughs at the present. He looks at them through 
a medium which lends to the former the charm of 
romance, and exaggerates the deformity of the 
latter. His poetry, whether serious or sprightly, 
is remarkable for the melody of the numbers. It 
is not the melody of monotonous and strictly 
regular measurement. His verse is constructed to 
please an ear naturally fine, and accustomed to a 
range of metrical modulation. It is as different 
from that painfully-balanced versification, that 
uniform succession of iambics, closing the scene 
with the couplet, which some writers practise, and 
some critics praise, as the note of the thrush is 
unlike that of the cuckoo. He is familiar with 
those general rules and principles which are the 
basis of metrical harmony ; and his own unerring 
taste has taught him the exceptions which a pro- 
per attention to variety demands. He under- 
stands that the rivulet is made musical by obstruc- 
tions in its channel. In no poet can be found 
passages which flow with more sweet and liquid 
smoothness ; but he knows very well that to make 
this smoothness perceived, and to prevent it from 
degenerating into monotony, occasional roughness 
must be interposed." 

Haeeeck's serious poems are as admirable as 
his satirical. There are few finer martial lyrics 
than "Marco Bozzaris;" "Burns" and "Red 
Jacket" are distinguished for manly vigour of 
thought and language ; and several of his shorter 
pieces have rarely been excelled in melodiousness 
of versification or quiet beauty of imagery. 

Haeleck has generally been engaged in commer- 
cial pursuits. He was once in "the cotton trade, 
and sugar line ;" but I believe he has for several 
years been the principal superintendent of the af- 
fairs of the great capitalist, Mr. Astor. He is a 
bachelor, and is as popular among his friends for his 
social qualities, as he is with the world as a poet. 
R 193 



194 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 



BURNS. 

TO A ROSE, BROUGHT FROM NEAR ALLOWAY KIRK, IN AYR- 
SHIRE, IN THE AUTUMN OF 1822. 

Wild rose of Alloway! my thanks, 
Thou mindst me of that autumn noon, 

When first we met upon " the banks 
And braes o' bonny Doon." 

Like thine, beneath the thorn tree's bough, 
My sunny hour was glad and brief, 

We've cross'd the winter sea, and thou 
Art wither'd — flower and leaf. 

And will not thy death-doom be mine— 
The doom of all things wrought of clay — 

And wither'd my life's leaf, like thine, 
Wild rose of Alloway } 

Not so his memory, for whose sake 
My bosom bore thee far and long, 

His, who an humbler flower could make 
Immortal as his song. 

The memory of Burn's — a name 

That calls, when brimm'd her festal cup, 

A nation's glory, and her shame, 
In silent sadness up. 

A nation's glory — be the rest 

Forgot — she 's canonized his mind ; 

And it is joy to speak the best 
We may of human kind. 

I've stood beside the cottage-bed 

Where the bard-peasant first drew breath : 

A straw-thatch' d roof above his head, 
A straw-wrought couch beneath. 

And I have stood beside the pile, 
His monument — that tells to heaven 

The homage of earth's proudest isle, 
To that bard-peasant given. 

Bid thy thoughts hover o'er that spot, 
Boy -minstrel, in thy dreaming hour; 

And know, however low his lot, 
A poet's pride and power. 

The pride that lifted Burns from earth, 
The power that gave a child of song 

Ascendency o'er rank and birth, 
The rich, the brave, the strong ; 

And if despondency weigh down 
Thy spirit's fluttering pinions then, 

Despair — thy name is written on 
The roll of common men. 

There have been loftier themes than his, 
And longer scrolls, and louder lyres, 

And lays lit up with Poesy's 
Purer and holier fires : 

Yet read the names that know not death ; 

Few nobler ones than Burets are there; 
And few have won a greener wreath 

Than that which binds his hair. 



His is that language of the heart, 

In which the answering heart would speak, 
Thought, word, that bids the warm tear start, 

Or the smile light the cheek ; 

And his that music, to whose tone 

The common pulse of man keeps time, 

In cot or castle's mirth or moan, 
In cold or sunny clime. 

And who hath heard his song, nor knelt 
Before its spell with willing knee, 

And listen'd, and believed, and felt 
The poet's mastery. 

O'er the mind's sea, in calm and storm, 
O'er the heart's sunshine and its showers, 

O'er Passion's moments, bright and warm, 
O'er Reason's dark, cold hours ; 

On fields where brave men "die or do," 
In halls where rings the banquet's mirth, 

Where mourners weep, where lovers woo, 
From throne to cottage hearth ; 

What sweet tears dim the eyes unshed, 
What wild vows falter on the tongue, 

When " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," 
Or "Auld Lang Syne" is sung! 

Pure hopes, that lift the soul above, 

Come with his Cotter's hymn of praise, 

And dreams of youth, and truth, and love, 
With " Logan's" banks and braes. 

And when he breathes his master-lay 
Of Alloway's witch-haunted wall, 

All passions in our frames of clay 
Come thronging at his call. 

Imagination's world of air, 

And our own world, its gloom and glee, 
Wit, pathos, poetry, are there, 

And death's sublimity. 

And Burns — though brief the race he ran, 
Though rough and dark the path he trod — 

Lived — died — in form and soul a man, 
The image of his God. 

Though care, and pain, and want, and wo, 
With wounds that only death could heal, 

Tortures — the poor alone can know, 
The proud alone can feel ; 

He kept his honesty and truth, 
His independent tongue and pen, 

And moved, in manhood and in youth, 
Pride of his fellow-men. 

Strong sense, deep feeling, passions strong, 

A hate of tyrant and of knave, 
A love of right, a scorn of wrong, 

Of coward, and of slave; 

A kind, true heart, a spirit high, 

That could not fear and would not bow, 

Were written in his manly eye, 
And on his manly brow. 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 



195 



Praise to the bard ! his words are driven, 
Like flower-seeds by the far winds sown, 

Where'er, beneath the sky of heaven, 
The birds of fame have flown. 

Praise to the man ! a nation stood 

Beside his coffin with wet eyes, 
Her brave, her beautiful, her good, 

As when a loved one dies. 

And still, as on his funeral day, 

Men stand his cold earth-couch around, 

With the mute homage that we pay 
To consecrated ground. 

And consecrated ground it is, 

The last, the hallow'd home of one 

Who lives upon all memories, 
Though with the buried gone. 

Such graves as his are pilgrim-shrines, 
Shrines to no code or creed confined — 

The Delphian vales, the Palestines, 
The Meccas of the mind. 

Sages, with Wisdom's garland wreathed, 

Crown'd kings, and mitred priests of power, 
And warriors with their bright swords sheathed, 
. The mightiest of the hour ; 

And lowlier names, whose humble home 

Is lit by Fortune's dimmer star, 
Are there — o'er wave and mountain come, 

From countries near and far; 

Pilgrims, whose wandering feet have press'd 
The Switzer's snow, the Arab's sand, 

Or trod the piled leaves of the west, 
My own green forest-land; 

All ask the cottage of his birth, 

Gaze on the scenes he loved and sung, 

And gather feelings not of earth 
His fields and streams among. 

They linger by the Doon's low trees, 
And pastoral Nith, and wooded Ayr, 

And round thy sepulchres, Dumfries ! 
The poet's tomb is there. 

But what to them the sculptor's art, 

His funeral columns, wreaths, and urns 1 

Wear they not graven on the heart 
The name of Robert Burns 1 



RED JACKET, 

A CHIEF OF THE INDIAN TRIBES, THE TUSCARORAS. 

Cooper, whose name is with his country's woven, 
First in her files, her pioneer of mind, 

A wanderer now in other climes, has proven 
His love for the young land he left behind ; 

And throned her in the senate hall of nations, 
Robed like the deluge rainbow, heaven-wrought, 

Magnificent as his own mind's creations, 
And beautiful as its green world of thought. 



A.nd faithful to the act of Congress, quoted 
As law-authority — it pass'd nem. con. — 

He writes that we are, as ourselves have voted, 
The most enlighten'd people ever known. 

That all our week is happy as a Sunday 

In Paris, full of song, and dance, and laugh ; 

And that, from Orleans to the bay of Fundy, 
There 's not a bailiff nor an epitaph. 

And, furthermore, in fifty years or sooner, 
We shall export our poetry and wine ; 

And our brave fleet, eight frigates and a schooner, 
Will sweep the seas from Zembla to the line. 

If he were with me, King of Tuscarora, 
Gazing as I, upon thy portrait now. 

In all its medall'd, fringed, and beaded glory, 
Its eyes' dark beauty, and its thoughtful brow — 

Its brow, half-martial and half-diplomatic, 
Its eye, upsoaring, like an eagle's wings ; 

Well might he boast that we, the democratic, 
Outrival Europe — even in our kings ; 

For thou wert monarch born. Tradition's pages 
Tell not the planting of thy parent tree, 

But that the forest-tribes have bent for ages 
To thee, and to thy sires, the subject knee. 

Thy name is princely. Though no poet's magic 
Could make Red Jacket grace an English 

Unless he had a genius for the tragic, [rhyme 
And introduced it in a pantomime ; 

Yet it is music in the language spoken 

Of thine own land ; and on her herald-roll, 

As nobly fought for, and as proud a token 
As C(eur de Lion's, of a warrior's soul. 

Thy garb — though Austria's bosom-star would 

frighten 

That medal pale, as diamonds the dark mine, 

And George the Fourth wore, in the dance at 

Brighton, 

A more becoming evening dress than thine ; 

Yet 'tis a brave one, scorning wind and weather, 
And fitted for thy couch on field and flood, 

As Rob Rot's tartans for the highland heather, 
Or forest-green for England's Robin Hood. 

Is strength a monarch's merit? (like a whaler's) 
Thou art as tall, as sinewy, and as strong 

As earth's first kings — the Argo's gallant sailors, 
Heroes in history, and gods in song. 

Is eloquence 1 Her spell is thine that reaches 
The heart, and makes the wisest head its sport ; 

And there's one rare, strange virtue in thy speeches, 
The secret of their mastery — they are short. 

Is beauty? Thine has with thy youth departed, 
But the love-legends of thy manhood's years, 

And she who perish'd, young and broken-hearted, 
Are — but I rhyme for smiles, and not for tears. 

The monarch mind — the mystery of commanding, 
The godlike power, the art Napoxe<5>-, 

Of winning, fettering, moulding, wielding, banding 
The hearts of millions till they move as one; 



196 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 



Thou hast it. At thy bidding men have crowded 

The road to death as to a festival ; 
And minstrel minds, without a blush, have shrouded 

With banner-folds of glory their dark pall. 

Who will believe — not I — for in deceiving 

Lies the dear charm of life's delightful dream ; 

I cannot spare the luxury of believing 

That all things beautiful are what they seem. 

Who will believe that, with a smile whose blessing 
Would, like the patriarch's, soothe a dying hour ; 

With voice as low, as gentle, and caressing 
As e'er won maiden's lip in moonlight bower; 

With look, like patient Job's, eschewing evil; 

With motions graceful as a bird's in air ; 
Thou art, in sober truth, the veriest devil 

That e'er clinch' d lingers in a captive's hair? 

That in thy veins there springs a poison fountain, 
Deadlier than that which bathes the upas-tree; 

And in thy wrath, a nursing cat o' mountain 
Is calm as her babe's sleep compared with thee? 

And underneath that face like summer's ocean's, 
Its lip as moveless, and its cheek as clear, 

Slumbers a whirlwind of the heart's emotions, 
Love, hatred, pride, hope, sorrow — all, save fear. 

Love — for thy land, as if she were thy daughter, 
Her pipes in peace, her tomahawk in wars ; 

Hatred — of missionaries and cold water; 
Pride — in thy rifle-trophies and thy scars; 

Hope — that thy wrongs will be by the Great Spirit 
Remembcr'd and revenged when thou art gone ; 

'Sorrow — that none are left thee to inherit 

Thy name, thy fame, thy passions, and thy throne. 



CONNECTICUT. 

And still her gray rocks tower above the sea 
That murmurs at their feet, a conquer' d wave ; 

'T is a rough land of earth, and stone, and tree, 
Where breathes no castled lord or cabin' d slave; 

Where thoughts, and tongues, and hands are bold 
and free, 
And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave; 

And where none kneel, save when to Heaven they 

Nor even then, unless in their own way. [pray, 

Theirs is a pure republic, wild, yet strong, 
A " fierce democracie," where all are true 

To what themselves have voted — right or wrong — 
And to their laws, denominated blue ; 

(If red, they might to Draco's code belong;) 
A vestal state, which power could not subdue, 

Nor promise win — like her own eagle's nest, 

Sacred — the San Marino of the west. 

A justice of the peace, for the time being, 

They bow to, but may turn him out next year : 

They reverence their priest, but, disagreeing 
In price or creed, dismiss him without fear; 

They have a natural talent for foreseeing 

And knowing all things ; and should Park appear 

From his long tour in Africa, to show [know. 

The Niger's source, they 'd meet him with — We 



They love their land, because it is their own, 
And scorn to give aught other reason why ; 

Would shake hands with a king upon his throne, 
And think it kindness to his majesty ; 

A stubborn race, fearing and flattering none. 
Such are they nurtured, such they live and die : 

All — but a few apostates, who are meddling 

With merchandise, pounds, shillings, pence, and 
peddling; 

Or, wandering through the southern countries, 
teaching 

The ABC from Webster's spelling-book; 
Gallant and godly, making love and preaching, 

And gaining, b} r what they call "hook and crook," 
And what the moralists call overreaching, 

A decent living. The Virginians look 
Upon them with as favourable eyes 
As Gabriel on the devil in Paradise. 

But these are but their outcasts. View them near 
At home, where all their worth and pride is 
placed ; 

And there their hospitable fires burn clear, 

And there the lowliest farm-house hearth is graced 

With manly hearts, in piety sincere, 

Faithful in love, in honour stern and chaste, 

In friendship warm and true, in danger brave, 

Beloved in life, and sainted in the grave. 

And minds have there been nurtured, w r hose control 
Is felt even in their nation's destiny; 

Men who sway'd senates with a statesman's soul, 
And look'd on armies with a leader's eye ; 

Names that adorn and dignify the scroll 

Whose leaves contain their country's history. 



Hers are not Tempe's nor Arcadia's spring, 
Nor the long summer of Cathayan vales, 

The vines, the flowers, the air, the skies, that fling 
Such wild enchantment o'er Boccaccio's tales 

Of Florence and the Arno — yet the wing 
Of life's best angel, health, is on her gales 

Through sun and snow — and, in the autumn time, 

Earth has no purer and no lovelier clime. 

Her clear, warm heaven at noon, — the mist that 
shrouds 

Her twilight hills, — her cool and starry eves, 
The glorious splendour of her sunset clouds, 

The rainbow beauty of her forest leaves, 
Come o'er the eye, in solitude and crowds, 

Where'er his web of song her poet weaves ; 
And his mind's brightest vision but displays 
The autumn scenery of his boyhood's days. 

And when you dream of woman, and her love ; 

Her truth, her tenderness, her gentle power ; 
The maiden, listening in the moonlight grove; 

The mother, smiling in her infant's bower; 
Forms, features, worshipp'd while we breathe or 
move, 

Be, by some spirit of your dreaming hour, 
Borne, like Loretto's chapel, through the air 
To the green land I sing, then wake ; you '11 find 
them there. 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECR. 



197 



/ 



ALNWICK CASTLE. 



Hoxe of the Percy's high-born race, 

Home of their beautiful and brave, 
Alike their birth and burial place, 

Their cradle and their grave ! 
Still sternly o'er the castle gate 
Their house's Lion stands in state, 

As in his proud departed hours ; 
And warriors frown in stone on high, 
And feudal banners "flout the sky" 

Above his princely towers. 

A gentle hill its side inclines, 

Lovely in England's fadeless green, 
To meet the quiet stream which winds 

Through this romantic scene 
As silently and sweetly still, 
As when, at evening, on that hill, 

While summer's wind blew soft and low, 
Seated by gallant Hotspur's side, 
His Katharine was a happy bride, 

A thousand years ago. 

Gaze on the Abbey's ruin'd pile : 

Does not the succouring ivy, keeping 

Her watch around it, seem to smile, 
As o'er a loved one sleeping ] 

One solitary turret gray 

Still tells, in melancholy glory, 
The legend of the Cheviot day, 

The Percy's proudest border story. 
That day its roof was triumph's arch ; 

Then rang, from aisle to pictured dome, 
The light step of the soldier's march, 

The music of the trump and drum ; 
And babe, and sire, the old, the young, 
And the monk's hymn, and minstrel's song, 
And woman's pure kiss, sweet and long, 

Welcomed her warrior home. 

Wild roses by the abbey towers 

Are gay in their young bud and bloom : 
They were born of a race of funeral flowers 
That garlanded, in long-gone hours, 

A Templar's knightly tomb. 
He died, the sword in his mailed hand, 
On the holiest spot of the Blessed Land, 

Where the Cross was damp'd with his dying 
breath, 
When blood ran free as festal wine, 
And the sainted air of Palestine 

Was thick with the darts of death. 

Wise with the lore of centuries, 

What tales, if there be " tongues in trees," 

Those giant oaks could tell, 
Of beings born and buried here ; 
Tales of the peasant and the peer, 
Tales of the bridal and the bier, 

The welcome and farewell, 
Since on their boughs the startled bird 
First, in her twilight slumbers, heard 

The Norman's curfew-bell. 

I wander'd through the lofty halls 
Trod by the Percys of old fame, 



And traced upon the chapel walls 

Each high, heroic name, 
From him who once his standard set 
Where now, o'er mosque and minaret, 

Glitter the Sultan's crescent moons ; 
To him who, when a younger son, 
Fought for King George at Lexington, 

A major of dragoons. 

***** 

That last half stanza — it has dash'd 

From my warm lip the sparkling cup ; 
The light that o'er my eyebeam fiash'd, 

The power that bore my spirit up 
Above this bank-note world — is gone ; 
And Alnwick's but a market town, 
And this, alas ! its market day, 
And beasts and borderers throng the way ; 
Oxen and bleating lambs in lots, 
Northumbrian boors and plaided Scots, 

Men in the coal and cattle line ; 
From Teviot's bard and hero land, 
From royal Berwick's beach of sand, 
From Wooler, Morpeth, Hexham, and 

Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 

These are not the romantic times 
So beautiful in Spenser's rhymes, 

So dazzling to the dreaming boy : 
Ours are the days of fact, not fable, 
Of knights, but not of the Round Table, 

Of Bailie Jarvie, not Rob Roy: 
'Tis what " our President," Monroe, 

Has call'd « the era of good feeling :" 
The Highlander, the bitterest foe 
To modern laws, has felt their blow, 
Consented to be taxed, and vote, 
And put on pantaloons and coat, 

And leave off cattle-stealina; 
Lord Stafford mines for coal and salt, 
The Duke of Norfolk deals in malt, 

The Douglas in red herrings: 
And noble name and cultured land, 
Palace, and park, and vassal band. 
Are powerless to the notes of hand 

Of Rothschild or the Barings. 

The age of bargaining, said Burke, 
Has come : to-day the turban'd Turk 
(Sleep, Richard of the lion heart ! 
Sleep on, nor from your cerements start) 

Is England's friend and fast ally ; 
The Moslem tramples on the Greek, 

And on the Cross and altar stone, 

And Christendom looks tamely on, 
And hears the Christian maiden shriek, 

And sees the Christian father die : 
And not a sabre blow is given 
For Greece and fame, for faith and heaven, 

By Europe's craven chivalry. 

You'll ask if yet the Percy lives 
In the arm'd pomp of feudal state 1 

The present representatives 

Of Hotspur and his " gentle Kate," 

Are some half-dozen serving men, 

In the drab coat of William Penn ; 



198 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 



A chambermaid, whose lip and eye, 
And cheek, and brown hair, bright and curling, 

Spoke nature's aristocracy ; 
And one, half groom, half seneschal, 
Who bow'd me through court, bower, and hall, 
From donjon-keep to turret wall, 
For ten-and-sixpence sterling. 



MAGDALEN, 

A sword, whose blade has ne'er been wet 

With blood, except of freedom's foes; 
That hope which, though its sun be set, 

Still with a starlight beauty glows ; 
A heart that worshipp'd in Romance 

The Spirit of the buried Time, 
And dreams of knight, and steed, and lance, 

And ladye-love, and minstrel-rhyme ; 
These had been, and I deemed would be 
My joy, whate'er my destiny. 

Born in a camp, its watch-fires bright 

Alone illumed my cradle-bed ; 
And I had borne with wild delight 

My banner where Bolivar led, 
Ere manhood's hue was on my cheek, 

Or manhood's pride was on my brow. 
Its folds are furl'd — the war-bird's beak 

Is thirsty on the Andes now ; 
I long'd, like her, for other skies 
Clouded by Glory's sacrifice. 

In Greece, the brave heart's Holy Land, 

Its soldier-song the bugle sings; 
And I had buckled on my brand, 

And waited but the sea wind's wings, 
To bear me where, or lost or won 

Her battle, in its frown or smile, 
Men live with those of Marathon, 

Or die with those of Scio's isle ; 
And find in Valour's tent or tomb, 
In life or death, a glorious home. 

I could have left but yesterday 

The scene of my boy-years behind, 
And floated on my careless way 

Wherever will'd the breathing wind. 
I could have bade adieu to aught 

I've sought, or met, or welcomed here, 
Without an hour of shaded thought, 

A sigh, a murmur, or a tear. 
Such was I yesterday — but then 
I had not known thee, Magdalen. 

To-day there is a change within me, 

There is a weight upon my brow, 
And Fame, whose whispers once could win me 

From all I loved, is powerless now. 
There ever is a form, a face 

Of maiden beauty in my dreams, 
Speeding before me, like the race 

To ocean of the mountain streams — 
With dancing hair, and laughing eyes, 
That seem to mock me as it flies. 

My sword — it slumbers in its sheath ; 
My hopes — their starry light is gone ; 



My heart — the fabled clock of death, 

Beats with the same low, lingering tone : 

And this, the land of Magdalen, 
Seems now the only spot on earth 

Where skies are blue and flowers are green ; 
And here I'd build my household hearth, 

And breathe my song of joy, and twine 

A lovely being's name with mine. 

In vain ! in vain ! the sail is spread ; 

To sea ! to sea ! my task is there ; 
But when among the unmourned dead 

They lay me, and the ocean air 
Brings tidings of my day jjf doom, 

Mayst thou be then, as now thou art, 
The load-star of a happy home ; 

In smile and voice, in eye and heart 
The same as thou hast ever been, 
The loved, the lovely Magdalen. 



TWILIGHT. 

There is an evening twilight of the heart, 

When its wild passion-waves are lull'd to rest, 
And the eye sees life's fairy scenes depart, 

As fades the day-beam in the rosy west. 
'Tis with a nameless feeling of regret 

We gaze upon them as they melt away, 
And fondly would we bid them linger yet, 

But hope is round us with her angel lay, 
Hailing afar some happier moonlight hour ; 
Dear are her whispers still, though lost their early 
power. 

In youth the cheek was crimson'd with her glow ; 

Her smile was loveliest then ; her matin song 
Was heaven's own. music, and the note of wo 

Was all unheard her sunny bowers among. 
Life's little world of bliss was newly born ; 

We knew not, cared not, it was born to die, 
Flush'd with the cool breeze and the dews of morn, 

With dancing heart we gazed on the pure sky, 
And mock'd the passing clouds thatdimm'd its blue, 
Like our own sorrows then — as fleeting and as few. 

And manhood felt her ,sway too — on the eye, 

Half realized, her early dreams burst bright, 
Her promised bower of happiness seem'd nigh, 

Its days of joy, its vigils of delight ; 
And though at times might lower the thunder-storm, 

And the red lightnings threaten, still the air 
Was balmy with her breath, and her loved form, 

The rainbow of the heart, was hovering there. 
'Tis in life's noontide she is nearest seen, [green. 
Her wreath the summer flower, her robe of summer 

But though less dazzling in her twilight dress, 

There's more of heaven's pure beam about her 
That angel-smile of tranquil loveliness, [now; 

Which the heart worships, glowing on her brow ; 
That smile shall brighten the dim evening star 

That points our destined tomb, nor e'er depart 
Till the faint light of life is fled afar, 

And hush'd the last deep beating of the heart ; 
The meteor bearer of our parting breath, 
A moonbeam in the midnight cloud of death. 



FITZ-GREENE HALLECK. 



199 



MARCO BOZZARIS.* 

At midnight, in his guarded tent, 

The Turk was dreaming of the hour 
When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent, 

Should tremble at his power : 
In dreams, through camp and court, he bore 
The trophies of a conqueror ; 

In dreams his song of triumph heard ; 
Then wore his monarch's signet-ring : 
Then press'd that monarch's throne — a king; 
As wild his thoughts, and gay of wing, 

As Eden's garden-bird. 

At midnight, in the forest shades, 

Bozzaris ranged his Suliote band, 
True as the steel of their tried blades, 

Heroes in heart and hand. 
There had the Persian's thousands stood, 
There had the glad earth drunk their blood 

On old Platsa's day ; 
And now there breathed that haunted air 
The sons of sires who conquer'd there, 
With arm to strike, and soul to dare, 

As quick, as far as they. 

An hour pass'd on — the Turk awoke ; 

That, bright dream was his last; 
He awoke — to hear his sentries shriek, 
"To arms ! they come ! the Greek ! the Greek !" 
He woke — to die midst flame, and smoke, 
And shout, and groan, and sabre-stroke, 

And death-shots falling thick and fast 
As lightnings from the mountain-cloud; 
And heard, with voice as trumpet loud, 

Bozzaris cheer his band : 
" Strike — till the last arm'd foe expires ; 
Strike — for your altars and your fires ; 
Strike — for the green graves of your sires ; 

God — and your native land !" 

They fought — like brave men, long and well ; 

They piled that ground with Moslem slain ; 
They conquer'd — but Bozzaris fell, 

Bleeding at every vein. 
His few surviving comrades saw 
His smile when rang their proud hurrah, 

And the red field was won : 
Then saw in death his eyelids close 
Calmly, as to a night's repose, 

Like flowers at set of sun. 

Come to the bridal chamber, Death ! 

Come to the mother's, when she feels, 
For the first time, her firstborn's breath ; 

Come when the blessed seals 
That close the pestilence are broke, 
And crowded cities wail its stroke ; 

*He fell in an attack upon the Turkish camp at Laspi, 
the site of the ancient Platsea, August 20, 1823, and expired 
in the moment of victory. His last words were: "To 
die for liberty is a pleasure, not a pain." 



Come in consumption's ghastly form, 
The earthquake shock, the ocean-storm, 
Come when the heart beats high and warm, 

With banquet-song, and dance, and wine ; 
And thou art terrible — the tear, 
The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier; 
And all we know, or dream, or fear 

Of agony, are thine. 

But to the hero, when his sword 

Has won the battle for the free, 
Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word ; 
And in its hollow tones are heard 

The thanks of millions yet to be. 
Come, when his task of fame is wrought — 
Come, with her laurel-leaf, blood-bought — 

Come in her crowning hour — and then 
Thy sunken eye's unearthly light 
To him is welcome as the sight 

Of sky and stars to pnson'd men : 
Thy grasp is welcome as the hand 
Of brother in a foreign land ; 
Thy summons welcome as the cry 
That told the Indian isles were nigh 

To the world-seeking Genoese, 
When the land-wind, from woods of palm, 
And orange-groves, and fields of balm, 

Blew o'er the Haytian seas. 

Bozzaris! with the storied brave 

Greece nurtured in her glory's time, 
Rest thee — there is no prouder grave, 

Even in her own proud clime. 
She wore no funeral weeds for thee, 

Nor bade the dark hearse wave its plume, 
Like torn branch from death's leafless tree, 
In sorrow's pomp and pageantry, 

The heartless luxury of the tomb : 
But she remembers thee as one 
Long loved, and for a season gone ; 
For thee her poet's lyre is wreathed, 
Her marble wrought, her music breathed ; 
For thee she rings the birthday bells ; 
Of thee her babes' first lisping tells : 
For thine her evening prayer is said 
At palace couch, and cottage bed ; 
Her soldier, closing with the foe, 
Gives for thy sake a deadlier blow ; 
His plighted maiden, when she fears 
For him, the joy of her young years, 
Thinks of thy fate, and checks her tears : 

And she, the mother of thy boys, 
Though in her eye and faded cheek 
Is read the grief she will not speak, 

The memory of her buried joys, 
And even she who gave thee birth, 
Will, by their pilgrim-circled hearth, 

Talk of thy doom without a sigh : 
For thou art Freedom's now, and Fame's, 
One of the few, the immortal names, 

That were not born to die. 



SAMUEL G. GOODRICH. 



[Born, 1796.; 



Samuel Griswold Goodrich is a native of 
Ridgefield, on the western border of Connecticut, 
and was born about the year 1796. His father 
was a respectable clergyman, distinguished for his 
simplicity of character, strong common sense, and 
eloquence. Our author was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native town, and soon after 
he was twenty -one years .old, engaged in the 
business of publishing, in Hartford, where he 
resided for several years. In 1824, being in ill 
health, he visited Europe, and travelled over Eng- 
land, France, Germany, and Holland, devoting 
his attention particularly to the institutions for 
education ; and on his return, having determined 
to attempt an improvement in books for the young, 
established himself in Boston, and commenced 
the trade of authorship. Since that time he has 
produced from twenty to thirty volumes, under 
the signature of "Peter Parley," which have 
passed through a great number of editions in this 
country and in England, and been translated into 
several foreign languages. Of some of these 
woi - ks more than fifty thousand copies are circu- 
lated annually. In 1824 Mr. Goodrich com- 
menced « The Token," an annuary, of which he 
was the editor for fourteen years. In this series 



he published most of the poems of which he is 
known to be the author. They were all written 
while he was actively engaged in business. His 
" Fireside Education" was composed in sixty 
days, while he was discharging his duties as a 
member of the Massachusetts Senate, and super- 
intending his publishing establishment ; and his 
numerous other prose works were produced with 
equal rapidity. In 1837 he published a volume 
entitled " The Outcast, and other Poems," most 
of the contents of which had previously been 
printed; and, in 1841, "Sketches from a Stu- 
dent's Window," a collection of poems and prose 
writings that had originally appeared in " The 
Token" and other periodicals. 

Mr. Goodrich has been a liberal patron of 
American authors and artists ; and it is question- 
able whether any other person has done as much 
to improve the style of the book manufacture, or to 
promote the arts of engraving. It is believed that 
he has put in circulation more than two millions 
of volumes of his own productions ; all of which 
inculcate pure morality, and cheerful views of life. 
His style is simple and unaffected; the flow of 
his verse melodious; and his subjects generally 
such as he is capable of treating most successfully. 



BIRTHNIGHT OF THE HUMMING-BIRDS. 



I'll tell you a fairy tale that's new — 
How the merry elves o'er the ocean flew, 
From the Emerald isle to this far-off shore, 
As they were wont in the days of yore — 
And play'd their pranks one moonlit night, 
Where the zephyrs alone could see the sight. 



Ere the old world yet had found the new, 
The fairies oft in their frolics flew, 
To the fragrant isles of the Carribee — 
Bright bosom-gems of a golden sea. 
Too dark was the film of the Indian's eye, 
These gossamer sprites to suspect or sp} 7- , — 
So they danced mid the spicy groves unseen, 
And gay were their gambolings, I ween ; 
For the fairies, like other discreet little elves, 
Are freest and fondest when all by themselves. 
No thought had they that in after time 
The muse would echo their deeds in rhyme ; 
So, gayly doffing light stocking and shoe, 
They tripp'd o'er the meadow all dappled in dew. 
I could tell, if I would, some right merry tales 
Of unslipper'd fairies that danced in the vales — 



But the lovers of scandal I leave in the lurch — 
And, besides, these elves don't belong to the church. 
If they danced — be it known— 'twas not in the 

clime 
Of your Mathers and Hookers, where laughter 

was crime ; 
Where sentinel virtue kept guard o'er the lip, 
Though witchcraft stole into the heart by a slip ! 
O, no ! 'twas the land Of the fruit and the flower — 
Where summer and spring both dwelt in one 

bower — 
Where one hung the citron, all ripe from the 

bough, 
And the other with blossoms encircled its brow, — 
Where the mountains embosom'd rich tissues of 

gold, 
And the rivers o'er rubies and emeralds roll'd. 
It was there, where the seasons came only to bless, 
And the fashions of Eden still linger'd, in dress, 
That these gay little fairies were wont, as I say, 
To steal in their merriest gambols away. 
But, dropping the curtain o'er frolic and fun, 
Too good to be told, or too bad to be done, 
I give you a legend from Fancy's own sketch, 
Though I warn you he's given to fibbing — the 

wretch ! 
But I learn by the legends of breezes and brooks, 
'T is as true as the fairy tales told in the books. 

200 



SAMUEL G. GOODRICH. 



201 



One night when the moon shone fair on the main, 
Choice spirits were gather'd 'twixt Derry and Spain, 
And lightly embarking from Erin's bold cliffs, 
They slid o'er the wave in their moonbeam skiffs. 
A ray for a rudder — a thought for a sail, 
Swift, swift was each bark as the wing of the gale. 
Yet long were the tale, should I linger to say 
What gambol and frolic enliven'd the way ; 
How they flirted with bubbles that danced on the 

wave, 
Or listen'd to mermaids that sang from the cave ; 
Or slid with the moonbeams down deep to the grove 
Of coral, " where mullet and gold-fish rove :" 
How there, in long vistas of silence and sleep, 
They waltzed, as if mocking the death of the deep : 
How oft, where the wreck lay scatter'd and torn, 
They peep'd in the skull — now ghastly and lorn ; 
Or deep, mid wild rocks, quizzed the goggling shark, 
And mouth'd at the sea-wolf — so solemn and 

stark — 
Each seeming to think that the earth and the sea 
Were made but for fairies — for gambol and glee ! 
Enough, that at last they came to the isle, 
Where moonlight and fragrance were rivals the 

while. 
Not yet had those vessels from Palos been here, 
To turn the bright gem to the blood-mingled tear. 



0, 



still blissful and peaceful the land, 



And the merry elves flew from the sea to the strand. 
Right happy and joyous seem'd now the bright crew, 
As they tripp'd mid the orange groves flashing in 

dew, 
For they were to hold a revel that night, 
A gay, fancy ball, and each to be dight 
In the gem or the flower that fancy might choose 
From mountain or vale, for its fragrance or hues. 



Away sped the maskers like arrows of light, 
To gather their gear for the revel bright. 
To the dazzling peaks of far-off Peru, 
In emulous speed some sportive flew — 
And deep in the mine, or mid glaciers on high, 
For ruby and sapphire searched heedful and sly. 
For diamonds rare that gleam in the bed 
Of Brazilian streams, some merrily sped, 
While others for topaz and emerald stray, 
Mid the cradle cliffs of the Paraguay. 
As these are gathering the rarest of gems, 
Others are plucking the rarest of stems. 
They range wild dells where the zephyr alone 
To the blushing blossoms before was known ; 
Through forests they fly, whose branches are hung 
By creeping plants, with fair flowerets strung — 
Where temples of nature with arches of bloom, 
Are lit by the moonlight, and faint with perfume. 
They stray where the mangrove and clematis twine, 
Where azalia and laurel in rivalry shine ; 
Where, tall as the oak, the passion-tree glows, 
And jasmine is blent with rhodora and rose. 
O'er blooming savannas and meadows of light, 
Mid regions of summer they sweep in their flight, 
And gathering the fairest they speed to their bower, 
Each one with his favourite brilliant or flower. 



The hour is come, and the fairies are seen 
In their plunder array'd on the moonlit green. 
The music is breathed — 'tis a soft tone of pleasure, 
And the light giddy throng whirl into the measure. 
'T was a joyous dance, and the dresses were bright, 
Such as never were known till that famous night; 
For the gems and the flowers that shone in the scene, 
O'ermatch'd the regalia of princess and queen. 
No gaudy slave to a fair one's brow 
Was the rose, or the ruby, or emerald now ; 
But lighted with souls by the playful elves, 
The brilliants and blossoms seem'd dancing them- 
selves. 

VI. 

Of all that did chance, 'twere a long tale to tell, 
Of the dresses and waltzes, and who was the belle ; 
But each were so happy, and all were so fair, 
That night stole away and the dawn caught them 

there ! 
Such a scampering never before was seen 
As the fairies' flight on that island green. 
They rush'd to the bay with twinkling feet, 
But vain was their haste, for the moonlight fleet 
Had pass'd with the dawn, and never again 
Were those fairies permitted to traverse the main, — 
But mid the groves, when the s\m was high, 
The Indian marked with a worshipping eye 
The humming-birds, all unknown before, 
Glancing like thoughts from flower to flower, 
And seeming as if earth's loveliest things, 
The brilliants and blossoms, had taken wings : — 
And fancy hath whisper' d in numbers light, 
That these are the fairies who danced that night, 
And linger yet in the garb they wore, 
Content in our clime, and more blest than before! 



THE RIVER. 

0, tell me, pretty river ! 

Whence do thy waters flow? 
And whither art thou roaming, 

So pensive and so slow 1 

« My birthplace was the mountain, 
My nurse, the April showers ; 

My cradle was a fountain, 
O'ercurtain'd by wild flowers. 

" One morn I ran away, 
A madcap, hoyden rill — 

And many a prank that day 
I play'd adown the hill ! 

» And then, mid meadowy banks, 
I flirted with the flowers,' 

That stoop'd, with glowing lips, 
To woo me to their bowers. 

"But these bright scenes are o'er, 
And darkly flows my wave — 

I hear the ocean's roar, 

And there must be my grave !" 



202 



SAMUEL G. GOODRICH. 



THE LEAF. 

It came with spring's soft sun and showers, 

Mid bursting buds and blushing flowers ; 

It flourished on the same light stem, 

It drank the same clear dews with them. 

The crimson tints of summer morn, 

That gilded one, did each adorn. 

The breeze, that whisper'd light and brief 

To bud or blossom, kiss'd the leaf; 

When o'er the leaf the tempest flew, 

The bud and blossom trembled too. 
But its companions pass'd away, 

And left the leaf to lone decay. 

The gentle gales of spring went by, 

The fruits and flowers of summer die. 

The autumn winds swept o'er the hill, 

And winter's breath came cold and chill. 

The leaf now yielded to the blast, 

And on the rushing stream was cast. 

Far, far it glided to the sea, 

And whirl'd and eddied wearily, 

Till suddenly it sank to rest, 

And slumber'd in the ocean's breast. 

Thus life begins — its morning hours, 
Bright as the birth-day of the flowers ; 
Thus passes like the leaves away, 
As wither'd and as lost as they. 
Beneath the parent roof we meet 
In joyous groups, and gayly greet 
The golden beams of love and light, 
That kindle to the youthful sight. 
But soon we part, and one by one, 
Like leaves and flowers, the group is gone. 
One gentle spirit seeks the tomb, 
His brow yet fresh with childhood's bloom. 
Another treads the paths of fame, 
And barters peace to win a name. 
Another still tempts fortune's wave, 
And seeking wealth, secures a grave. 
The last grasps yet the brittle thread — 
Though friends are gone and joy is dead, 
Still dares the dark and fretful tide, 
And clutches at its power and pride, 
Till suddenly the waters sever, 
And, like the leaf, he sinks forever. 



LAKE SUPERIOR. 

" Father of Lakes !" thy waters bend 
Beyond the eagle's utmost view, 

When, throned in heaven, he sees thee send 
Back to the sky its world of blue. 

Boundless and deep, the forests weave 
Their twilight shade thy borders o'er, 

And threatening cliffs, like giants, heave 
Their rugged forms along thy shore. 

Pale Silence, mid thy hollow caves, 
With listening ear, in sadness broods ; 



Or startled Echo, o'er thy waves, 

Sends the hoarse wolf-notes of thy woods. 

Nor can the light canoes, that glide 
Across thy breast like things of air, 

Chase from thy lone and level tide 
The spell of stillness reigning there. 

Yet round this waste of wood and wave, 
Unheard, unseen, a spirit lives, 

That, breathing o'er each rock and cave, , 
To all a wild, strange aspect gives. 

The thunder-riven oak, that flings 
Its grisly arms athwart the sky, 

A sudden, startling image brings 
To the lone traveller's kindled eye. 

The gnarl'd and braided boughs, that show 
Their dim forms in the forest shade, 

Like wrestling serpents seem, and throw 
Fantastic horrors through the glade. 

The very echoes round this shore 

Have caught a strange and gibbering tone 

For they have told the war-whoop o'er, 
Till the wild chorus is their own. 

Wave of the wilderness, adieu ! 

Adieu, ye rocks, ye wilds and woods ! 
Roll on, thou element of blue, 

And fill these awful solitudes ! 

Thou hast no tale to tell of man — 

God is thy theme. Y e sounding caves 

Whisper of Him, whose mighty plan 
Deems as a bubble all your waves ! 



THE SPORTIVE SYLPHS. 

The sportive sylphs that course the air, 
Unseen on wings that twilight weaves, 

Around the opening rose repair, 

And breathe sweet incense o'er its leaves. 

With sparkling cups of bubbles made, 
They catch the ruddy beams of day, 

And steal the rainbow's sweetest shade, 
Their blushing favourite to array. 

They gather gems with sunbeams bright, 
From floating clouds and falling showers ; 

They rob Aurora's locks of light 

To grace their own fair queen of flowers. 

Thus, thus adorned, the speaking rose 

Becames a token fit to tell 
Of things that words can ne'er disclose, 

And naught but this reveal so well. 

Then, take my flower, and let its leaves 
Beside thy heart be cherish'd near, 

While that confiding heart receives 
The thought it whispers to thine ear. 



ISAAC CLASON. 



[Born about 1796. Died, 1830.] 



Isaac Clason wrote the Seventeenth and Eight- 
eenth Cantos of Don Juan — a continuation of the 
poem of Lord Byron — published in 1825. I have 
not been able to learn many particulars of his bio- 
graphy. He was born in the city of New York, 
where his father was a distinguished merchant, 
and graduated at Columbia College in 1813. He 
inherited a considerable fortune, but in the pur- 
suit of pleasure he spent it all, and much besides, 
received from his relatives. He was in turn a gay 
roue in London and Paris, a writer for the public 
journals, an actor in the theatres, and a private 



tutor. A mystery hangs over his closing years. 
It has been stated that he was found dead in an 
obscure lodging-house in London, under circum- 
stances that led to a belief that he committed sui- 
cide, about the year 1830. 

Besides his continuation of Don Juan, he wrote 
but little poetry. The two cantos which he left 
under that title, have much of the spirit and feel- 
ing, in thought and diction, which characterize the 
work of Byron. He was a man of attractive man- 
ners and brilliant conversation. His fate is an 
unfavourable commentary on his character. 



NAPOLEON.* 

I love no land so well as that of France — 
Land of Napoleon and Charlemagne, 

Renown'd for valour, women, wit, and dance, 
For racy Burgundy, and bright Champagne, 

Whose only word in battle was, Advance ; 

While that grand genius, who seem'd born to reign, 

Greater than Ammox's son, who boasted birth 

From heaven, and spurn'd all sons of earth ; 

Greater than he who wore his buskins high, 
A Venus arm'd, impress'd upon his seal; 

Who smiled at poor Calphuhnia's prophecy, 
Nor fear'd the stroke he soon was doom'd to feel; 

Who on the ides of March breath' d his last sigh, 
As Brutus pluck'd away his "cursed steel," 

Exclaiming, as he expired, "Et tu, Brute," 

But Brutus thought he only did his duty ; 

Greater than he, who, at nine years of age, 
On Carthage' altar swore eternal hate ; 

Who, with a rancour time could ne'er assuage, 
With feelings no reverse could moderate, 

With talents such as few would dare engage, 
With hopes that no misfortune could abate, 

Died like his rival, both with broken hearts, — 

Such was their fate, and such was Bonaparte's. 

Napoleon Bonaparte ! thy name shall live 
Till time's last echo shall have ceased to sound ; 

And if eternity's confines can give 

To space reverberation, round and round 

The spheres of heaven, the long, deep cry of "Vive 
Napoleon !" in thunders shall rebound ; 

The lightning's flash shall blaze thy name on high, 

Monarch of earth. How meteor of the sky! 

What though on St. Helena's rocky shore 
Thy head be pillow'd, and thy form entomb'd, 

Perhaps that son, the child thou didst adore, 
Fired with a father's fame, may yet be doom'd 

* From the Seventeenth Canto of Don Juan. 



To crush the bigot Bourbon, and restore 

Thy mouldering ashes ere they be consumed ; 
Perhaps may run the course thyself didst run, 
And light the world, as comets light the sun. 

'Tis better thou art gone: 'twere sad to see, 
Beneath an "imbecile's impotent reign," 

Thine own unvanquish'd legions doom'd to be 
Cursed instruments of vengeance on poor Spain, 

That land, so glorious once in chivalry, 
Now sunk in slavery and shame again ; 

To see the imperial guard, thy dauntless band, 

Made tools for such a wretch as Fere in and. 

Farewell, Napoleon ! thine hour is past ; 

No more earth trembles at thy dreaded name ; 
But France, unhappy France, shall long contrast 

Thy deeds with those of worthless D'Angoulexe. 
Ye gods ! how long shall slavery's thraldom last ] 

Will France alone remain forever tame 1 
Say, will no Wallace, will no Washington 
Scourge from thy soil the infamous Bourbon? 

Is Freedom dead ? Is Nero's reign restored 1 
Frenchmen ! remember Jena, Austerlitz : 

The first, which made thy emperor the lord 
Of Prussia, and which almost threw in fits 

Great Frederick William ; he who, at the board, 
Took all the Prussian uniform to bits ; 

Frederick, the king of regimental tailors, 

As Hudson Lowe, the very prince of jailors. 

Farewell, Napoleon ! couldst thou have died 
The coward scorpion's death, afraid, ashamed 

To meet adversity's advancing tide, 

The weak had praised thee, but the wise had 
blamed ; 

But no! though torn from country, child, and bride, 
With spirit unsubdued, with soul untamed, 

Great in misfortune, as in glory high, 

Thou daredst to five through life's worst agony. 

Pity, for thee, shall weep her fountains dry, 
Mercy, for thee, shall bankrupt all hor store; 

Valour shall pluck a garland from on high, 

And Honour twine the wreath thy temples o'er ; 

203 



204 



ISAAC CLASON. 



Beauty shall beckon to thee from the sky, 

And smiling seraphs open wide heaven's door; 
Around thy head the brightest stars shall meet, 
And rolling suns play sportive at thy feet. 

Farewell, Napoleon ! a long farewell, 

A stranger's tongue, alas ! must hymn thy worth; 

No craven Gaul dares wake his harp to tell, 

Or sound in song the spot that gave thee birth. 

No more thy name, that, with its magic spell, 
Aroused the slumbering nations of the earth, 

Echoes around thy land; 'tis past — at length 

France sinks beneath the sway of Charles the 
Tenth. 



JEALOUSY. 

He who has seen the red-fork'd lightnings flash 
From out some black and tempest-gather'd cloud, 

And heard the thunder's simultaneous crash, 
Bursting in peals, terrifically loud; 

He who has mark'd the madden'd ocean dash 
(Robed in its snow-white foam as in a shroud) 

Its giant billows on the groaning shore, 

While death seem'd echo'd in the deafening roar; 

He who has seen the wild tornado sweep 
(Its path destruction, and its progress death) 

The silent bosom of the smiling deep 

With the black besom of its boisterc as breath, 

Waking to strife the slumbering waves, that leap 
In battling surges from their beds beneath, 

Yawning and swelling from their liquid caves, 

Like buried giants from their restless graves : — 

He who has gazed on sights and scenes like these, 
Hath look'd on nature in her maddest mood ; 

But nature's warfare passes by degrees, — 
The thunder's voice is hush'd, however rude, 

The dying winds unclasp the raging seas, 

The scowling sky throws back her cloud-capt 
hood, 

The infant lightnings to their cradles creep, 

And the gaunt earthquake rocks herself to sleep. 

But there are storms, whose lightnings never glare, 
Tempests, whose thunders never cease to roll — 

The storms of love, when madden'd to despair, 
The furious tempests of the jealous soul. 

That kamsin of the heart, which few can bear, 
Which owns no limit, and which knows no goal, 

Whose blast leaves joy a tomb, and hope a speck, 

Reason a blank, and happiness a wreck. 



EARLY LOVE. 

The fond caress of beauty, 0, that glow ! 

The first warm glow that mantles round the heart 
Of boyhood! when all's new — the first dear vow 

He ever breathed — the tear-drops that first start, 
Pure from the unpractised eye — the overflow 

Of waken'd passions, that but now impart 
A hope, a wish, a feeling yet unfelt, 
That mould to madness, or in mildness melt. 



Ah ! where's the youth whose stoic heart ne'er knew 
The fires of joy, that burst through every vein, 

That burn forever bright, forever new, 
As passion rises o'er and o'er again"? 

That, like the phoenix, die but to renew — 

Beat in the heart, and throb upon the brain — 

Self-kindling, quenchless as the eternal flame 

That sports in Etna's base. But I 'm to blame 

Ignobly thus to yield to raptures past ; 

To call my buried feelings from their shrouds, 
O'er which the deep funereal pall was cast — 

Like brightest skies entomb'd in darkest clouds; 
No matter, these, the latest and the last 

That rise, like spectres of the past, in crowds; 
The ebullitions of a heart not lost, 
But weary, wandering, worn, and tempest-toss'd. 

'T is vain, and worse than vain, to think on joys 
Which, like the hour that's gone, return no more; 

Bubbles of folly, blown by wanton boys — 
Billows that swell, to burst upon the shore — 

Playthings of passion, manhood's gilded toys, 
(Deceitful as the shell that seems to roar, 

But proves the mimic mockery of the surge:) 

They sink in sorrow's sea, and ne'er emerge. 



ALL IS VANITY. 

I 've, compass'd every pleasure, 

Caught every joy before its bead could pass ; 

I 've loved without restriction, without measure — 
I've sipp'd enjoyment from each sparkling glass — 

I've known what 'tis, too, to "repent at leisure" — 
I 've sat at meeting, and I 've served at mass : — 

And having roved through half the world's insanities, 

Cry, with the Preacher — Vanity of vanities ! 

What constitutes man's chief enjoyment here ] 
What forms his greatest antidote to sorrow 1 

Is 't wealth? Wealth can at last but gild his bier, 
Or buy the pall that poverty must borrow. 

Is 't love ] Alas, love 's cradled in a tear ; 
It smiles to-day, and, weeps again to-morrow; 

Mere child of passion, that beguiles in youth, 

And flies from age, as falsehood flies from truth. 

Is 't glory ] Pause beneath St. Helen's willow, 
Whose weeping branches wave above the spot; 

Ask him, wdiose head now rests upon its pillow, 
Its last, low pillow, there to rest, and rot. 

Is't fame 1 ? Ask her, who floats upon the billow, 
Untomb'd, uncoffin'd, and perchance forgot ; 

The lovely, lovesick Lesbian, frail as fair, 

Victim of love, and emblem of despair. 

Is 't honour] Go, ask him whose ashes sleep 
Within the crypt of Paul's stupendous dome, 

Whose name once thunder'd victory o'er the deep, 
Far as his country's navies proudly roam; 

Above whose grave no patriot Dane shall weep, 
No Frank deplore the hour he found a home — 

A home, whence valour's voice from conquest's cat 

No more shall rouse the lord — of Trafalgar. 



JOHN G. C BRAINARD. 



[Bom, 1796. Died, 



During the present century many persons in 
this country, whose early productions gave promise 
of brilliant achievements in maturity, have died 
young. It has been said that the history of 
American genius might be written in a series of 
obituaries of youthful authors. Were Drake, 
Sands, Griffin, Rockwell, Wilcox, Pink- 
net, Clarke, the Davidsons, and Brainard 
now alive, there would be no scarcity of American 
writers, nor would any of them have passed the 
ordinary meridian of existence. What they have 
left us must be regarded as the first-fruits of minds 
whose full powers were to the last undeveloped, 
and which were never tasked to their full capacity. 

John Gardner Calkins Brainard was a son 
of the Honourable J. G. Brainard, one of the 
Justices of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. 
He was born at New London, in that State, on 
the twenty-first day of October, 1796. After 
finishing his preparatory studies, which were pur- 
sued under the direction of an elder brother, he 
entered Yale College, in 1811, being then in the 
fifteenth year of his age. At this immature pe- 
riod, before the mind is fully awake to the nature 
and importance of moral and intellectual discipline, 
severe application to study is unusual. Brain- 
ard's books were neglected for communion with 
his own thoughts and " thick-coming fancies," or 
for the society of his fellows. His college career 
was marked by nothing peculiar : he was distin- 
guished for the fine powers he evinced whenever 
he chose to exert them, for the uniform modesty 
of his deportment, the kindness which character- 
ized his intercourse with those about him, and a 
remarkable degree of sensitiveness, which caused 
him to shrink from every harsh collision, and to 
court retirement. On leaving college, in 1815, he 
commenced the study of law, in his native place, 
and on his admission to the bar, he removed to 
the city -of Middletown, intending to practise there 
his profession. His success was less than he an- 
ticipated ; perhaps because of his too great mo- 
desty — an unfortunate quality in lawyers — or, it 
may be, in consequence of his indolence and 
convivial propensities. One of his biographers re- 
marks that his friends were always welcome, save 
when they came as clients. 

Wearied with the vexations and dry formalities 
of his profession, he relinquished it in the winter 
of 1822, to undertake the editorship of the Con- 
necticut Mirror, a weekly political and literary 
gazette, published in Hartford. But here he found 
as little to please him as in the business he had 
deserted. He was too indolent to prepare every 
week articles of a serious, argumentative charac- 
ter, and gave in their place, graceful or humorous 
paragraphs, and the occasional pieces of verse on 
which rests his reputation as a poet. These, at 
the time, were republished in many periodicals, 



and much praised. In the departments of poetry 
and criticism, the Mirror acquired a high reputa- 
tion ; but in others, while under his direction, it 
hardly rose to mediocrity.* 

His first volume of poetry ,-f- containing his con- 
tributions to the Mirror, and some other pieces, 
was published early in 1825. It was favourably 
received by the public, and its success induced his 
friends to urge him to undertake the composition 
of a larger and more important work than he had 
yet attempted. His constitutional lassitude and 
aversion to high and continued effort deterred him 
from beginning the task, until 1827, when his 
health began to wane, and it was no longer in his 
power. He then relinquished the editorship of 
the Mirror, and sought for restoring quiet, and the 
gentle ministrations of affection, the home of his 
childhood. His illness soon assumed the charac- 
ter of consumption, and he saw that he had but a 
brief time to live. A few weeks were passed on 
the eastern shore of Long Island, in the hope of 
deriving benefit from a change of air ; but nothing 
could arrest the progress of the fatal malady ; and 
he returned to New London, to prepare for the 

* The editor of the last edition of his works, of which 
I have received a copy since the above was written, and 
while this volume is passing through the press, speaks 
as follows of his editorial career : — " We are assured by 
competent testimony, that laboured and able political arti- 
cles were withheld from publication, owing to causes over 
which he had little control. It is not, perhaps, necessary 
to detail the facts, but they certainly go far to exculpate 
him from the charge of levity, or weakness, in condui t- 
ing the editorial department of his paper. Prudential 
considerations were suffered to have sway, at the expense 
of his reputation for political tact and foresight. The 
only substitutes for the articles referred to, were such 
brief and tame pieces as he could prepare, after the best 
and almost only hours for composition had passed by. 
This circumstance, together with the consciousness that 
the paper was ill sustained in respect to its patronage, was 
sufficiently discouraging to a person whose sensibilities 
were as acute as those of Brainard. It accounts, 
also, for the frequent turns of mental depression which 
marked his latter years, — heightened, indeed, by that 
frequent and mortifying concomitant of genius, — slen- 
der pecuniary means." 

f The volume was introduced by the following charac- 
teristic address to the reader :— "The author of the fol- 
lowing pieces has been indueed to publish them in a 
book, from considerations which cannot be interesting to 
the public. Many of these little poems have been printed 
in the Connecticut Mirror ; and others are just fit to kepp 
them company. No apologies are made, and no criti- 
cisms deprecated. The commonplace story of the impor- 
tunities of friends, though it had its share in the publica- 
tion, is not insisted upon ; but the vanity of the author, 
if others choose to call it such, is a natural motive, and 
the hope of ' making a little something by it,' is an honest 
acknowledgment, if it is a poor excuse." The motto of 
the title-page was as quaint : — 

" Some said, ' John, print it ;' others said ' Not so ;' 

Some said ' It might do good ;' others said, ' No.' " 

Bunyan's Apology. 
S 205 



2U6 



JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. 



spiritual life upon which he was about to enter. 
He had always regarded with reverence the Chris- 
tian character and profession, and he was now 
united to the visible church,* and received the 
holiest of the sacraments. He lingered until the 
twenty-sixth of September, 1828, when he passed 
peacefully to the rest of those who " know that 
their Redeemer lives." 

The pathway of Braittard was aside from the 
walks of ambition, and the haunts of worldliness. 
He lived within himself, holding communion with 
his own thoughts, and suffering from deep and 
lasting melancholy. Like Wilcox, it is said, he 
had met with one of those disappointments in early 
life, which so frequently impress the soul with 
sadness ; and though there was sometimes gayety 
in his manner and conversation, it was generally 
assumed, to conceal painful musings or to beguile 
sorrow. 

His person was small, and well formed; his 
countenance mild, and indicative of the kindness 
and gentleness of his nature; and in his eyes 
there was a look of dreamy listlessness and ten- 
derness. He was fond of society, and his pleasing 



conversation and amiable character won for him 
many ardent friends. He was peculiarly sensitive ; 
and Mr. Whittier,* in a sketch of his life, re- 
marks that in his gayest moments a coldly-spoken 
word, or casual inattention, would check at once 
the free flow of his thoughts, cause the jest to die 
on his lips, and " the melancholy which had been 
lifted from his heart, to fall again with increased 
heaviness." 

Brainard lacked the mental discipline and 
strong self-command which alone confer true 
power. He never could have produced a great 
work. His poems were nearly all written during 
the six years in which he edited the Mirror, and 
they bear marks of haste and carelessness, though 
some of them are very beautiful. He failed only in 
his humorous pieces ; in all the rest his language is 
appropriate and pure, his diction free and harmo- 
nious, and his sentiments natural and sincere. 
His serious poems are characterized by deep 
feeling and delicate fancy ; and if we had no re- 
cords of his history, they would show us that he 
was a man of great gentleness, simplicity, and 
purity. 



JERUSALEM.t 

Four lamps were burning o'er two mighty graves — 
Godfrey's and Baldwin's J — Salem's Chris- 
tian kings ; 

And holy light glanced from Helena's naves, 
Fed with the incense which the pilgrim brings, — 

* On this occasion, says the Reverend Mr. M'Ewen, as 
he was too feeble to go to the church and remain through 
the customary services, he arrived at and entered the 
sanctuary when these were nearly or quite through. 
Every one present (literally, almost) knew him,— the 
occasion of his coming was understood, — and when he 
appeared, pale, feeble, emaciated, and trembling in con- 
sequence of his extreme debility, the sensation it pro- 
duced was at once apparent throughout the whole assem- 
bly. There seemed to be an instinctive homage paid to 
the grace of God in him ; or, perhaps, the fact shows 
how readily a refined Christian community sympathizes 
with genius and virtue destined to an early tomb. 

fThe following intelligence from Constantinople was 
of the eleventh October, 1824: "A severe earthquake is 
said to have taken place at Jerusalem, which has destroy- 
ed great part of that city, shaken down the Mosque of 
Omar, and reduced the Holy Sepulchre to ruins from top 
to bottom." 

J Godfrey and Baldwin were the first Christian kings 
at Jerusalem. The Empress Helena, mother of Con- 
stantine the Great, built the church of the sepulchre on 
Mount Calvary. The walls are of stone and the roof of 
cedar. The four lamps which lit it, are very costly. It is 
kept in repair by the offerings of pilgrims who resort to 
it. The mosque was originally a Jewish temple. The 
Emperor Julian undertook to rebuild the temple of Jeru- 
salem at a very great expense, to disprove the prophecy 
of our Saviour, as it was understood by the Jews; but 
the work and the workmen were destroyed by an earth- 
quake. The pools of Bethesda and Gihon— the tomb of 
the Virgin Mary, and of King Jehosaphat— the pillar 
of Absalom— the tomb of Zachariah — and the campo 
santo, or holy field, which is supposed to have been pur- 
chased with the price of Judas's treason, are, or were 
lately, the most interesting parts of Jerusalem. 



While through the panelFd roof the cedar flings 
Its sainted arms o'er choir, and roof, and dome, 

And every porphyry-pillar'd cloister rings 
To every kneeler there its "welcome home," 
As every lip breathes out, " Lord, thy kingdom 
come." 

A mosque was gamish'd with its crescent moons, 

And a clear voice call'd Mussulmans to prayer. 
There were the splendours of Judea's thrones — 

There were the trophies which its conquerors 
wear — 

All but the truth, the holy truth, was there : — 
For there, with lip profane, the crier stood, 

And him from the tall minaret you might hear, 
Singing to all whose steps had thither trod, 
That verse misunderstood, " There is no God but 
God." 

Hark ! did the pilgrim tremble as he kneel 'd ? 

And did the turban'd Turk his sins confess 1 
Those mighty hands the elements that wield, 

That mighty Power that knows to curse or bless, 

Is over all ; and in whatever dress 
His suppliants crowd around him, He can see 

Their heart, in city or in wilderness, 
And probe its core, and make its blindness flee, 
Owning Him very God, the only Deity. 

There was an earthquake once that rent thy fane, 
Proud Julian - ; when (against the prophecy 

Of Him who lived, and died, and rose again, 
" That one stone on another should not lie") 
Thou wouldst rebuild that Jewish masonry 

To mock the eternal Word. — The earth below 
Gush'd out in fire ; and from the brazen sky, 

* John G. Whittier was one of Brainard's inti- 
mate friends, and, soon after his death, he wrote an in- 
teresting account of his life, which was prefixed to an 
edition of his poems, printed in 1832. 






JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. 



207 



x\nd from the boiling seas such wrath did flow, 
As saw not Shinar's plain, nor Babel's overthrow. 

Another earthquake comes. Dome, roof, and wall 
Tremble ; and headlong to the grassy bank, 

And in the muddied stream the fragments fall, 
While the rent chasm spread its jaws, and drank 
At one huge draught, the sediment, which sank 

In Salem's drained goblet. Mighty Power ! 
Thou whom we all should worship, praise, and 
thank, 

Where was thy mercy in that awful hour, 

When hell moved from beneath, and thine own 
heaven did lower 1 

Say, Pilate's palaces — proud Herod's towers — 
Say, gate of Bethlehem, did your arches quake 1 

Thy pool, Bethesda, was it fill'd with showers 1 
Calm Gihon, did the jar thy waters wake 1 
Tomb of thee, Mart — Virgin — did it shake '? 

Glow'd thy bought field, Aceldama, with blood 1 
Where were the shudderings Calvary might 

Did sainted Mount Moriah send a flood, [make 1 

To wash away the spot where once a God had stood 1 

Lost Salem of the Jews — great sepulchre 
Of all profane and of all holy things — 

Where Jew, and Turk, and Gentile yet concur 
To make thee what thou art ! thy history brings 
Thoughts mix'd of joy and wo. The whole 
earth rings 

With the sad truth which He has prophesied, 
Who would have shelter'd with his holy wings 

Thee and thy children. You his power defied : 

You scourged him while he lived, and mock'd him 
as he died ! 

There is a star in the untroubled sky, [made — 

That caught the first light which its Maker 
It led the hymn of other orbs on high ; — 

'T will shine when all the fires of heaven shall 
fade. 

Pilgrims at Salem's porch, be that your aid ! 
For it has kept its watch on Palestine ! 

Look to its holy light, nor be dismay'd, 
Though broken is each consecrated shrine, 
Though crush'd and ruin'd all — which men have 
call'd divine. 



ON CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

From: that lone lake, the sweetest of the chain 
That links the mountain to the mighty main, 
Fresh from the rock and swelling by the tree, 
Rushing to meet, and dare, and breast the sea — 
Fair, noble, glorious river ! in thy wave 
The sunniest slopes and sweetest pastures lave ; 
The mountain torrent, with its wintry roar, 
Springs from its home and leaps upon thy shore : — 
The promontories love thee — and for this 
Turn their rough cheeks and stay thee for thy kiss. 
Stern, at thy source, thy northern guardians 
Rude riders of the solitary land, [stand, 

Wild dwellers by thy cold, sequester'd springs, 
Of earth the feathers and of air the wings ; 



Their blasts have rock'd thy cradle, and in storm 
Cover'd thy couch and swathed in snow thy form — 
! Yet, bless'd by all the elements that sweep 
The clouds above, or the unfathom'd deep, 
The purest breezes scent thy blooming hills, 
The gentlest dews drop on thy eddying rills, 
By the moss'd bank, and by the aged tree, 
The silver streamlet smoothest glides to thee. 

The young oak greets thee at the water's edge, 
Wet by the wave, though anchor'd in the ledge. 
— 'T is there the otter dives, the beaver feeds, 
Where pensive osiers dip their willowy weeds, 
And there the wild-cat purs amid her brood, 
And trains them in the sylvan solitude, 
To watch the squirrel's leap, or mark the mink 
Paddling the water by the quiet brink ; — 
Or to out-gaze the gray owl in the dark, 
Or hear the young fox practising to bark. 

Dark as the frost-nipp'd leaves that strew'd the 
ground, 
The Indian hunter here his shelter found ; 
Here cut his bow and shaped his arrows true, 
Here built his wigwam and his bark canoe, 
Spear'd the quick salmon leaping up the fall, 
And slew the deer without the rifle-ball ; [choose, 
Here his young squaw her cradling tree would 
Singing her chant to hush her swart pappoose ; 
Here stain her quills and string her trinkets rude, 
And weave her warrior's wampum in the wood. 
— No more shall they thy welcome waters bless, 
No more their forms thy moon-lit banks shall press, 
No more be heard, from mountain or from grove, 
His whoop of slaughter, or her song of love. 

Thou didst not shake, thou didst not shrink 
when, late, 
The mountain-top shut down its ponderous gate, 
Tumbling its tree-grown ruins to thy side, 
An avalanche of acres at a slide. 
Nor dost thou say, when winter's coldest breath 
Howls through the woods and sweeps along the 

heath — 
One mighty sigh relieves thy icy breast, 
And wakes thee from the calmness of thy rest. 

Down sweeps the torrent ice — it may not stay 
By rock or bridge, in narrow or in bay — 
Swift, swifter to the heaving sea it goes, 
And leaves thee dimpling in thy sweet repose. 
— Yet as the unharm'd swallow skims his way, 
And lightly drops his pinions in thy spray, 
So the swift sail shall seek thy inland seas, 
And swell and whiten in thy purer breeze, 
New paddles dip thy waters, and strange oars 
Feather thy waves and touch thy noble shores. 

Thy noble shores ! where the tall steeple shines, 
At mid-day, higher than thy mountain pines ; 
Where the white school-house with its daily drill 
Of sunburn'd children, smiles upon the hill; 
Where the neat village grows upon the eye, 
Deck'd forth in nature's sweet simplicity — 
Where hard-won competence, the farmer's wealth, 
Gains merit, honour, and gives labour health ; 
Where Goldsmith's self might send his exiled band 
To find a new " Sweet Auburn" in our land. 

What Art can execute, or Taste devise, 
Decks thy fair course and gladdens in thine eyes — 



20S 



JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. 



As broader sweep the bendings of thy stream, 
To meet the southern sun's more constant beam. 
Here cities rise, and sea-wash'd commerce hails 
Thy shores and winds with all her napping sails, 
From tropic isles, or from the torrid main — 
Where grows the grape,or sprouts the sugar-cane — 
Or from the haunts where the striped haddock play, 
By each cold, northern bank and frozen bay. 
Here, safe return'd from every stormy sea, 
Waves the striped flag, the mantle of the free, 
— That star-lit flag, by all the breezes curl'd 
Of yon vast deep whose waters grasp the world. 

In what Arcadian, what Utopian ground 
Are warmer hearts or manlier feelings found, 
More hospitable welcome, or more zeal 
To make the curious « tarrying" stranger feel 
That, next to home, here best may he abide, 
To rest and cheer him by the chimney-side ; 
Drink the hale farmer's cider, as he hears 
From the gray dame the tales of other years. 
Cracking his shag-barks, as the aged crone 
— Mixing the true and doubtful into one — 
Tells how the Indian scalp'd the helpless child, 
And bore its shrieking mother to the wild, 
Butcher' d the father hastening to his home, 
Seeking his cottage — finding but his tomb. 
How drums, and flags, and troops were seen on high, 
Wheeling and charging in the northern sky, 
And that she knew what these wild tokens meant, 
When to the Old French War her husband went. 
How, by the thunder -blasted tree, was hid 
The golden spoils of far-famed Robert Kidd ; 
And then the chubby grandchild wants to know 
About the ghosts and witches long ago, 
That haunted the old swamp. 

The clock strikes ten — 
The prayer is said, nor unforgotten then 
The stranger in their gates. A decent rule 
Of elders in thy puritanic school. [dream, 

When the fresh morning wakes him from his 
And daylight smiles on rock, and slope, and stream, 
Are there not glossy curls and sunny eyes, 
As brightly lit and bluer than thy skies ; 
Voices as gentle as an echo'd call, 
And sweeter than the softened waterfall 
That smiles and dimples in its whispering spray, 
Leaping in sportive innocence away: — 
And lovely forms, as graceful and as gay 
As wild-brier, budding in an April day ! 
— How like the leaves — the fragrant leaves it bears, 
Their sinless purposes and simple cares. 

Stream of my sleeping fathers ! when the sound 
Of coming war echoed thy hills around, 
How did thy sons start forth from every glade, 
Snatching the musket where they left the spade. 
How did their mothers urge' them to the fight, 
Their sisters tell them to defend the right ; — 
How bravely did they stand, how nobly fall, 
The earth their coffin and the turf their pall; 
How did the aged pastor light his eye, 
When, to his flock, he read the purpose high 
And stern resolve, whate'er the toil may be, 
To pledge life, name, fame, all — for liberty. 
— Cold is the hand that penn'd that glorious page — 
Still in the grave the body of that sage 



Whose lip of eloquence and heart of zeal 
Made patriots act and listening statesmen feel — 
Brought thy green mountains down upon their foes, 
And thy white summits melted of their snows, 
While every vale to which his voice could come, 
Rang with the fife and echoed to the drum. 

Bold river ! better suited are thy waves 
To nurse the laurels clustering round thy graves, 
Than many a distant stream, that soaks the mud 
Where thy brave sons have shed their gallant blood, 
And felt, beyond all other mortal pain, 
They ne'er should see their happy home again. 

Thou hadst a poet once, — and he could tell, 
Most tunefully, whate'er to thee befell ; 
Could fill each pastoral reed upon thy shore — 
But we shall hear his classic lays no more ! 
He loved thee, but he took his aged way, 
By Erie's shore, and Perry's glorious day, 
To where Detroit looks out amidst the wood, 
Remote beside the dreary solitude. 

Yet for his brow thy ivy leaf shall spread, 
Thy freshest myrtle lift its berried head, 
And our gnarl'd charter-oak put forth a bough, 
Whose leaves shall grace thy Trumbull's ho- 
nour'd brow. 



ON THE DEATH OF MR. WOODWARD, 
AT EDINBURGH. 

"The spider's most attenuated thread 

Is cord — is cable, to man's tender tie 

On earthly bliss; it breaks at every breeze." 

Another ! 'tis a sad word to the heart, 
That one by one has lost its hold on life, 

From all it loved or valued, forced to part 
In detail. Feeling dies not by the knife 
That cuts at once and kills — its tortured strife 

Is with distill'd affliction, drop by drop 
Oozing its bitterness. Our world is rife 

With grief and sorrow ! all that we would prop, 

Or would be propp'd with, falls — when shall the 
ruin stop 1 

The sea has one,* and Palestine has one, 

And Scotland has the last. The snooded maid 

Shall gaze in wonder x>n the stranger's stone, 
And wipe the dust off with her tartan plaid — 
And from the lonely tomb where thou art laid, 

Turn to some other monument — nor know 

Whose grave she passes, or whose name she read : 

Whose loved and honour'd relics lie below; 

Whose is immortal joy, and whose is mortal wo. 

There is a world of bliss hereafter- — else 
Why are the bad above, the good beneath 

The green grass of the grave 1 The mower fells 
Flowers and briers alike. But man shall breathe 
(When he his desolating blade shall sheathe 

And rest him from his work) in a pure sky, 
Above the smoke of burning worlds ; — and Death 

On scorched pinions with the dead shall lie, 

When time, with all his years and centuries has 
pass'd by. 

* Professor Fisher, lost in the " Albion," and Rev. Levi 
Parsons, missionary to Palestine, who died at Alexandria 



JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. 



209 



ON A LATE LOSS.* 

" He shall not float upon his watery bier 
Unwept." 

The breath of air that stirs the harp's soft string, 

Floats on to join the whirlwind and the storm ; 
The drops of dew exhaled from flowers of spring, 

Rise and assume the tempest's threatening form ; 
The first mild beam of morning's glorious sun, 

Ere night, is sporting in the lightning's flash ; 
And the smooth stream, that flows in quiet on, 

Moves but to aid the overwhelming dash 
That wave and wind can muster, when the might 
Of earth, and air, and sea, and sky unite. 

So science whisper'd in thy charmed ear, 

And radiant learning beckon'd thee away. 
The breeze was music to thee, and the clear 

Beam of thy morning promised a bright day. 
And they have wreck'd thee ! — But there is a shore 

Where storms are hush'd — where tempests 
never rage ; 
Where angry skies and blackening seas no more 

With gusty strength their roaring warfare wage. 
By thee its peaceful margent shall be trod — 

Thy home is heaven, and thy friend is God. 



SONNET TO THE SEA-SERPENT. 
" Hngest that swims the ocean stream." 

Welter upon the waters, mighty one — 

And stretch thee in the ocean's trough of brine: 
Turn thy wet scales up to the wind and sun, 

And toss the billow from thy flashing fin ; 

Heave thy deep breathings to the ocean's din, 
And bound upon its ridges in thy pride : 

Or dive down to its lowest depths, and in 
The caverns where its unknown monsters hide, 
Measure thy length beneath the gulf-stream's tide — 

Or rest thee on that navel of the sea 
Where, floating on the Maelstrom, abide 

The krakens sheltering under Norway's lee ; 
But go not to Nahant, lest men should swear 
You are a great deal bigger than you are. 



THE FALL OF NIAGARA. 

"Labitur et labetur." 

The thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain, 
While I look upward to thee. It would seem 
As if God pour'd thee from his « hollow hand," 
And hung his bow upon thine awful front ; 
And spoke in that loud voice, which seem'd to him 
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Saviour's sake, 
" The sound of many waters ;" and had bade 
Thy flood to chronicle the ages back, 
And notch His centuries in the eternal rocks. 



* Professor Fisher, lost in the Albion, off the coast of 
Kinsale, Ireland. 

27 



Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we, 
That hear the question of that voice sublime 1 
! what are all the notes that ever rung 
From war's vain trumpet, by thy thundering side ! 
Yea, what is all the riot man can make 
In his short life, to thy unceasing roar ! 
And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him 
Who drown'd a world, and heaped the waters far 
Above its loftiest mountains 1 — a light wave, 
That breaks, and whispers of its Maker's might. 



ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND. 

Who shall weep when the righteous die 1 
Who shall mourn when the good depart 1 

When the soul of the godly away shall fly, 
Who shall lay the loss to heart ] 

He has gone into peace — he has laid him down, 
To sleep till the dawn of a brighter day ; 

And he shall wake on that holy morn, 

When sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 

But ye who worship in sin and shame 

Your idol gods, whate'er they be : 
Who scoff, in your pride, at your Maker's name, 

By the pebbly stream and the shady tree. — 

Hope in your mountains, and hope in your streams, 
Bow down in their worship, and loudly pray; 

Trust in your strength, and believe in your dreams, 
But the wind shall carry them all away. 

There 's one who drank at a purer fountain, 
One who was wash'd in a purer flood : 

He shall inherit a holier mountain, 
He shall worship a holier Goi>. 

But the sinner shall utterly fail and die, 
Whelm'd in the waves of a troubled sea; 

And God, from his throne of light on high, 
Shall say, there is no peace for thee. 



EPITHALAMIUM. 

I saw two clouds at morning. 

Tinged by the rising sun, 
And in the dawn they floated on, 

And mingled into one ; 
I thought that morning cloud was bless'd, 
It moved so sweetly to the west. 

I saw two summer currents 

Flow smoothly to their meeting, 

And join their course, with silent force, 
In peace each other greeting; 

Calm was their course through banks of green, 

While dimpling eddies play'd between. 

Such be your gentle motion, 

Till life's last pulse shall beat ; 
Like summer's beam, and summer's stream, 

Float on, in joy, to meet 
A calmer sea, where storms shall cease — 
A purer sky, where all is peace. 
s2 



210 



JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. 



TO THE DEAD. 

How many now are dead to me 

That live to others yet ! 
How many are alive to me 
Who crumble in their graves, nor see 
That sickening, sinking look, which we 

Till dead can ne'er forget. 

Beyond the blue seas, far away, 

Most wretchedly alone, 
One died in prison, far away, 
Where stone on stone shut out the day, 
And never hope or comfort's ray 

In his lone dungeon shone. 

Dead to the world, alive to me, 

Though months and years have pass'd ; 
In a lone hour, his sigh to me 
Comes like the hum of some wild bee, 
And then his form and face I see, 

As when I saw him last. 

And one with a bright lip, and cheek, 

And eye, is dead to me. 
How pale the bloom of his smooth cheek ! 
His lip was cold — it would not speak : 
His heart was dead, for it did not break : 

And his eye, for it did not see. 

Then for the living be the tomb, 

And for the dead the smile ; 
Engrave oblivion on the tomb 
Of pulseless life and deadly bloom, — 
Dim is such glare : but bright the gloom 

Around the funeral pile. 



THE DEEP. 

There's beauty in the deep: 
The wave is bluer than the sky; 
And, though the lights shine bright on high, 
More softly do the sea-gems glow, 
That sparkle in the depths below; 
The rainbow's tints are only made 
When on the waters they are laid ; 
And sun and moon most sweetly shine 
Upon the ocean's level brine. 

There's beauty in the deep. 

There's music in the deep: — 
It is not in the surf's rough roar, 
Nor in the whispering, shelly shore, — 
They are but earthly sounds, that tell 
How little of the sea-nymph's shell, 
That sends its loud, clear note abroad, 
Or winds its softness through the flood, 
Echoes through groves, with coral gay, 
And dies, on spongy banks, away. 

There's music in the deep. 

There's quiet in the deep: — 
Above, let tides and tempests rave, 
And earth-born whirlwinds wake the wave ; 
Above, let care and fear contend 
With sin and sorrow, to the end : 



Here, far beneath the tainted foam 
That frets above our peaceful home ; 
We dream in joy, and wake in love, 
Nor know the rage that yells above. 
There 's quiet in the deep. 



MR. MERRY'S LAMENT FOR "LONG 
TOM." 

"Let us think of them that sleep, 
Full many a fathom deep, 
By thy wild and stormy steep, 
Elsinore." 

Thy cruise is over now, 

Thou art anchor'd by the shore, 
And never more shalt thou 

Hear the storm around thee roar ; 
Death has shaken out the sands of thy glass. 
Now around thee sports the whale, 
And the porpoise snuffs the gale, 
And the night-winds wake their wail, 
As they pass. 

The sea-grass round thy bier 

Shall bend beneath the tide, 
Nor tell the breakers near 

Where thy manly limbs abide ; 
But the granite rock thy tombstone shall be. 
Though the edges of thy grave 
Are the combings of the wave — 
Yet unheeded they shall rave 
Over thee. 

At the piping of all hands, 

When the judgment signal 's spread — 
When the islands, and the lands, 
And the seas give up their dead, 
And the south and the north shall come ; 
When the sinner is dismay'd, 
And the just man is afraid, 
Then heaven be thy aid, 
Poor Tom. 



THE INDIAN SUMMER. 

What is there saddening in the autumn leaves ] 
Have they that « green and yellow melancholy" 
That the sweet poet spake of 1 — Had he seen 
Our variegated woods, when first the frost 
Turns into beauty all October's charms — 
When the dread fever quits us — when the storms 
Of the wild equinox, with all its wet, 
Has left the land, as the first deluge left it, 
With a bright bow of many colours hung 
Upon the forest tops — he had not sighed. 

The moon stays longest for the hunter now : 
The trees cast down their fruitage, and the blithe 
And busy squirrel hoards his winter store : 
While man enjoys the breeze that sweeps along 
The bright, blue sky above him, and that bends 
Magnificently all the forest's pride, 
Or whispers through the evergreens, and asks, 
" What is there saddening in the autumn leaves!" 



JOHN G. C. BRA1NARD. 



211 



STANZAS. 

The dead leaves strew the forest walk, 

And wither'd are the pale wild flowers ; 
The frost hangs blackening on the stalk, 

The dew-drops fall in frozen showers. 

Gone are the spring's green sprouting bowers, 
Gone summer's rich and mantling vines, 

And autumn, with her yellow hours, 
On hill and plain no longer shines. 

I learn'd a clear and wild-toned note, 

That rose and swell'd from yonder tree — 
A gay bird, with too sweet a throat, 

There perch'd, and raised her song for me. 

The winter comes, and where is she ] 
Away — where summer wings will rove, 

Where buds are fresh, and every tree 
Is vocal with the notes of love. 

Too mild the breath of southern sky, 

Too fresh the flower that blushes there, 
The northern breeze that rustles by 

Finds leaves too green, and buds too fair; 

No forest tree stands stripp'd and bare, 
No stream beneath the ice is dead, 

No mountain top, with sleety hair, 
Bends o'er the snows its reverend head. 

Go there, with all the birds, and seek 

A happier clime, with livelier flight, 
Kiss, with the sun, the evening's cheek, 

And leave me lonely with the night. 

I'll gaze upon the cold north light, 
And mark where all its glories shone, — 

See — that it all is fair and bright, 
Feel — that it all is cold and gone. 



THE STORM OF WAR. 

! okce was felt the storm of war! 

It had an earthquake's roar ; 
It flash'd upon the mountain height, 

And smoked along the shore. 
It thunder'd in a dreaming ear, 

And up the farmer sprang; 
It mutter'd in a bold, true heart, 

And a warrior's harness rang. 

It rumbled by a widow's door, — 

All but her hope did fail ; 
It trembled through a leafy grove, 

And a maiden's cheek was pale. 
It steps upon the sleeping sea, 

And waves around it howl ; 
It strides from top to foaming top, 

Out-frowning ocean's scowl. 

And yonder sail'd the merchant ship, 

There was peace upon her deck ; 
Her friendly flag from the mast was torn, 

And the waters whelm'd the wreck. 
But the same blast that bore her down 

Fill'd a gallant daring sail, 
That loved the might of the blackening storm, 

And laugh'd in the roaring gale. 



The stream, that was a torrent once, 

Is rippled to a brook, 
The sword is broken, and the spear 

Is but a pruning-hook. 
The mother chides her truant boy, 

And keeps him well from harm ; 
While in the grove the happy maid 

Hangs on her lover's arm. 

Another breeze is on the sea, 

Another wave is there, 
And floats abroad triumphantly 

A banner bright and fair. 
And peaceful hands, and happy hearts, 

And gallant spirits keep 
Each star that decks it pure and bright, 

Above the rolling deep. 



THE GUERILLA. 

Though friends are false, and leaders fail, 

And rulers quake with fear; 
Though tamed the shepherd in the vale, 

Though slain the mountaineer; 
Though Spanish beauty fill their arms, 

And Spanish gold their purse — 
Sterner than wealth's or war's alarms 

Is the wild Guerilla's curse. 

No trumpets range us to the fight : 

No signal sound of drum 
Tells to the foe, that, in their might, 

The hostile squadrons come. 
No sunbeam glitters on our spears, 

No warlike tramp of steeds 
Gives warning — for the first that hears 

Shall be the first that bleeds. 

The night-breeze calls us from our bed, 

At dew-fall forms the line, 
And darkness gives the signal dread 

That makes our ranks combine: 
Or should some straggling moonbeam lie 

On copse or lurking hedge, 
'T would flash but from a Spaniard's eye, 

Or from a dagger's edge. 

'T is clear in the sweet vale below, 

And misty on the hill ; 
The skies shine mildly on the foe, 

But lour upon us still. 
This gathering storm shall quickly burst, 

And spread its terrors far, 
And at its front we '11 be the first, 

And with it go to war. 

! the mountain peak shall safe remain — 

'Tis the vale shall be despoil'd, 
And the tame hamlets of the plain 

With ruin shall run wild ; 
But liberty shall breathe our air 

Upon the mountain head, 
And freedom's breezes wander here, 

Here all their fragrance shed. 



212 



JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. 



THE SEA-BIRD'S SONG. 

On the deep is the manner's danger, 
On the deep is the mariner's death, 
Who, to fear of the tempest a stranger, 
Sees the last bubble burst of his breath ? 
'Tis the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 

Lone looker on despair, 
The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 
The only witness there. 

Who watches their course, who so mildly 
Careen to the kiss of the breeze 1 

Who lists to their shrieks, who so wildly 
Are clasp'd in the arms of the seas ] 
'Tis the sea-bird, <&c. 

Who hovers on high o'er the lover, 
And her who has clung to his neck 1 

Whose wing is the wing that can cover, 
With its shadow, the foundering wreck? 
'Tis the sea-bird, &c. 

My eye in the light of the billow, 
My wing on the wake of the wave, 

I shall take to my breast, for a pillow, 
The shroud of the fair and the brave. 
I 'm a sea-bird, &c. 

My foot on the iceberg has lighted, 

When hoarse the wild winds veer about , 
My eye, when the bark is benighted, 
Sees the lamp of the light-house go out. 
I'm the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 

Lone looker on despair; 
The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, 
The only witness there. 



TO THE DAUGHTER OF A FRIEND. 

I prat thee, by thy mother's face, 

And by her look, and by her eye, 
By every decent matron grace 
That hover' d round the resting-place 

Where thy young head did lie ; 
And by the voice that soothed thine ear, 
The hymn, the smile, the sigh, the tear, 

That match'd thy changeful mood ; 
By every prayer thy mother taught, 
By every blessing that she sought, 

I pray thee to be good. 

Is not the nestling, when it wakes, 

Its eye upon the wood around, 
And on its new-fledged pinions takes 
Its taste of leaves, and boughs, and brakes — 

Of motion, sight, and sound, — 
Is it not like the parent 1 Then 
Be like thy mother, child, and when 

Thy wing is bold and strong, — 
As pure and steady be thy light, 
As high and heavenly be thy flight, 

As holy be thy song. 



SALMON RIVER.* 



Hie viridis tenera praetexit arundine ripas 
Mincius. — Virgil. 



'Tis a sweet stream — and so, 'tis true, are all 
That, undisturb'd, save by the harmless brawl 
Of mimic rapid or slight waterfall, 

Pursue their way 
By mossy bank, and darkly waving wood, 
By rock, that since the deluge fix'd has stood, 
Showing to sun and moon their crisping flood 

By night and day. 

But yet there 's something in its humble rank, 
Something in its pure wave and sloping bank, 
Where the deer sported, and the young fawn drank 

With unscared look ; 
There 's much in its wild history, that teems 
With all that's superstitious — and that seems 
To match our fancy and eke out our dreams, 

In that small brook. 

Havoc has been upon its peaceful plain, 

And blood has dropp'd there, like the drops of rain ; 

The corn grows o'er the still graves of the slain — 

And many a quiver, 
Fill'd from the reeds that grew on yonder hill, 
Has spent itself in carnage. Now 'tis still, 
And whistling ploughboys oft their runlets fill 

From Salmon river. 

Here, say old men, the Indian magi made 
Their spells by moonlight ; or beneath the shade 
That shrouds sequester'd rock, or darkening glade, 

Or tangled dell. 
Here Philip came, and Miantonimo, 
And ask'd about their fortunes long ago, 
As Saul to Endor, that her witch might show 

Old Samuel. 

And here the black fox roved, that howl'd and shook 
His thick tail to the hunters, by the brook 
Where they pursued their game, and him mistook 

For earthly fox ; 
Thinking to shoot him like a shaggy bear, 
And his soft peltry, stripp'd and dress'd, to wear, 
Or lay a trap, and from his quiet lair 

Transfer him to a box. 

Such are the tales they tell. 'T is hard to rhyme 
About a little and unnoticed stream, 
That few have heard of — but it is a theme 

I chance to love ; 
And one day I may tune my rye-straw reed, 
And whistle to the note of many a deed 
Done on this river — which, if there be need, 

I '11 try to prove. 

* This river enters into the Connecticut at East Haddam. 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



[Bom, 1799. Died, 1S32.] 



The history of American literature, for the period 
which has already passed, will contain the names 
of few men of greater genius, or more general 
learning, than Robert C. Saxds. His life has 
been written so well by his intimate friend, Gu- 
liax C. Verplaxck,.LL. D., that I shall attempt 
only to present an abstract of the narrative of that 
accomplished scholar and critic. 

Sands was born in the city of New York, (where 
his father, who had been distinguished for his pa- 
triotism during the revolutionary struggle, was an 
eminent merchant,) on the eleventh of May, 1799. 
At a very early age he was remarkable for great 
quickness of apprehension, and facility of acquir- 
ing knowledge. When seven years old, he began 
to study the Latin language, and at thirteen he 
was admitted to the sophomore class of Columbia 
College. He had already, under Mr. Fixdlay, 
of Newark, and the Reverend Mr. Whelpiey, of 
New York, made great progress in classical know- 
ledge ; and while in the college, which had long 
been distinguished for sound and accurate instruc- 
tion in the dead languages, he excelled all his 
classmates in ancient learning, and was equally 
successful in the mathematics and other branches 
of study. In his second collegiate year, in con- 
junction with his friend Eastburx, and some 
other students, he established a periodical entitled 
"The Moralist," and afterward another, called 
"Academic Recreations," of both of which he 
wrote the principal contents. He was graduated 
in 1815, and soon after became a student in the 
law-office of David B. Ogdex, one of the most 
distinguished advocates of the time. He pursued 
his legal studies with great ardour ; his course of 
reading was very extensive ; and he became not 
only familiar with the more practical part of pro- 
fessional knowledge, but acquired a relish for the 
abstruse doctrines and subtle reasonings of the 
ancient common law. 

Still he found time for the study of the classics; 
and, in company with two or three friends, read 
several of the most difficult of the Greek authors, 
exactly and critically. His love of composition 
continued to grow upon him. He wrote on all 
subjects, and for all purposes ; and, in addition to 
essays and verses, on topics of his own choice, 
volunteered to write orations for the commence- 
ment displays of young graduates, verses for young 
lovers, and even sermons for young divines. Seve- 
ral of the latter, written in an animated style, were 
much admired, when delivered in the pulpit with 
good emphasis and discretion, to congregations 
who little suspected to whom they were indebted 
for their edification. One of them, at least, has 
been printed under the name of the clergyman by 
whom it was delivered. In 1817 he published a 



poem, which he had begun and in great part writ- 
ten four years before. It was called " The Bridal 
of Vaumond," and was a metrical romance, founded 
on the same legend of the transformation of a de- 
crepit and miserable wretch into a youthful hero, 
by compact with the infernal powers, which forms 
the groundwork of Bxrox's « Deformed Trans- 
formed." 

It was during the period of these studies, that 
he and three of his friends, of as many different 
professions, formed an association, of a somewhat 
remarkable character, under the name of the Lite- 
rary Confederacy. The number was limited to 
four; and they bound themselves to preserve a 
friendly communication in all the vicissitudes of 
life, and to endeavour, by all proper means, to ad- 
vance their mutual and individual interest, to advise 
each other on every subject, and to receive with 
good temper the rebuke or admonition which might 
thus be given. They proposed to unite, from time 
to time, in literary publications, covenanting so- 
lemnly that no matter hostile to the great principles 
of religion or morals should be published by any 
member. This compact was most faithfully kept 
to the time of Saxds's death, though the primary 
objects of it w T ere gradually given up, as other duties 
engrossed the attention of its members. In the 
first year of its existence, the confederacy contri- 
buted largely to several literary and critical ga- 
zettes, besides publishing in one of the daily papers 
of the city a series of essays, under the title of the 
" Amphilogist," and a second under that of the 
" Neologist," which attracted much attention, and 
were very widely circulated and republished in 
the newspapers of the day. Saxds wrote a large 
portion of these, both in prose and verse. 

His friend Eastbcrx had now removed to 
Bristol, Rhode Island, where, after studying divi- 
nity for some time under the direction of Bishop 
Griswold, he took orders, and soon after settled 
in Virginia. A regular correspondence was kept 
up between the friends ; and the letters that have 
been preserved are filled with the evidence of their 
literary industry. Eastburx had undertaken a 
I new metrical" version of the Psalms, which the 
pressure of his clerical duties and his untimely 
j death prevented him from ever completing. Saxds 
| was led by curiosity, as well as by his intimacy 
I with Eastburx, to acquire some knowledge of 
! the Hebrew. It was not very profound, but it 
[ enabled him to try his skill at the same transla- 
tion ; and he from time to time sent his friend a 
Psalm paraphrased in verse. 

B ut amid their severer studies and their literary 
amusements, they were engaged in a bolder poeti- 
cal enterprise. This was a romantic poem, founded 
on the history of Philip, the celebrated sachem 



214 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



of the Pequods, and leader of the great Indian wars 
against the New England colonists in 1665 and 
1676. It was planned by Eastburn. during his 
residence in the vicinity of Mount Hope, in Rhode 
Island, the ancient capital of the Pequod race, 
where the scene is laid. In the year following, 
when he visited New York, the plan of the story 
was drawn up in conjunction with his friend. "We 
had then," said Sands, "read nothing on the sub- 
ject; and our plot was formed from a hasty glance 
into a few pages of Hubbard's Narrative. After 
Eastburn's return to Bristol, the poem was writ- 
ten, according to the parts severally assigned, and 
transmitted, reciprocally, in the course of corre- 
spondence. It was commenced in November, 1817, 
and finished before the summer of 1818, except the 
concluding stanzas of the sixth canto, which were 
added after Mr. Eastburn left Bristol. As the 
fable was defective, from our ignorance of the sub- 
ject, the execution was also, from the same cause, 
and the hasty mode of composition, in every re- 
spect imperfect. Mr. Eastburn was then pre- 
paring to take orders ; and his studies, with that 
view, engrossed his attention. He was ordained 
in October, 1818. Between that time and the 
period of his going to Accomack county, Virginia, 
whence he had received an invitation to take charge 
of a congregation, he transcribed the first two can- 
tos of this poem, with but few material variations, 
from the first collating copy. The labours of hie 
ministry left him no time even for his most de- 
lightful amusement. He had made no further 
progress in the correction of the work when he 
returned to New York, in July, 1819. His health 
was then so much impaired, that writing of any 
kind was too great a labour. He had packed up 
the manuscripts, intending to finish his second 
copy in Santa Cruz, whither it was recommended 
to him to go, as the last resource to recruit his ex- 
hausted constitution." He died on the fourth day 
of his passage, on the second of December, 1819. 
The work, thus left imperfect, was revised, ar- 
ranged, and completed, with many additions, by 
Sands. It was introduced by a proem, in which 
the surviving poet mourned, in noble and touch- 
ing strains, the accomplished friend of his youth. 

The work was published under the title of " Ya- 
moyden," at New York, in 1820. It unquestion- 
ably shows some marks of the youth of its authors, 
besides other imperfections arising from the mode 
of its composition, which could not fail to prove a 
serious impediment to a clear connection of the 
plot, and a vivid and congruous conception of all 
the characters. Yet it has high merit in various 
ways. Its descriptions of natural scenery are alike 
accurate and beautiful. Its style is flexible, flow- 
ing, and poetical. It is rich throughout with histo- 
rical and antiquarian knowledge of Indian history 
and tradition; and every thing in the customs, man- 
ners, superstitions, and story of the aborigines of 
New England, that could be applied to poetical 
purposes, is used with skill, judgment, and taste. 

In 1820, Sands was admitted to the bar, and 
opened an office in the city of New York. He 
entered upon his professional career with high 



hopes and an ardent love of the learning of the 
law. His first attempt as an advocate was, how- 
ever, unsuccessful, and he was disheartened by the 
result. Though he continued the business of an 
attorney, he made no second attempt of conse- 
quence before a jury, and after a few years he 
gradually withdrew himself from the profession. 
During this period he persevered in his law read- 
ing, and renewed and extended his acquaintance 
with the Latin poets, and the "grave, lofty trage- 
dians" of Greece ; acquiring an intimacy such as 
professors might have envied, with the ancient 
languages and learning. He had early learned 
French, and was familiar with its copious and ele- 
gant literature; but he never much admired it, and 
in his multifarious literary conversation and au- 
thorship, rarely quoted or alluded to a French 
author, except for facts. He now acquired the 
Italian, and read carefully and with great admira- 
tion all its great writers, from Dante to Alfieri. 
His versions and imitations of Politian, Monti, 
and Metastasio, attest how fully he entered into 
their spirit. Some time after he acquired the Spa- 
nish language very critically, and, after studying its 
more celebrated writers, read very largely all the 
Spanish historians and documents he could find 
touching American history. In order to complete 
his acquaintance with the cognate modern lan- 
guages of Latin origin, he some years later ac- 
quired the Portuguese, and read such of its authors 
as he could procure. 

In 1822 and 1823 he wrote many articles for 
"The Literary Review," a monthly periodical then 
published in New York, which received great in- 
crease of reputation from his contributions. In 
the winter of 1823-4, he and some friends pub- 
lished seven numbers of a sort of mock-magazine, 
entitled " The St. Tammany Magazine." Here he 
gave the reins to his most extravagant and happi- 
est humour, indulging in parody, burlesque, and 
grotesque satire, thrown off in the .gayest mood 
and with the greatest rapidity, but as good-natured 
as satire and parody could well be. In May, 1824, 
"The Atlantic Magazine" was established in New 
York, and placed under his charge. At the end 
of six months he gave up this work ; but when it 
changed its name, and in part its character, and 
became the New York Review, he was reengaged 
as an editor, and assisted in conducting it until 
1827. During this same period he assisted in 
preparing and publishing a digest of equity cases, 
and also in editing some other legal compilations, 
enriching them with notes of the American deci- 
sions. These publications were, it is true, not of 
a high class of legal authorship ; but they show 
professional reading and knowledge, as well as the 
ready versatility of his mind. He had now become 
an author by profession, and looked to his pen for 
support, as heretofore for fame or for amusement. 
When, therefore, an offer of a liberal salary was 
made him as an assistant editor of the "New York 
Commercial Advertiser," a long-established and 
well-known daily evening paper, he accepted it, 
and continued his connection with that journal 
until his death. 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



215 



His daily task of political or literary discussion 
was far from giving him sufficient literary employ- 
ment. His mind overflowed in all directions into 
other journals, even some of different political 
opinions from those which he supported. He had 
a propensity for innocent and playful literary mis- 
chief. It was his sport to excite public curiosity 
by giving extracts, highly spiced with fashionable 
allusions and satire, "from the forthcoming novel;" 
which novel, in truth, was, and is yet to be writ- 
ten ; or else to entice some unhappy wight into a 
literary or historical newspaper discussion, then to 
combat him anonymously, or, under the mask of 
a brother editor, to overwhelm him with history, 
facts, quotations, and authorities, all, if necessary, 
manufactured for the occasion ; in short, like 
Shakspe are's "merry wanderer of the night," to 
lead his unsuspecting victim around "through bog, 
through bush, through brier." One instance of 
this sportive propensity occurred in relation to a 
controversy about the material of the Grecian crown 
of victory, which arose during the excitement in 
favour of Grecian liberty some years ago. Several 
ingenious young men, fresh from their college 
studies, had exhausted all the learning they could 
procure on this grave question, either from their 
own acquaintance with antiquity, or at second 
hand from the writers upon Grecian antiquities, 
LemprIere, Pottek, Bartheeemi, or the more 
erudite Paschalis de Corona,- till Sands grew 
tired of seeing so much scholarship wasted, and 
ended the controversy by an essay filled with ex- 
cellent learning, chiefly fabricated by himself for 
the occasion, and resting mainly on a passage of 
Pausanitts, quoted in the original Greek, for which 
it is in vain to look in any edition of that author, 
ancient or modern. He had also other and graver 
employments. In 1828, some enterprising print- 
ers proposed to supply South America with Spa- 
nish books suited to that market, and printed in 
New York. Among the works selected for this 
purpose were the original letters of Cortes, the 
conqueror of Mexico. No good life of Cortes 
then existing in the English or Spanish language, 
Sands was employed by the publishers to prepare 
one, which was to be translated into Spanish, and 
prefixed to the edition. He was fortunately re- 
lieved from any difficulty arising from the want of 
materials, by finding in the library of the New 
York Historical Society a choice collection of ori- 
ginal Spanish authorities, which afforded him all 
that he desired. His manuscript was translated 
into Spanish, and prefixed to the letters of the Con- 
quistador, of which a large edition was printed, 
while the original remained in manuscript until 
Sands's writings were collected, after his death, 
by Mr. Verplanck. Thus his work had the sin- 
gular fortune of being read throughout Spanish 
America, in another language, while it was totally 
unknown in its own country and native tongue. 
Soon after completing this piece of literary labour, 
he became accidentally engaged in another under- 
taking which afforded him much amusement and 
gratification. The fashion of decorated literary 
annuals, which the English and French had bor- 



rowed some years before from the literary alma- 
nacs, so long the favourites of Germany, had 
reached the United States, and the booksellers in 
the principal cities were ambitiously vieing with 
each other in the " Souvenirs," " Tokens," and 
other annual volumes. Mr. Bliss, a bookseller 
of New York, desirous to try his fortune in the 
same way, pressed Mr. Sands to undertake the 
editorship of a work of this sort. This he at first 
declined ; but it happened that, in conversation 
with his two friends, Mr. Verpeanck and Mr. 
Bryant, a regret was expressed that the old 
fashion of Queen Anne's time, of publishing vo- 
lumes of miscellanies by two or three authors 
together, had gone out of date. They had the 
advantage, it was said, over our ordinary maga- 
zines, of being more select and distinctive in the 
characters and subjects, and yet did not impose 
upon the authors the toil or responsibility of a 
regular and separate work. In this way Pope and 
Swift had published their minor pieces, as had 
other writers of that day, of no small merit and 
fame. One of the party proposed to publish a 
little volume of their own miscellanies, in humble 
imitation of the English wits of the last century. 
It occurred to Sands to combine this idea with 
the form and decorations of the annual. The ma- 
terials of a volume were hastily prepared, amid 
other occupations of the several authors, without 
any view to profit, and more for amusement than 
reputation ; the kindness of several artists, with 
whom Sands was in habits of intimacy, furnished 
some respectable embellishments ; and thus a mis- 
cellany which, with the exception of two short poeti- 
cal contributions, was wholly written by Mr. Sands 
and his 'two friends above named, was published 
with the title of " The Talisman," and under the 
name and character of an imaginary author, Fran- 
cis Herbert, Esq. It was favourably received, 
and, on the solicitation of the publisher, a second 
volume was as hastily prepared in the following 
year, by the same persons. Of this publication 
about one-fourth was entirely from Sands's pen, 
and about as much more was his joint work with 
one or another of his friends. This, as the reader 
must have remarked, was a favourite mode of au- 
thorship with him. He composed with ease and 
rapidity, and, delighting in the work of composi- 
tion, it gave him additional pleasure to make it a 
social enjoyment. He had this peculiarity, that 
the presence of others, in which most authors find 
a restraint upon the free course of their thoughts 
and fancies, was to him a source of inspiration 
and excitement. This was peculiarly visible in 
gay or humorous writing. In social compositions 
of this nature, his talent for ludicrous description 
and character and incident rioted and revelled, so 
that it generally became more the business of his 
coadjutor to chasten and sober his thick-coming 
fancies, than to furnish any thing like an equal 
contingent of thought or invention. For the pur- 
pose of such joint-stock authorship it is necessary 
that one of the associates should possess Sands's 
unhesitating and rapid fluency of written style, 
and his singular power of seizing the ideas and 



213 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



images of his friends, and assimilating them per- 
fectly to his own. 

His " Dream of Papantzin,"* a poem, one of 
the fruits of his researches into Mexican history, 

* " Papantzix, a Mexican princess, sister of Moteuc- 
zoma, and widow of the governor of Tlatelolco, died, as 
was supposed, in the palace of the latter, in 1509. Her 
funeral rites were celebrated with the usual pomp; her 
brother and all the nobility attending. She was buried 
in a cave, or subterranean grotto, in the gardens of the 
same palace, near a reservoir in which she usually bathed. 
The entrance of the cave was closed with a stone of no 
great size. On the day after the funeral, a little girl, five 
or six years old, who lived in the palace, was going from 
her mother's house to the residence of the princess's 
major-domo, in a farther part of the garden ; and passing 
by, *he heard the princess calling to her eoeoton, a phrase 
used to call and coax children, &c. &c. The princess sent 
the little girl to call her mother, and much alarm was of 
course excited. At length the King of Tezcuco was noti- 
fied of her resurrection ; and, jn his representation, Mo- 
teuczoma himself, full of terror, visited her with his chief 
nobility. He asked her if she was his sister. 'I am,' said 
she, 'the same whom you buried yesterday. I am alive, 
and desire to tell you what I have seen, as it imports to 
know it.' Then the kings sat down, and the others re- 
mained standing, marvelling at what they heard. 

"Then the princess, resuming her discourse, said: — 
'After my life, or, if that is possible, after sense and the 
power of motion departed, incontinently I found myself 
in a vast plain, to which there was no bound in any direc- 
tion. In the midst I discerned a road, which divided into 
various paths, and on one side was a great river, whose 
waters made a frightful rushing noise. Being minded to 
leap into it to cross to the opposite side, a fair youth stood 
before my eyes, of noble presence, clad in long robes, 
white as snow, and resplendent as the sun. He had two 
wings of beautiful plumage, and bore this sign on his fore- 
head, (so saying, the princess made with her fingers the 
sign of the cross;) and taking me by the hand, said, 'Stay, 
it is not yet time to pass this river. God loves thee, al- 
though thou dost not know it.' Thence he led me along 
the shores of the river, where I saw many skulls and 
human bones, and heard such doleful groans, that they 
moved me to compassion. Then, turning my eyes to the 
river, I saw in it divers great barks, and in them many 
men, different from those of these regions in dress and 
complexion. They were white and bearded, having 
standards in their hands, and helmets on their heads. 
Then the young man said to me, 'God wills that you 
should live, that you may bear testimony of the revolu- 
tions which are to occur in these countries. The cla- 
mours thou hast heard on these banks are those of the 
souls of thine ancestors, which are and ever will be tor- 
mented in punishment of their sins. The men whom 
thou seest passing in the barks, are those who with arms 
will make themselves masters of this country; and with 
them will come also an annunciation of the true God, 
Creator of heaven and earth. When the war is finished, 
and the ablution promulgated which washes away sin, 
thou shalt be first to receive it, and guide by thine exam- 
ple all the inhabitants of this land.' Thus having said, 
the young man disappeared ; and I found myself restored 
to life— rose from the place on which I lay— lifted the 
stone from the sepulchre, and issued forth from the gar- 
den, where the servants found me.' 

" Moteuczoma went to his house of mourning, full of 
heavy thoughts, saying nothing to his sister, (whom he 
would never see ajrain,) nor to the King of Tezcuco, nor 
to his courtiers, who tried to persuade him that it was a 
feverish fantasy of the princess. She lived many years 
afterward, and in 1524 was baptized." 

This incident, says Clavigero, was universally known, 
and made a great noise at the time. It is described in 
several Mexican pictures, and affidavits of its truth were 
sent to the court of Spain.— The Talisman. 



is remarkable for the religious solemnity of the 
thoughts, the magnificence of the imagery, and 
the flow of the versification. It was first published 
in "The Talisman," for the year 1839. 

His next literary employment was the publi- 
cation of a new "Life of Paul Jones," from ori- 
ginal letters and printed and manuscript materials 
furnished him by a niece of the commodore. He 
at first meditated an entirely original work, as 
attractive and discursive as he could make it ; but 
various circumstances limited him in great part to 
compilation and correction of the materials fur- 
nished him, or, as he termed it in one of his letters, 
in his accustomed quaintness of phrase, "upsetting 
some English duodecimos, together with all the 
manuscripts, into an American octavo, without 
worrying his brains much about the matter." This 
biography was printed in 1831, in a closely-printed 
octavo, and is doubtless the best and most authen- 
tic narrative of the life of this gallant, chivalrous, 
and erratic father of the American navy. 

In the close of the year 1832, a work, entitled 
" Tales of the Glauber Spa," was published in New 
York. This was a series of original tales by dif- 
ferent authors — Brjast, Paulding, Leggett, 
and Miss Sedgwick. To this collection Sands 
contributed the introduction, which is tinged with 
his peculiar humour, and two of the tales, both of 
which are written in his happiest vein. 

The last finished composition of Sands was a 
little poem entitled "The Dead of 1632," which 
appeared anonymously in "The Commercial Ad- 
vertiser," about a week before his own death. He 
was destined to join those whom he mourned 
within the few remaining days of the same year. 
Charles F. Hoffman had then just established 
"The Knickerbocker Magazine," and Sands, on 
the seventeenth of December, about four o'clock 
in the afternoon, sat down to finish an article on 
" Esquimaux Literature," which he had engaged 
to furnish for that periodical. After writing with 
a pencil the following line, suggested, probably, by 
some topic in the Greenland mythology, 

" O, think not my spirit among you abides," 
he was suddenly struck with the disease which 
removed his own spirit from its material dwelling. 
Below this line, on the original manuscript, were 
observed, after his death, several irregular pencil- 
marks, extending nearly across the page, as if 
traced by a hand that moved in darkness, or no 
longer obeyed the impulse of the will. He rose, 
opened the door, and attempted to pass out of the 
room, but fell on the threshold. On being assisted 
to his chamber, and placed on the bed, he was 
observed to raise his powerless right arm with the 
other, and looking at it, to shed tears. He shortly 
after relapsed into a lethargy, from which he never 
awoke, and in less than four hours from the attack, 
expired without a struggle. He died in his thirty 
fourth year, when his talents, enriched by study 
and the experience of life, and invigorated by con 
stant exercise, were fully matured for greater and 
bolder literary enterprise than any he had yet 
essayed. His death was deeply mourned by many 
friends, and most deeply by those who knew him best. 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



21' 



PROEM TO YAMOYDEN. 

Go forth, sad fragments of a broken strain, 
The last that either bard shall e'er essay ! 
The hand can ne'er attempt the chords again, 
That first awoke them, in a happier day : 
Where sweeps the ocean breeze its desert way, 
His requiem murmurs o'er the moaning wave ; 
And he who feebly now prolongs the lay, 
Shall ne'er the minstrel's hallow'd honours crave; 
His harp lies buried deep, in that untimely grave ! 

Friend of my youth, with thee began the love 
Of sacred song ; the wont, in golden dreams, 
Mid classic realms of splendours past to rove, 
O'er haunted steep, and by immortal streams ; 
Where the blue wave, with sparkling bosom, gleams 
Round shores, the mind's eternal heritage, 
Forever lit by memory's twilight beams ; 
Where the proud dead, that live in storied page, 
Beckon, with awful port, to glory's earlier age. 

There would we linger oft, entranced, to hear, 
O'er battle fields, the epic thunders roll ; 
Or list, where tragic wail upon the ear, 
Through Argive palaces shrill echoing, stole ; 
There would we mark, uncurb'd by all control, 
In central heaven, the Theban eagle's flight ; 
Or hold communion with the musing soul 
Of sage or bard, who sought, mid pagan night, 
In loved Athenian groves, for truth's eternal light. 

Homeward we turn'd, to that fair land, but late 
Redeem'd from the strong spell that bound it fast, 
Where mystery, brooding o'er the waters, sate 
And kept the key, till three millenniums pass'd ; 
When, as creation's noblest work was last ; 
Latest, to man it was vouchsafed, to see 
Nature's great wonder, long by clouds o'ercast, 
And veiled in sacred awe, that it might be 
An empire and a home, most worthy for the free. 

And here, forerunners strange and meet were 

found, 
Of that bless'd freedom, only dream'd before ; — 
Dark were the morning mists, that linger'd round 
Their birth and story, as the hue they bore. 
« Earth was their mother;" — or they knew no 

more, 
Or would not that their secret should be told ; 
For they were grave and silent ; and such lore, 
To stranger ears, they loved not to unfold, 
The long-transmitted tales their sires were taught 

of old. 

Kind nature's commoners, from her they drew 
Their needful wants, and learn'd not how to hoard ; 
And him whom strength and wisdom crown'd 

they knew, 
But with no servile reverence, as their lord. 
And on their mountain summits they adored 
One great, good Spirit, in his high abode, 
And thence their incense and orisons pour'd 
To his pervading presence, that abroad 
They felt through all his works, — their Father, 
King, and God. 

28 



And in the mountain mist, the torrent's spray, 
The quivering forest, or the glassy flood, 
Soft-falling showers, or hues of orient day, 
They imaged spirits beautiful and good ; 
But when the tempest roar'd, with voices rude, 
Or fierce red lightning fired the forest pine, 
Or withering heats untimely sear'd the wood, 
The angry forms they saw of powers malign ; 
These they besought to spare, those bless'd for aid 
divine. 

As the fresh sense of life, through every vein, 
With the pure air they drank, inspiring came, 
Comely they grew, patient of toil and pain, 
And as the fleet deer's, agile was their frame ; 
Of meaner vices scarce they knew the name ; 
These simple truths went down from sire to son, — 
To reverence age, — the sluggish hunter's shame 
And craven warrior's infamy to shun, — [done. 
And still avenge each wrong, to friends or kindred 

From forest shades they peer'd, with awful dread, 
When, uttering flame and thunder from its side, 
The ocean-monster, with broad wings outspread, 
Came ploughing gallantly the virgin tide. 
Few years have pass'd, and all their forests' pride 
From shores and hills has vanish'd, with the race, 
Their tenants erst, from memory who have died, 
Like airy shapes, which eld was wont to trace, 
In each green thicket's depths, and lone, seques- 
ter'd place. 

And many a gloomy tale, tradition yet 
Saves from oblivion, of their struggles vain, 
Their prowess and their wrongs, for rhymer meet, 
To people scenes where still their names remain ; 
And so began our young, delighted strain, 
That would evoke the plumed chieftains brave, 
And bid their martial hosts arise again, 
Where Narraganset's tides roll by their grave, 
And Haup's romantic steeps are piled above the 
wave. 

Friend of my youth ! with thee began my song, 
And o'er thy bier its latest accents die ; 
Misled in phantom-peopled realms too long, — 
Though not to me the muse adverse deny, 
Sometimes, perhaps, her visions to descry, 
Such thriftless pastime should with youth be o'er; 
And he who loved with thee his notes to try, 
But for thy sake, such idlesse would deplore, 
And swears to meditate the thankless muse no more. 

But, no ! the freshness of the past shall still 
Sacred to memory's holiest musings be ; 
When through the ideal fields of song, at will, 
He roved and gather'd chaplets wild with thee ; 
When, reckless of the world, alone and free, 
Like two proud barks, we kept our careless way, 
That sail by moonlight o'er the tranquil sea ; 
Their white apparel and their streamers gay 
Bright gleaming o'er the main, beneath the ghostly 
ray;— 

And downward, far, reflected in the clear 
Blue depths, the eye their fairy tackling sees ; 
So buoyant, they do seem to float in air, 
And silently obey the noiseless breeze ; 
T 



218 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



Till, all too soon, as the rude winds may please, 
They part for distant ports : the gales benign 
Swift wafting, bore, by Heaven's all-wise decrees, 
To its own harbour sure, where each divine 
And joyous vision, seen before in dreams, is thine. 

Muses of Helicon ! melodious race 
Of Jove and golden-hair'd Msemostje ; 
Whose art from memory blots each sadder trace, 
And drives each scowling form of grief away ! 
Who, round the violet fount, your measures gay 
Once trod, and round the altar of great Jove ; 
Whence, wrapt in silvery clouds, your nightly way 
Ye held, and ravishing strains of music wove, 
That soothed the Thunderer's soul, and fill'd his 
courts above. 

Bright choir ! with lips untempted, and with zone 
Sparkling, and unapproach'd by touch profane ; 
Ye, to whose gladsome bosoms ne'er was known 
The blight of sorrow, or the throb of pain ; 
Rightly invoked, — if right the elected swain, 
On your own mountain's side ye taught of yore, 
Whose honour'd hand took not your gift in vain, 
Worthy the budding laurel-bough it bore, — 
Farewell ! a long farewell ! I worship you no more. 



DREAM OF THE PRINCESS PAPANTZIN. 

Mexitlis' power was at its topmost pride ; 
The name was terrible from sea to sea ; 
From mountains, where the tameless Ottomite 
Maintain'd his savage freedom, to the shores 
Of wild Higueras. Through the nations pass'd, 
As stalks the angel of the pestilence, [young, 

The great king's messengers. They marked the 
The brave and beautiful, and bore them on 
For their foul sacrifices. Terror went 
Before the tyrant's heralds. Grief and wrath 
Remain'd behind their steps ; but they were dumb. 

He was as God. Yet in his capital 
Sat Moteuczo^ia, second of that name, 
Trembling with fear of dangers long foretold 
In ancient prophecies, and now announced 
By signs in heaven and portents upon earth ; 
By the reluctant voices of pale priests ; 
By the grave looks of solemn counsellors ; 
But chief, by sickening heaviness of heart 
That told of evil, dimly understood, 
But evil which must come. With face obscured, 
And robed in night, the giant phantom rose, 
Of his great empire's ruin, and his own. 
Happier, though guiltier, he, before whose glance 
Of reckless triumph, moved the spectral hand 
That traced the unearthly characters of fate. 

'T was then, one eve, when o'er the imperial lake 
And all its cities, glittering in their pomp, 
The lord of glory threw his parting smiles, 
In Tlatelolco's palace, in her bower, 
Papaxtzix lay reclined; sister of him 
At whose name monarchs trembled. Yielding there 
To musings various, o'er her senses crept 
Or sleep, or kindred death. It seem'd she stood 
In an illimitable plain, that stretch'd 



Its desert continuity around, 
Upon the o'erwearied sight ; in contrast strange 
With that rich vale, where only she had dwelt, 
Whose everlasting mountains, girdling it, 
As in a chalice held a kingdom's wealth ; 
Their summits freezing, where the eagle tired, 
But found no resting-place. Papaxtzix look'd 
On endless barrenness, and walk'd perplex'd 
Through the dull haze, along the boundless heath, 
Like some lone ghost in Mictlan's cheerless gloom 
Debarred from light and glory. Wandering thus, 
She came where a great sullen river pour'd 
Its turbid waters with a rushing sound 
Of painful moans ; as if the inky waves 
Were hastening still on their complaining course 
To escape the horrid solitudes. Beyond 
What seem'd a highway ran, with branching paths 
Innumerous. This to gain, she sought to plunge 
Straight in the troubled stream. For well she knew 
To shun with agile limbs the current's force, 
Nor fear'd the noise of waters. She had play'd 
From infancy in her fair native lake, 
Amid the gay plumed creatures floating round, 
Wheeling or diving, with their changeful hues 
As fearless and as innocent as they. 

A vision stay'd her purpose. By her side 
Stood a bright youth ; and startling, as she gazed 
On his effulgence, every sense was bound 
In pleasing awe and in fond reverence. 
For not Tezcateipoca, as he shone 
Upon her priest-led fancy, when from heaven 
By filmy thread sustain'd he came to earth, 
In his resplendent mail reflecting all 
Its images, with dazzling portraiture, 
Was, in his radiance and immortal youth, 
A peer to this new god. — His stature was 
Like that of men ; but match'd with his, the port 
Of kings all dreaded was the crouching mien 
Of suppliants at their feet. Serene the light 
That floated round him, as the lineaments 
It cased with its mild glory. Gravely sweet 
The impression of his features, which to scan 
Their lofty loveliness forbade: His eyes 
She felt, but saw not : only, on his brow — 
From over which, encircled by what seem'd 
A ring of liquid diamond, in pure light 
Revolving ever, backward flow'd his locks 
In buoyant, waving clusters — on his brow 
She mark'd a cross described ; and lowly bent, 
She knew not wherefore, to the sacred sign. 
From either shoulder mantled o'er his front 
Wings dropping feathery silver ; and his robe, 
Snow-white, in the still air was motionless, 
As that Of chisell'd god, or the pale shroud 
Of some fear-conjured ghost. Her hand he took 
And led her passive o'er the naked banks 
Of that black stream, still murmuring angrily. 
But, as he spoke, she heard its moans no more ; 
His voice seem'd sweeter than the hymnings raised 
By brave and gentle souls in Paradise, 
To celebrale the outgoing of the sun, 
On his majestic progress over heaven. [yet 

" Stay, princess," thus he spoke, " thou mayst not 
O'erpass these waters. Though thou know'st it not, 
Nor him, God loves thee." So he led her on, 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



219 



Unfainting, amid hideous sights and sounds : 
For now, o'er scatter'd skulls and grisly bones 
They walk'd ; while underneath, before, behind, 
Rise dolorous wails and groans protracted long, 
Sobs of deep anguish, screams of agony, 
And melancholy sighs, and the fierce yell 
Of hopeless and intolerable pain. 

Shuddering, as, in the gloomy whirlwind's pause, 
Through the malign, distemper'd atmosphere, 
The second circle's purple blackness, pass'd 
The pitying Florentine, who saw the shades 
Of poor Frasxesca and her paramour, — 
The princess o'er the ghastly relics stepp'd, 
Listening the frightful clamour ; till a gleam, 
Whose sickly and phosphoric lustre seem'd 
Kindled from these decaying bones, lit up 
The sable river. Then a pageant came 
Over its obscure tides, of stately barks, 
Gigantic, with their prows of quaint device, 
Tali masts, and ghostly canvass, huge and high, 
Hung in the unnatural light and lifeless air. 
Grim, bearded men, with stern and angry looks, 
Strange robes, and uncouth armour, stood behind 
Their galleries and bulwarks. One ship bore 
A broad sheet-pendant, where, inwrought with gold, 
She mark'd the symbol that adorned the brow 
Of her mysterious guide. Down the dark stream 
Swept on the spectral fleet, in the false light 
Flickering and fading. Louder then uprose 
The roar of voices from the accursed strand, 
Until in tones, solemn and sweet, again 
Her angel-leader spoke. « Princess, Gor> wills 
That thou shouldst live, to testify on earth 
What changes are to come : and in the world 
Where change comes never, live, when earth and all 
Its changes shall have pass'd like earth away. 
The cries that pierced thy soul and chill'd thy veins 
Are those of thy tormented ancestors. 
Nor shall their torment cease ; for God is just. 
Foredoom'd, — since first from Aztlan led to rove, 
Following, in quest of change, their kindred tribes — 
Where'er they rested, with foul sacrifice 
They stain'd the shuddering earth. Their monu- 
Ev blood cemented, after ages pass'd, [ments, 

With idle wonder of fantastic guess 
The traveller shall behold. For, broken, then, 
Like their own ugly idols, buried, burn'd, 
Their fragments spurn'd for every servile use, 
Trampled and scatter'd to the reckless winds, 
The records of their origin shall be. 
Still in their cruelty and untamed pride, 
They lived and died condemn' d ; whether they ' 
Outcasts, upon a soil that was not theirs, [dwelt 
All sterile as it was, and won by stealth 
Food from the slimy margent of the lake, 
And digg'd tho earth for roots and unclean worms ; 
Or served in bondage to another race, 
Who loved them not. Driven forth, they wander'd J 
In miserable want, until they came [then 

Where from the thriftless rock the nopal grew, 
On which the hungiy eagle perch'd and scream'd, 
And founded Tenochtitlan ; rearing first, 
With impious care, a cabin for their god 
HriTziLOPOCHTLi, and with murderous rites 
Devoting to his guardianship themselves 



And all their issue. Quick the nopal climb'd, 

Its harsh and bristly growth towering o'er all 

The vale of Anahuac. Far for his prey, 

And farther still the ravenous eagle flew ; 

And still with dripping beak, but thirst unslaked, 

With savage cries wheel'd home. Nine kings have 

reign'd, 
Their records blotted and besmear'd with blood 
So thick that none may read them. Down the stairs 
And o'er the courts and winding corridors 
Of their abominable piles, uprear'd 
In the face of heaven, and naked to the sun, 
More blood has flow'd than would have fill'd the lakes 
O'er which, enthroned midst carnage, they have sat, 
Heaping their treasures for the stranger's spoil. 
Prodigious cruelty and waste of fife, 
Unnatural riot and blaspheming pride, — 
All that God hates, — and all that tumbles down 
Great kingdoms and luxurious commonwealths, 
After long centuries waxing all corrupt, — 
In their brief annals aggregated, forced, 
And monstrous, are compress'd. And now the cup 
Of wrath is full ; and now the hour has come. 
Nor yet unwarn'd shall judgment overtake 
The tribes of Aztlan, and in chief their lords, 
Mexitlis' blind adorers. As to one 
Who feels his inward malady remain, 
Howe'er health's seeming mocks his destiny, 
In gay or serious mood the thought of death 
Still comes obtrusive ; so old prophecy, 
From age to age preserved, has told thy race 
How strangers, from beyond the rising sun, 
Should come with thunder arm'd, to overturn 
Their idols, to possess their lands, and hold 
Them and their children in long servitude. 

" Thou shalt bear record that the hour is nigh. 
The white and bearded men whose grim array 
Swept o'er thy sight, are those who are to come, 
And with strong arms, and wisdom stronger far, 
Strange beasts, obedient to their masters' touch, 
And engines hurling death, with Fate to aid, 
Shall wrest the sceptre from the Azteques' line, 
And lay their temples flat. Horrible war, 
Rapine, and murder, and destruction wild 
Shall hurry like the whirlwind o'er the land. 
Yet with the avengers come the word of peace ; 
With the destroyers comes the bread of life ; 
And, as the wind-god, in thine idle creed, 
Opens a passage with his boisterous breath 
Through which the genial waters ever earth 
Shed their reviving showers ; so, when the storm 
Of war has pass'd, rich dews of heavenly grace 
Shall fall on flinty hearts. And thou, the flower, — . 
Which, when huge cedars and most ancient pines, 
Coeval with the mountains, are uptorn, 
The hurricane shall leave unharm'd, — thou, then, 
Shalt be the first to lift thy drooping head 
Renew'd, and cleansed from every former stain. 
" The fables of thy people teach, that when 
The deluge drown'd mankind, and one sole pair 
In fragile bark preserved, escaped and climb'd 
The steeps of Colhuacan, daughters and sons 
Were born to them, who knew not how to frame 
Their simplest thoughts in speech ; till from the 
A dove pour d forth, in regulated sounds, [grove 



220 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



Each varied form of language. Then they spake, 
Though neither by another understood. 
But thou shalt then hear of that holiest Dove, 
Which is the Spirit of the eternal God. 
When all was void and dark, he moved above 
Infinity ; and from beneath his wings 
Earth and the waters and the islands rose ; 
The air was quicken'd, and the world had life. 
Then all the lamps of heaven began to shine, 
And man was made to gaze upon their fires. 

" Among thy fathers' visionary tales, 
Thou 'st heard, how once near ancient Tula dwelt 
A woman, holy and devout, who kept 
The temple pure, and to its platform saw 
A globe of emerald plumes descend from heaven. 
Placing it in her bosom to adorn 
Her idol's sanctuary, (so the tale 
Runs,) she conceived, and bore Mexitli. He, 
When other children had assail'd her life, 
Sprang into being, all equipp'd for war ; 
His green plumes dancing in their circlet bright, 
Like sheaf of sun-lit spray cresting the bed 
Of angry torrents. Round, as Tonatiuh 
Flames in mid-heaven, his golden buckler shone ; 
Like nimble lightning flash'd his dreadful lance ; 
And unrelenting vengeance in his eyes 
Blazed with its swarthy lustre. He, they tell, 
Led on their ancestors ; and him the god 
Of wrath and terror, with the quivering hearts 
And mangled limbs of myriads, and the stench 
Of blood-wash'd shrines and altars they appease. 
But then shall be reveal'd to thee the name 
And vision of a virgin undefiled, 
Embalm'd in holy beauty, in whose eyes, 
Downcast and chaste, such sacred influence lived, 
That none might gaze in their pure spheres and feel 
One earth-born longing. Over her the Dove 
Hung, and the Almighty power came down. She 
In lowliness, and as a helpless babe, [bore 

Heir to man's sorrows and calamities, 
His great Deliverer, Conqueror of Death ; 
And thou shalt learn, how when in years he grew 
Perfect, and fairer than the sons of men, 
And in that purifying rite partook 
Which thou shalt share, as from his sacred locks 
The glittering waters dropp'd, high over head 
The azure vault was open'd, and that Dove 
Swiftly, serenely floating downwards, stretch'd 
His silvery pinions o'er the anointed Lord, 
Sprinkling celestial dews. And thou shalt hear 
How, when the sacrifice for man had gone 
In glory home, as his chief messengers 
Were met in council, on a mighty wind 
The Dove was borne among them ; on each brow 
A forked tongue of fire unquenchable lit; 
And, as the lambent points shot up and waved, 
Strange speech came to them ; thence to every land, 
In every tongue, they, with untiring steps. 
Bore the glad tidings of a world redeem'd." 

Much more, which now it suits not to rehearse, 
The princess heard. The historic prophet told 
Past, present, future, — things that since have been, 
And things that are to come. And, as he ceased, 
O'er the black river, and the desert plain, 
As o'er the close of counterfeited scenes, 



Shown by the buskin'd muse, a veil came down, 

Impervious ; and his figure faded swift 

In the dense gloom. But then, in starlike light, 

That awful symbol which adorn'd his brow 

In size dilating show'd : and up, still up, 

In its clear splendour still the same, though still 

Lessening, it mounted ; and Papantzix woke. 

She woke in darkness and in solitude. 
Slow pass'd her lethargy away, and long 
To her half-dreaming eye that brilliant sign 
Distinct appear'd. Then damp and close she felt 
The air around, and knew the poignant smell 
Of spicy herbs collected and confined. 
As those awakening from a troubled trance 
Are wont, she would have learn'd by touch if yet 
The spirit to the body was allied. 
Strange hindrances prevented. O'er her face 
A mask thick-plated lay : and round her swathed 
Was many a costly and encumbering robe, 
Such as she wore on some high festival, 
O'erspread with precious gems, rayless and cold, 
That now press'd hard and sharp against her touch. 
The cumbrous collar round her slender neck, 
Of gold, thick studded with each valued stone 
Earth and the sea-depths yield for human pride — 
The bracelets and the many twisted rings 
That girt her taper limbs, coil upon coil — 
What were they in this dungeon's solitude 1 
The plumy coronal that would have sprung 
Light from her fillet in the purer air, 
Waving in mockery of the rainbow tints, 
Now drooping low, and steep'd in clogging dews, 
Oppressive hung. Groping in dubious search, 
She found the household goods, the spindle, broom, 
Gicalli quaintly sculptured, and the jar 
That held the useless beverage for the dead. 
By these, and by the jewel to her lip 
Attach'd, the emerald symbol of the soul, 
In its green life immortal, soon she knew 
Her dwelling was a sepulchre. She loosed 
The mask, and from her feathery bier uprose, 
Casting away the robe, which like long alb 
Wrapp'd her ; and with it many an aloe leaf, 
Inscribed with Azteck characters and signs, 
To guide the spirit where the serpent hiss'd, 
Hills tower'd, and deserts spread, and keen winds 

blew, 
And many a " Flower of Death;" though their 

frail leaves 
Were yet unwither'd. For the living warmth 
Which in her dwelt, their freshness had preserved ; 
Else, if corruption had begun its work, 
The emblems of quick change would have survived 
Her beauty's semblance. What is beauty worth, 
If the cropp'd flower retains its tender bloom 
When foul decay has stolen the latest lines 
Of loveliness in death ] Yet even now 
Papaxtzix knew that her exuberant locks — 
Which, unconfined, had round her flow'd to earth, 
Like a stream rushing uown some rocky steep, 
Threading ten thousand channels — had been shorn 
Of half their waving length, — and liked it not. 

But through a crevice soon she mark'd a gleam 
Of rays uncertain ; and, with staggering steps, 
But strong in reckless dreaminess, while still 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



221 



Presided o'er the chaos of her thoughts 

The revelation that upon her soul 

Dwelt with its power, she gain'd the cavern's throat, 

And push'd the quarried stone aside, and stood 

In the free air, and in her own domain. 

But now, obscurely o'er her vision swam 
The beauteous landscape, with its thousand tints 
And changeful views ; long alleys of bright trees 
Bending beneath their fruits ; espaliers gay 
With tropic flowers and shrubs that fill'd the breeze 
With odorous incense, basins vast, where birds 
With shining plumage sported, smooth canals 
Leading the glassy wave, or towering grove 
Of forest veterans. On a rising bank, 
Her seat accustom'd, near a well hewn out 
From ancient rocks, into which waters gush'd 
From living springs, where she was wont to bathe, 
She threw herself to muse. Dim on her sight 
The imperial city and its causeways rose, 
With the broad lake and all its floating isles 
And glancing shallops, and the gilded pomp 
Of princely barges, canopied with plumes 
Spread fanlike, or with tufted pageantry 
Waving magnificent. Unmark'd around 
The frequent huitzilin, with murmuring hum 
Of ever-restless wing, and shrill, sweet note, 
Shot twinkling, with the ruby star that glow'd 
Over his tiny bosom, and all hues 
That loveliest seem in heaven, with ceaseless change, 
Flashing from his fine films. And all in vain 
Untiring, from the rustling branches near, 
Pour'd the centzontli all his hundred strains 
Of imitative melody. Not now 
She heeded them. Yet pleasant was the shade 
Of palms and cedars ; and through twining boughs 
And fluttering leaves, the subtle god of air, 
The serpent arm'd with plumes, most welcome crept, 
And fann'd her cheek with kindest ministry. 

A dull and dismal sound came booming on ; 
A solemn, wild, and melancholy noise, 
Shaking the tranquil air ; and afterward 
A clash and jangling, barbarously prolonged, 
Torturing the unwilling ear, rang dissonant. 
Again the unnatural thunder roll'd along, 
Again the crash and clamour followed it. 
Shuddering she heard, who knew that every peal 
From the dread gong announced a victim's heart 
Torn from his breast, and each triumphant clang, 
A mangled corse, down the great temple's stairs 
Hurl'd headlong ; and she knew, as lately taught, 
How vengeance was ordain'd for cruelty ; 
How pride would end ; and uncouth soldiers tread 
Through bloody furrows o'er her pleasant groves 
And gardens ; and would make themselves a road 
Over the dead, choking the silver lake, 
And cast the batter'd idols down the steps 
That climb'd their execrable towers, and raze 
Sheer from the ground Ahlttzol's mighty pile. 

There had been wail for her in Mexico, 
And with due rites and royal obsequies, 
Not without blood at devilish altars shed, 
She had been number'd with her ancestry. 
Here when beheld, revisiting the light, 
Great marvel rose, and greater terror grew, 
Until the kings came trembling, to receive 



The foreshown tidings. To his house of wo 
Silent and mournful, Moteuczoma went. 

Few years had pass'd, when by the rabble hands 
Of his own subjects, in ignoble bonds 
He fell ; and on a hasty gibbet rear d 
By the road-side, with scorn and obloquy 
The brave and gracious Guatemotzix hung; 
While to Honduras, thirsting for revenge, 
And gloomier after all his victories, 
Stern Cortes stalked. Such was the will of God. 

And then, with holier rites and sacred pomp, 
Again committed to the peaceful grave, 
Papaxtzix slept in consecrated earth. 



, MONODY ON SAMUEL PATCH.* 

By water shall he die, and take his end.— Shakspeaee. 

Toll for Sax Patch ! Sam Patch, who jumps 
no more, 

This or the world to come. Sam Patch is dead ! 
The vulgar pathway to the unknown shore 

Of dark futurity, he would not tread. 

No friends stood sorrowing round his dying bed ; 
Nor with decorous wo, sedately stepp'd 

Behind his corpse, and tears by retail shed ; — 
The mighty river, as it onward swept, 
In one great, wholesale sob, his body drown'd and 
kept. 

Toll for Sam Patch ! he scorn'd the common way 
That leads to fame, up heights of rough ascent, 

And having heard Pope and Loxgixus say, 
That some great men had risen to falls, he went 
And jump'd, where wild Passaic's waves had rent 

The antique rocks ; — the air free passage gave, — 
And graciously the liquid element 

Upbore him, like some sea-god on its wave ; 

And all the people said that Sam was very brave. 

Fame, the clear spirit that doth to heaven upraise, 

Led Sam to dive into what Bxitox calls 
The hell of waters. For the sake of praise, 

He woo'd the bathos down great waterfalls ; 

The dizzy precipice, which the eye appals 
Of travellers for pleasure, Samuel found 

Pleasant, as are to women lighted halls, 
Cramm'd full of fools and fiddles ; to the sound 
Of the eternal roar, he timed his desperate bound. 

Sam was a fool. But the large world of such 
Has thousands — better taught, alike absurd, 

And less sublime. Of fame he soon got much, 
Where distant cataracts spout, of him men heard. 

* Samuel Patch was a boatman on the Erie Canal, in 
New York. He made himself notorious by leaping from 
the masts of ships, from the Falls of Niagara, and from 
the Falls in the Genesee River, at Rochester. His last 
feat was in the summer of 1S31, when, in the presence 
of many thousands, he jumped from above the highest 
rock over which the water falls in the Genesee, and was 
lost. He had become intoxicated, before going upon the 
scaffold, and lost his balance in descending. The above 
verses were written a few days after this event. 
t2 



222 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



Alas for Sam ! Had he aright preferr'd 
The kindly element, to which he gave 

Himself so fearlessly, we had not heard 
That it was now his winding-sheet and grave, 
Nor sung, 'twixt tears and smiles, our requiem for 
the brave. 

He soon got drunk, with rum and with renown, 
As many others in high places do ; — 

Whose fall is like Sam's last — for down and down, 
By one mad impulse driven, they flounder through 
The gulf that keeps the future from our view, 

And then are found not. May they rest in peace ! 
We heave the sigh to human frailty due — 

And shall not S am have his 1 The muse shall cease 

To keep the heroic roll, which she began in Greece — 

With demigods, who went to the Black Sea 
For wool, (and, if the best accounts be straight, 

Came back, in negro phraseology, 

With the same wool each upon his pate,) 
In which she chronicled the deathless fate 

Of him who jump'd into the perilous ditch 

Left by Rome's street commissioners, in a state 

Which made it dangerous, and by jumping which 

He made himself renown'd, and the contractors 
rich — 

I say, the muse shall quite forget to sound 
The chord whose music is undying, if 

She do not strike it when Sam Patch is drown'd. 
Leander dived for love. Leucadia's cliff 
The Lesbian Sappho leap'd from in a miff, 

To punish Phaox ; Icarus went dead, 
Because the wax did not continue stiff; 

And, had he minded what his father said, 

He had not given a name unto his watery bed. 

And Helle's case was all an accident, 

As everybody knows. Why sing of these 1 

Nor would I rank with Sam that man who went 
Down into ^Etna's womb — Empedocles, 
I think he call'd himself. Themselves to please, 

Or else unwillingly, they made their springs ; 
For glory in the abstract, Sam made his, 

To prove to all men, commons, lords, and kings, 

That " some things may be done, as well as other 
things." 

I will not be fatigued, by citing more 

Who jump'd of old, by hazard or design, 

Nor plague the weary ghosts of boyish lore, 
Vulcan, Apollo, Phaeton — in fine, 
All Tooke's Pantheon. Yet they grew divine 

By their long tumbles ; and if we can match 
Their hierarchy, shall we not entwine 

One wreath 1 Who ever came " up to the scratch," 

And, for so little, jump'd so bravely as Sam Patch 1 

To long conclusions many men have jump'd 

In logic, and the safer course they took ; 
By any other, they would have been stump'd, 

Unable to argue, or to quote a book, [brook ; 

And quite dumb-founded, which they cannot 
They break no bones, and suffer no contusion, 

Hiding their woful fall, by hook and crook, 
In slang and gibberish, sputtering and confusion ; 
B ut that was not the way Sam came to his conclusion. 



He jump'd in person. Death or Victory 

Was his device, " and there was no mistake," 
Except his last ; and then he did but die, 

A blunder which the wisest men will make. 

Aloft, where mighty floods the mountains break, 
To stand, the target of ten thousand eyes, 

And down into the coil and water-quake 
To leap, like Maia's offspring, from the skies — 
For this, all vulgar flights he ventured to despise. 

And while Niagara prolongs its thunder, 

Though still the rock primeval disappears, 
And nations change their bounds — the theme of 
wonder 

Shall Sam go down the cataract of long years ; 

And if there be sublimity in tears, 
Those shall be precious which the adventurer shed 

When his frail star gave way, and waked his fears 
Lest by the ungenerous crowd it might be said, 
That he was all a hoax, or that his pluck had fled. 

Who would compare the maudlin Alexander, 

Blubbering, because he had no job in hand, 
Acting the hypocrite, or else the gander, 

With Sam, whose grief we all can understand 1 ? 

His crying was not womanish, nor plann'd 
For exhibition ; but his heart o'erswell'd 

With its own agony, when he the grand 
Natural arrangements for a jump beheld, 
And, measuring the cascade, found not his courage 
quell'd. 

His last great failure set the final seal 
Unto the record Time shall never tear, 

While bravery has its honour, — while men feel 
The holy, natural sympathies which are 
First, last, and mightiest in the bosom. Where 

The tortured tides of Genessee descend, 
He came — his only intimate a bear, — 

(We know not that he had another friend,) 

The martyr of renown, his wayward course to end. 

The fiend that from the infernal rivers stole 

Hell-draughts for man, too much tormented him . 
With nerves unstrung, but steadfast in his soul, 

He stood upon the salient current's brim ; 

His head was giddy, and his sight was dim ; 
And then he knew this leap would be his last, — 

Saw air, and earth, and water wildly swim, 
With eyes of many multitudes, dense and vast, 
That stared in mockery ; none a look of kindness 
cast. 

Beat down, in the huge amphitheatre 
« I see before me the gladiator lie," 

And tier on tier, the myriads waiting there 
The bow of grace, without one pitying eye- 
He was a slave — a captive hired to die ; — 

Sam was born free as Cjesar ; and he might 
The hopeless issue have refused to try ; 

No ! with true leap, but soon with faltering flight,- 

" Deep in the roaring gulf, he plunged to endless 
night." 

But, ere he leap'd, he begg'd of those who made 
Money by his dread venture, that if he 

Should perish, such collection should be paid 
As might be pick'd up from the " company" 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



223 



To his mother. This, his last request, shall be, — 
Though she who bore him ne'er his fate should 

An iris, glittering o'er his memory, [know — 
When all the streams have worn their barriers low, 
And, by the sea drunk up, forever cease to flow. 

On him who chooses to jump down cataracts, 

Why should the sternest moralist be severe 1 
Judge not the dead by prejudice — but facts, 

Such as in strictest evidence appear ; 

Else were the laurels of all ages sere. 
Give to the brave, who have pass'd the final goal, — 

The gates that ope not back, — the generous tear ; 
And let the muse's clerk upon her scroll, [roll. 
In coarse, but honest verse, make up the judgment- 

Therefore it is consider'd, that Sa^i Patch 
Shall never be forgot in prose or rhyme ; 

His name shall be a portion in the batch 
Of the heroic dough, which baking Time 
Kneads for consuming ages — and the chime 

Of Fame's old bells, long as they truly ring, 
Shall tell of him ; he dived for the sublime, 

And found it. Thou, who with the eagle's wing, 

Being a goose, wouldst fly, — dream not of such a 
thing ! 



EVENING.* 

Hail ! sober evening ! thee the harass'd brain 
And aching heart with fond orisons greet ; 
The respite thou of toil ; the balm of pain ; 
To thoughtful mind the hour for musing meet : 
'Tis then the sage, from forth his lone retreat, 
The rolling universe around espies ; 
'Tis then the bard may hold communion sweet 
With lovely shapes, unkenn'd by grosser eyes, 
And quick perception comes of finer mysteries. 

The silent hour of bliss ! when in the west 
Her argent cresset lights the star of love : — 
The spiritual hour ! when creatures bless'd 
Unseen return o'er former haunts to rove ; 
While sleep his shadowy mantle spreads above, 
Sleep, brother of forgetfulness and death, 
Round well-known couch, with noiseless tread 

■ they rove, 
In tones of heavenly music comfort breathe, 
And tell what weal or bale shall chance the moon 
beneath. 

Hour of devotion ! like a distant sea, 
The world's loud voices faintly murmuring die ; 
Responsive to the spheral harmony, 
While gratefulhymns arebornefrom earth on high. 
O ! who can gaze on yon unsullied sky, 
And not grow purer from the heavenward view] 
As those, the Virgin Mother's meek, full eye, 
Who met, if uninspired lore be true, 
Felt a new birth within, and sin no longer knew. 

Let others hail the oriflamme of morn, 
O'er kindling hills unfurl'd with gorgeous dyes ! 
O, mild, blue Evening ! still to thee I turn, 
With holier thought, and with undazzled eyes ; — 



* From " Yamoyden.' 



Where wealth and power with glare and splen- 
dour rise, 

Let fools and slaves disgustful incense burn ! 

Still Memory's moonlight lustre let me prize ; 

The great, the good, whose course is o'er, discern, 
And, from their glories past, time's mighty lessons 
learn ! 



WEEHAWKEN. 

Eve o'er our path is stealing fast ; 
Yon quivering splendours are the last 
The sun will fling, to tremble o'er 
The waves that kiss the opposing shore ; 
His latest glories fringe the height 
Behind us, with their golden light. 

The mountain's mirror'd outline fades 
Amid the fast-extending shades ; 
Its shaggy bulk, in steimer pride, 
Towers, as the gloom steals o'er the tide; 
For the great stream a bulwark meet 
That leaves its rock-encumber'd feet. 

River and mountain ! though to song 
Not yet, perchance, your names belong ; 
Those who have loved your evening hues 
Will ask not the recording muse 
What antique tales she can relate, 
Your banks and steeps to consecrate. 

Yet, should the stranger ask, what lore 
Of by-gone days, this winding shore, 
Yon cliffs and fir-clad steeps could tell, 
If vocal made by Fancy's spell, — 
The varying legend might rehearse 
Fit themes for high, romantic verse. 

O'er yon rough heights and moss-clad sod 
Oft hath the stalworth warrior trod ; 
Or pcer'd, with hunter's gaze, to mark 
The progress of the glancing bark. 
Spoils, strangely won on distant waves, 
Have lurk'd in yon obstructed caves. 

When the great strife for Freedom rose, 
Here scouted oft her friends and foes, 
Alternate, through the changeful war, 
And beacon-fires flash'd bright and far ; 
And here, when Freedom's strife was won, 
Fell, in sad feud, her favour'd son ; — 

Her son, — the second of the band, 
The Romans of the rescued land. 
Where round yon capes the banks ascend, 
Long shall the pilgrim's footsteps bend ; 
There, mirthful hearts shall pause to sigh, 
There, tears shall dim the patriot's eye. 

There last he stood. Before his sight 
Flow'd the fair river, free and bright ; 
The rising mart, and isles, and bay, 
Before him in their glory lay, — 
Scenes of his love and of his fame, — 
The instant ere the death-shot came. 



224 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



THE GREEN ISLE OF LOVERS. 

They say that, afar in the land of the west, 
Where the bright golden sun sinks in glory to rest, 
Mid fens where the hunter ne'er ventured to tread, 
A fair lake unruffled and sparkling is spread ; 
Where, lost in his course, the rapt Indian discovers, 
In distance seen dimly, the green Isle of Lovers. 

There verdure fades never ; immortal in bloom, 
Soft waves the magnolia its groves of perfume ; 
And low bends the branch with rich fruitage de- 

press'd, 
All glowing like gems- in the crowns of the east; 
There the bright eye of nature, in mild glory hovers : 
'T is the land of the sunbeam, — the green Isle of 

Lovers ! 

Sweet strains wildly float on the breezes that kiss 
The calm-flowing lake round that region of bliss 
Where, wreathing their garlands of amaranth, fair 

choirs 
Glad measures still weave to the sound that inspires 
The dance and the revel, mid forests that cover 
On high with their shade the green Isle of the Lover. 

But fierce as the snake, with his eyeballs of fire, 
When his scales are all brilliant and glowingwith ire, 
Are the warriors to all, save the maids of their isle, 
Whose law is their will, and whose life is their smile ; 
From beauty there valour and strength are not 

rovers, 
And peace reigns supreme in the green Isle of 

Lovers. 

And he who has sought to set foot on its shore, 

In mazes perplex'd, has beheld it no more ; 

It fleets on the vision, deluding the view, 

Its banks still retire as the hunters pursue ; 

O ! who in this vain world of wo shall discover 

The home undisturb'd, the green Isle of the Lover! 



THE DEAD OF 1832. 

0, Toie and Death ! with certain pace, 
Though still unequal, hurrying on, 

O'erturning, in your awful race, 
The cot, the palace, and the throne ! 

Not always in the storm of war, 
Nor by the pestilence that sweeps 

From the plague-smitten realms afar, 
Beyond the old and solemn deeps : 

In crowds the good and mighty go, 
And to those vast, dim chambers hie : 

Where, mingled with the high and low, 
Dead Cesars and dead Shakspeares lie ! 

Dread ministers of God ! sometimes 

Ye smite at once to do his will, 
In all earth's ocean-sever'd climes, 

Those — whose renown ye cannot kill ! 



When all the brightest stars that burn 
At once are banish'd from their spheres, 

Men sadly ask, when shall return 
Such lustre to the coming years ! 

For where is he* — who lived so long — 
Who raised the modern Titan's ghost, 

And show'd his fate in powerful song, 
Whose soul for learning's sake was lost 7 

Where he — who backward to the birth 
Of Time itself, adventurous trod, 

And in the mingled mass of earth 
Found out the handiwork of God Ij- 

Where he — who in the mortal head,+ 
Ordain'd to gaze on heaven, could trace 

The soul's vast features, that shall tread 
The stars, when earth is nothingness 1 

Where he — who struck old Albyn's lyre,§ 
Till round the world its echoes roll, 

And swept, with all a prophet's fire, 
The diapason of the soul 1 

Where he — who read the mystic lore|| 
Buried where buried Pharaohs sleep ; 

And dared presumptuous to explore 

Secrets four thousand years could keep ? 

Where he — who, with a poet's eye| 
Of truth, on lowly nature gazed, 

And made even sordid Poverty 

Classic, when in his numbers glazed ? 

Where — that old sage so hale and staid,** 
The « greatest good" who sought to find ; 

Who in his garden mused, and made 
All forms of rule for all mankind 1 

And thou — whom millions far removedf-j- 
Revered — the hierarch meek and wise, 

Thy ashes sleep, adored, beloved, 

Near where thy Wesley's coffin lies. 

He, too — the heir of glory — where+t 
Hath great Napoleon's scion fled ] 

Ah ! glory goes not to an heir ! 
Take him, ye noble, vulgar dead ! 

But hark ! a nation sighs ! for he,§§ 
Last of the brave who perill'd all 

To make an infant empire free, 
Obeys the inevitable call ! 

They go — and with them is a crowd, 
For human rights who thought and did : 

We rear to them no temples proud, 
Each hath his mental pyramid. 

All earth is now their sepulchre, 

The mind, their monument sublime — 

Young in eternal fame they are — 

Such are your triumphs, Death and Time. 



* Goethe and his Faust. 

% Spurzheim. 

|| Champollion. 

** Jeremy Bentham. 

tt The Duke of Reichstadt. 



t Cuvier. 

$ Scott. 

TT Crabbe. 

ft Adam Clarke. 

$$ Charles Carroll. 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



225 



PARTING. 

Sat, when afar from mine thy home shall be, 
Still will thy soul unchanging turn to me 1 
When other scenes in beauty round thee lie, 
Will these be present to thy mental eye 1 
Thy form, thy mind, when others fondly praise, 
Wilt thou forget thy poet's humbler lays 1 
Ah me ! what is there, in earth's various range, 
That time and absence may not sadly change ! 
And can the heart, that still demands new ties, 
New thoughts, for all its thousand sympathies — 
The waxen heart, where every seal may set, 
In turn, its stamp — remain unalter'd yet, 
While nature changes with each fleeting day, 
And seasons dance their varying course away? 
Ah ! shouldst thou swerve from truth, all else must 

part, 
That yet can feed with life this wither'd heart ! 
Whate'er its doubts, its hopes, its fears may be, 
'T were, even in madness, faithful still to thee ; 
And shouldst thou snap that silver chord in twain, 
The golden bowl no other links sustain ; 
Crush'd in the dust, its fragments then must sink, 
And the cold earth its latest life-drops drink. 
Blame not, if oft, in melancholy mood, 
This theme, too far, sick fancy hath pursued ; 
And if the soul, which high with hope should beat, 
Turns to the gloomy grave's unbless'd retreat. 

Majestic nature ! since thy course began, 
Thy features wear no sympathy for man ; 
The sun smiles loveliest on our darkest hours ; 
O'er the cold grave fresh spring the sweetest flowers, 
And man himself, in selfish sorrows bound, 
Heeds not the melancholy ruin round. 
The crowd's vain roar still fills the passing breeze 
That bends above the tomb the cypress-trees. 
One only heart, still true in joy or wo, 
Is all the kindest fates can e'er bestow. 
If frowning Heaven that heart refuse to give, 
O, who would ask the ungracious boon — to live 1 
Then better 'twere, if longer doom'd to prove 
The listless load of life, unbless'd with love, 
To seek midst ocean's waste some island fair, — 
And dwell, the anchorite of nature, there ; — 
Some lonely isle, upon whose rocky shore 
No sound, save curlew's scream, or billow's roar, 
Hath echoed ever ; in whose central woods, 
With the quick spirit of its solitudes, 
In converse deep, strange sympathies untried, 
The soul might find, which this vain world denied. 

But I will trust that heart, where truth alone, 
In loveliest guise, sits radiant on her throne ; 
And thus believing, fear not all the power 
Of absence drear, or time's most tedious hour. 
If e'er I sigh to win the wreaths of fame, 
And write on memory's scroll a deathless name, 
'Tis but thy loved, approving smile to meet, 
And lay the budding laurels at thy feet. 
If e'er for worldly wealth I heave a sigh, 
And glittering visions float on fancy's eye, 
*T is but with rosy wreaths thy path to spread, 
And place the diadem on beauty's head. 
Queen of my thoughts, each subject to thy sway, 
Thy ruling presence lives but to obey ; 
29 



And shouldst thou e'er their bless'd allegiance slight, 
The mind must wander, lost in endless night. 
Farewell ! forget me not, when others gaze 
Enamour'd on thee, with the looks of praise ; 
When weary leagues before my view are cast, 
And each dull hour seems heavier than the last, 
Forget me not. May joy thy steps attend, 
And mayst thou find in every form a friend ; 
With care unsullied be thy every thought ; 
And in thy dreams of home, forget me not ! 



CONCLUSION TO YAMOYDEN. 

Sad was the theme, which yet to try we chose, 
In pleasant moments of communion sweet ; 
When least we thought of earth's unvarnish'd 

woes, 
And least we dream'd, in fancy's fond deceit, 
That either the cold grasp of death should meet, 
Till after many years, in ripe old age ; 
Three little summers flew on pinions fleet, 
And thou art living but in memory's page, 
And earth seems all to me a worthless pilgrimage. 

Sad was our theme ; but well the wise man sung, 
" Better than festal halls, the house of wo ;" 
'Tis good to stand destruction's spoils among, 
And muse on that sad bourne to which we go. 
The heart grows better when tears freely flow ; 
And, in the many-colour'd dream of earth, 
One stolen hour, wherein ourselves we know, 
Our weakness and our vanity, — is worth 

Years of unmeaning smiles, and lewd, obstrepe- 
rous mirth. 
'Tis good to muse on nations pass'd away, 
Forever, from the land we call our own ; 
Nations, as proud and mighty in their day, 
Who deem'd that everlasting was their throne. 
An age went by, and they no more were known 
Sublimer sadness will the mind control, 
Listening time's deep and melancholy moan ; 
And meaner griefs will less disturb the soul ; 

And human pride falls low, at human grandeur's 
goal. 
Philip ! farewell! thee King, in idle jest, 
Thy persecutors named ; and if indeed, 
The jewell'd diadem thy front had press'd, 
It had become thee better, than the breed 
Of palaces, to sceptres that succeed, 
To be of courtier or of priest the tool, 
Satiate dull sense, or count the frequent bead, 
Or pamper gormand hunger ; thou wouldst rule 

Better than the worn rake, the glutton, or the fool ! 

I would not wrong thy warrior shade, could I 
Aught in my verse or make or mar thy fame ; 
As the light carol of a bird flown by [name : 
Will pass the youthful strain that breathed thy 
But in that land whence thy destroyers came, 
A sacred bard thy champion shall be found ; 
He of the laureate wreath for thee shall claim 
The hero's honours, to earth's farthest bound, 
Where Albion's tongue is heard, or Albion's songs 
resound. 



226 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



INVOCATION. 

Oh quick for me the goblet fill, 
From bright Castalia's sparkling rill ; 
Pluck the young laurel's flexile bough, 
And let its foliage wreathe my brow ; 
And bring the lyre with sounding shell, 
The four-string'd lyre I loved so well ! 

Lo ! as I gaze, the picture flies 
Of weary life's realities ; 
Behold the shade, the wild wood shade, 
The mountain steeps, the checker'd glade; 
And hoary rocks and bubbling rills, 
And painted waves and distant hills. 
Oh ! for an hour, let me forget 
How much of life is left me yet ; 
Recall the visions of the past, 
Fair as these tints that cannot last, 
That all the heavens and waters o'er 
Their gorgeous, transient glories pour. 

Ye pastoral scenes, by fancy wrought ! 
Ye pageants of the loftier thought ! 
Creations proud ! majestic things ! 
Heroes, and demigods, and kings ! 
Return, with all of shepherds' lore, 
Or oJd romance that pleased before ! 
Ye forms that are not of the earth, 
Of grace, of valour, and of worth ! 
Ye bright abstractions, by the thought 
Like the great master's pictures, wrought 
To the ideal's shadowy mien, 
From beauties fancied, dreamt or seen ! 

Ye speaking sounds, that poet's ear 
Alone in nature's voice can hear ! 
Thou full conception, vast and wide, 
Hour of the lonely minstrel's pride, 
As when projection gave of old 
Alchymy's visionary gold ! 

Return ! return ! oblivion bring 

Of cares that vex, and thoughts that sting ! 

The hour of gloom is o'er my soul ; 

Disperse the shades, the fiends control, 

As David's harp had power to do, 

If sacred chronicles be true. 

Oh come ! by every classic spell, 

By old Pieria's haunted well ; 

By revels on the Olmeian height 

Held in the moon's i*eligious liirht; 

By virgin forms that wont to lave, 

Permessus ! in thy lucid wave ! 

In vain ! in vain ! the strain has pass'd ; 
The laurel leaves upon the bkst 
Float, wither'd, ne'er again to bloom, 
The cup is drain'd — the song is dumb — 
And spell and rhyme alike in vain 
Would woo the genial muse ao-ain. 



GOOD-NIGHT. 

Good night to all the world ! there's none, 
Beneath the " over-going" sun, 
To whom I feel or hate or spite, 
And so to all a fair good-night. 



Would I could say good night to pain, 
Good night to conscience and her train, 
To cheerless poverty, and shame 
That I am yet unknown to fame ! 

Would I could say good night to dreams 
That haunt me with delusive gleams, 
That through the sable future's veil 
Like meteors glimmer, but to fail. 

Would I could say a long good-night 
To halting between wrong and right, 
And, like a giant with new force, 
Awake prepared to run my course ! 

But time o'er good and ill sweeps on, 
And when few years have come and gone, 
The past will be to me as naught, 
Whether remember'd or forgot. 

Yet let me hope one faithful friend, 
O'er my last couch shall tearful bend ; 
And, though no day for me was bright, 
Shall bid me then a long good-night. 



FROM A MONODY ON J. W. EASTBURN. 

But now, that cherish'd voice was near ; 

And all around yet breathes of him ; — 
We look, and we can only hear 

The parting wings of cherubim ! 
Mourn ye, whom haply nature taught 

To share the bard's communion high ; 
To scan the ideal world of thought, 

That floats before the poet's eye ; — 
Ye, who with ears o'ersated long, 

From native bards disgusted fly, 
Expecting only, in their song, 

The ribald strains of calumny ; — 
Mourn ye a minstrel chaste as sweet, 

Who caught from heaven no doubtful fire, 
But chose immortal themes as meet 

Alone for an immortal lyre. 
silent shell ! thy chords are riven ! 

That heart lies cold before its prime ! 
Mute are those lips, that might have given 

One deathless descant to our clime ! 
No laurel chaplct twines he now ; 

He sweeps a harp of heavenly tone, 
And plucks the amaranth for his brow 

That springs beside the eternal throne. 
Mourn ye, whom friendship's silver chain 

Link'd with his soul in bonds refined ; 
That earth had striven to burst in vain, — 

The sacred sympathy of mind. 
Still long that sympathy shall last : 

Still shall each object, like a spell, 
Recall from fate the buried past, 

Present the mind beloved so well. 
That pure intelligence — Oh where 

Now is its onward progress won ? 
Through what new regions docs it dare 

Push the bold quest on earth begun 1 
In realms with boundless glory fraught, 

Where fancy can no trophies raise — 
In blissful vision, where the thought 

Is whelm'd in wonder and in praise ! 



ROBERT C. SANDS. 



227 



Till life's last pulse, O triply dear, 
A loftier strain is due to thee ; 

But constant memory's votive tear 
Thy sacred epitaph must be. 



TO THE MANITTO OF DREAMS. 

Spirit ! thou Spirit of subtlest air, 

Whose power is upon the brain, 
When wondrous shapes, and dread and fair, 

As the film from the eyes 

At thy bidding flies, 
To sight and sense are plain ! 

Thy whisper creeps where leaves are stirr'd ; 

Thou sighest in woodland gale ; 
Where waters are gushing thy voice is heard ; 

And when stars are bright, 

At still midnight, 
Thy symphonies prevail ! 

Where the forest ocean, in quick commotion, 

Is waving to and fro, 
Thy form is seen, in the masses green, 

Dimly to come and go. 
From thy covert peeping, where thou lay est sleeping 

Beside the brawling brook, 
Thou art seen to wake, and thy flight to take 

Fleet from thy lonely nook. 

Where the moonbeam has kiss'd 

The sparkling tide, 

In thy mantle of mist 

Thou art seen to glide. 

Far o'er the blue waters 

Melting away, 

On the distant billow, 

As on a pillow, 

Thy form to lay. 

Where the small clouds of even 

Are wreathing in heaven 

Their garland of roses, 

O'er the purple and gold, 

Whose hangings enfold 

The hall that encloses 

The couch of the sun, 

Whose empire is done, — 

There thou art smiling, 

For thy sway is begun : 

Thy shadowy sway, 

The senses beguiling, 

When the light fades away, 
And thy vapour of mystery o'er nature ascending, 

The heaven and the earth, 

The things that have birth, 
And the embryos that float in the future are blending. 

From the land, on whose shores the billows break 
The sounding waves of the mighty lake ; 
From the land where boundless meadows be. 
Where the buffalo ranges wild and free ; 
With silvery coat in his little isle, 
Where the beaver plies his ceaseless toil ; 
The land where pigmy forms abide, 
Thou leadest thy train at the eventide ; 



And the wings of the wind are left behind, 
So swift through the pathless air they glide. 

Then to the chief who has fasted long, 
When the chains of his slumber are heavy and strong 
Spirit ! thou comest ; he lies as dead, 
His weary lids are with heaviness weigh'd ; 
But his soul is abroad on the hurricane's pinion, 
Where foes are met in the rush of fight, 
In the shadowy world of thy dominion 
Conquering and slaying, till morning fight! 

Then shall the hunter who waits for thee, 
The land of the game rejoicing see ; 
Through the leafless wood, 
O'er the frozen flood, 
And the trackless snows his spirit goes, 
Along the sheeted plain, 
Where the hermit bear, in Ins sullen lair, 
Keeps his long fast, till the winter hath pass'd 
And the boughs have budded again. 
Spirit of dreaxs ! all thy visions are true, 
Who the shadow hath seen, he the substance shall 
view ! 

Thine the riddle, strange and dark, 
Woven in the dreamy brain : — 
Thine to yield the power to mark 
Wandering by, the dusky train ; 
Warrior ghosts for vengeance crying, 
Scalped on the lost battle's plain, 
Or who died their foes defying, 
Slow by lingering tortures slain. 

Thou, the war-chief hovering near, 
Breathest language on his ear; 
When his winged words depart, 
Swift as arrows to the heart ; 
When his eye the lightning leaves; 
When each valiant bosom heaves ; 
Through the veins when hot and glowing 
Rage like liquid fire is flowing ; 
Round and round the war pole whirling, 
Furious when the dancers grow ; 
When the maces swift are hurling 
Promised vengeance on the foe ■ 
Thine assurance, Spirit true ! 
Glorious victory gives to view ! 

When of thought and strength despoil' d, 

Lies the brave man like a child ; 

When discolour'd visions fly, 

Painful o'er his glazing eye, 

And wishes wild through his darkness rove, 

Like flitting wings through the tangled grove, — 

Thine is the wish ; the vision thine, 

And thy visits, Spirit ! are all divine ! 

When the dizzy senses spin, 

And the brain is madly reeling, 

Like the P6w-wah, when first within 

The present spirit feeling ; 

When rays are flashing athwart the gloom, 

Like the dancing lights of the northern heaven. 

When voices strange of tumult come 

On the ear, like the roar of battle driven, — 

The Initiate then shall thy wonders see, 

And thy priest, O Spirit '. is full of thee ' 



WILLIAM B. 


0. PEABODY. 




[Born, 1799. 


Died, 1847.] 




WntiAM B. 0. Peabody was born at Exeter, 


Massachusetts, where he resided until his death, 




New Hampshire, on the ninth of July, 1799 ; was 


on the twenty-eighth of May, 1847. He was a 




graduated at Cambridge in 1816 ; and in 1820 be- 


voluminous and elegant writer in theology, natural 




came pastor of a Unitarian Society in Springfield, 


history, literary and historical criticism, and poetry 




HYMN OF NATURE. 


For every fire that fronts the sun, 







And every spark that walks alone 




God of the earth's extended plains ! 


Around the utmost verge of heaven, 




The dark, green fields contented lie ; 


Were kindled at thy burning throne. 




The mountains rise like holy towers, 






Where man might commune with the sky ; 


God of the world ! the hour must come, 




The tall cliff challenges the storm 


And nature's self to dust return ; 




That lowers upon the vale below, 


Her crumbling altars must decay ; 




Where shaded fountains send their streams, 


Her incense fires shall cease to burn ; 




With joyous music in their flow. 


But still her grand and lovely scenes 

Have made man's warmest praises flow ; 




God of the dark and heavy deep ! 


For hearts grow holier as they trace 




The waves lie sleeping on the sands, 


The beauty of the world below. 




Till the fierce trumpet of the storm 






Hath summon' d up their thundering bands ; 
Then the white sails are dash'd like foam, 










Or hurry, trembling, o'er the seas, 


TO WILLIAM. 




Till, calm'd by thee, the sinking gale 






Serenely breathes, Depart in peace. 


WRITTEN BY A BEREAVED FATHER. 




God of the forest's solemn shade ! 


It seems but yesterday, my love, 




The grandeur of the lonely tree, 


Thy little heart beat high ; 




That wrestles singly with the gale, 


And I had almost scorn'd the voice 




Lifts up admiring eyes to thee ; 


That told me thou must die. 




But more majestic far they stand, 


I saw thee move with active bound, 




When, side by side, their ranks they form, 


With spirits wild and free ; 




To wave on high their plumes of green, 


And infant grace and beauty gave 




And fight their battles with the storm. 


Their glorious charm to thee. 




God of the light and viewless air! 


Far on the sunny plains, I saw 




Where summer breezes sweetly flow, 


Thy sparkling footsteps fly, 




Or, gathering in their angry might, 


Firm, light, and graceful, as the bird 




The fierce and wintry tempests blow; 


That cleaves the morning sky; 




All — from the evening's plaintive sigh, 


And often, as the playful breeze 




That hardly lifts the drooping flower, 


Waved back thy shining hair, 




To the wild whirlwind's midnight cry, 


Thy cheek display'd the red rose-tint 




Breathe forth the language of thy power. 


That health had painted there. 




God of the fair and open sky ! 


And then, in all my thoughtfulness, 




How gloriously above us springs 


I could not but rejoice 




The tented dome, of heavenly blue, 


To hear, upon the morning wind, 




Suspended on the rainbow's rings ! 


The music of thy voice, — 




Each brilliant star, that sparkles through, 


Now, echoing in the rapturous laugh, 




Each gilded cloud, that wanders free 


Now sad, almost to tears, 




In evening's purple radiance, gives 


'Twas like the sounds I used to hear, 




The beauty of its praise to thee. 


In old and happier years. 




God of the rolling orbs above ! 


Thanks for that memory to thee, 




Thy name is written clearly bright 


My little, lovely boy, — 




In the warm day's unvarying blaze, 


That memory of my youthful bliss, 




Or evening's golden shower of light. 


Which time would fain destroy. 

228 





W. B. 0. PEABODY. 229 


I listen'd, as the mariner 


With trembling hand, I vainly tried 


Suspends the out-bound oar, 


Thy dying eyes to close ; 


To taste the farewell gale that breathes 


And almost envied, in that hour, 


From off his native shore. 


Thy calm and deep repose ; 




For I was left in loneliness, 


So gentle in thy loveliness ! — 


With pain and grief oppress'd, 


Alas ! how could it be, 


And thou wast with the sainted, 


That death would not forbear to lay 


Where the weary are at rest. 


His icy hand on thee ; 




Nor spare thee yet a little while, 


Yes, I am sad and weary now ; 


In childhood's opening bloom, 


But let me not repine, 


While many a sad and weary soul 


Because a spirit, loved so well, 


Was longing for the tomb ! 


Is earlier bless'd than mine ; 




My faith may darken as it will, 


Was mine a happiness too pure 


I shall not much deplore, 


For erring man to know? 


Since thou art where the ills of life 


Or why did Heaven so soon destroy 


Can never reach thee more. 


My paradise below? 




Enchanting as the vision was, 
It sunk away as soon 






As when, in quick and cold eclipse, 


MONADNOCK. 


The sun grows dark at noon. 







Upo^ the far-off mountain's brow 


I loved thee, and my heart was bless'd ; 


The angry storm has ceased to beat ; 


But, ere the day was spent, 
I saw thy light and graceful form 


And broken clouds are gathering now 
In sullen reverence round his feet ; 


In drooping illness bent, 


I saw their dark and crowded bands 


And shudder'd as I cast a look 


In thunder on his breast descending; 


Upon thy fainting head ; 
The mournful cloud was gathering there, 
And life was almost fled. 


But there once more redeem'd he stands, 

And heaven's clear arch is o'er him bending. 


Days pass'd ; and soon the seal of death 
Made known that hope was vain ; 


I've seen him when the morning sun 
Burn'd like a bale-fire on the height; 

I 've seen him when the day was done, 
Bathed in the evening's crimson light. 


I knew the swiftly-wasting lamp 


Would never burn again ; 


I 've seen him at the midnight hour, 


The cheek was pale ; the snowy lips 
Were gently thrown apart ; 

And life, in every passing breath, 
Seem'd gushing from the heart. 


When all the world were calmly sleeping, 
Like some stern sentry in his tower, 
His weary watch in silence keeping. 


I knew those marble lips to mine 


And there, forever firm and clear, 


Should never more be press'd, 


His lofty turret upward springs ; 


And floods of feeling, undefined, 


He owns no rival summit near, 


Roll'd wildly o'er my breast ; 
Low, stifled sounds, and dusky forms 


No sovereign but the King of kings. 


Thousands of nations have pass'd by, 


Seem'd moving in the gloom, 


Thousands of years unknown to story, 


As if death's dark array were come, 


And still his aged walls on high 


To bear thee to the tomb. 


He rears, in melancholy glory. 


And when I could not keep the tear 


The proudest works of human hands 


From gathering in my eye, 


Live but an age before they fall ; 


Thy little hand press'd gently mine, 


While that severe and hoary tower 


In token of reply ; 


Outlasts the mightiest of th?rp all. 


To ask one more exchange of love, 


And man himself, more frail, by far, 


Thy look was upward cast, 


Than even the works his hand is raising, 


And in that long and burning kiss 


Sinks downward, like the falling star 


Thy happy spirit pass'd. 


That flashes, and expires in blazing. 


I never trusted to have lived 


And all the treasures of the heart, 


To bid farewell to thee, 


Its loves and sorrows, joys and fears, 


And almost said, in agony, 


Its hopes and memories, must depart 


It ought not so to be ; 


To sleep with unremember'd years. 


I hoped that thou within the grave 


But still that ancient rampart stands 


My weary head shouldst lay, 


Unchanged, though years are passing o'er him; 


And live, beloved, when I was gone, 


And time withdraws his powerless hands, 


For many a happy day. 


While ages melt away before him. 
TT 



230 



W. B. O. PEABODY. 



So should it be — for no heart beats 

Within his cold and silent breast ; 
To him no gentle voice repeats 

The soothing words that make us blest. 
And more than this — his deep repose 

Is troubled by no thoughts of sorrow ; 
He hath no weary eyes to close, 

No cause to hope or fear to-morrow. 

Farewell ! I go my distant way ; 

Perchance, in some succeeding years, 
The eyes that know no cloud to-day, 

May gaze upon thee dim with tears. 
Then may thy calm, unaltering form 

Inspire in me the firm endeavour — 
Like thee, to meet each lowering storm, 

Till life and sorrow end forever. 



THE WINTER NIGHT. 

'T is the high festival of night ! 
The earth is radiant with delight ; 
And, fast as weary day retnes, 
The heaven unfolds its secret fires, 
Bright, as when first the firmament 
Around the new-made world was bent, 
And infant seraphs pierced the blue, 
Till rays of heaven came shining through. 

And mark the heaven's reflected glow 

On many an icy plain below ; 

And where the streams, with tinkling clash, 

Against their frozen barriers dash, 

Like fairy lances fleetly cast, 

The glittering ripples hurry past ; 

And floating sparkles glance afar, 

Like rivals of some upper star. 

And see, beyond, how sweetly still 
The snowy moonlight wraps the hill, 
And many an aged pine receives 
The steady brightness on its leaves, 
Contrasting with those giant forms, 
Which, rifled by the winter storms, 
With naked branches, broad and high, 
Are darkly painted on the sky. 

From every mountain's towering head 
A white and glistening robe is spread, 
As if a melted silver tide 
Were gushing down its lofty side ; 
The clear, cold lustre of the moon 
Is purer t'uan the burning noon ; 
And day hath never known the charm 
That dwells amid this evening calm. 

The idler, on his silken bed, 

May talk of nature, cold and dead ; 

But we will gaze upon this scene, 

Where some transcendent power hath been, 

And made these streams of beauty flow 

In gladness on the world below, 

Till nature breathes from every part 

The rapture of her mighty heart. 



DEATH. 

Lift high the curtain's drooping fold. 

And let the evening sunlight in ; 
I would not that my heart grew cold 

Before its better years begin. 
'T is well ; at such an early hour, 

So calm and pure, a sinking ray 
Should shine into the heart, with power 

To drive its darker thoughts away. 

The bright, young thoughts of early days 

Shall gather in my memory now, 
And not the later cares, whose trace 

Is stamp'd so deeply on my brow. 
What though those days return no more '? 

The sweet remembrance is not vain, 
For Heaven is waiting to restore 

The childhood of my soul again. 

Let no impatient mourner stand 

In hollow sadness near my bed, 
But let me rest upon the hand, 

And let me hear that gentle tread 
Of her, whose kindness long ago, 

And still, unworn away by years, 
Has made my weary eyelids flow 

With grateful and admiring tears. 

I go, but let no plaintive tone 

The moment's grief of friendship tell ; 
And let no proud and graven stone 

Say where the weary slumbers well. 
A few short hours, and then for heaven ! 

Let sorrow all its tears dismiss ; 
For who would mourn the warning given 

Which calls us from a world like this ? 



AUTUMN EVENING. 

Behold the western evening light ! 

It melts in deepening gloom ; 
So calmly Christians sink away, 

Descending to the tomb. 

The wind breathes low ; the withering leaf 
Scarce whispers from the tree ; 

So gently flows the parting breath, 
When good men cease to be. 

How beautiful on all the hills 

The crimson light is shed ! 
'T is like the peace the Christian gives 

To mourners round his bed. 

How mildly on the wandering cloud 

The sunset beam is cast ! 
'T is like the memory left behind 

When loved ones breathe their last. 

And now, above the dews of night, 

The yellow star appears ; 
So faith springs in the heart of those 

Whose eyes are bathed in tears. 

But soon the morning's happier light 

Its glory shall restore; 
And eyelids that are scal'd in death 

Shall wake, to close no more. 



GEORGE W. DOANE 



[Born, 1799.] 



The Right Reverend George Washi^gtox 
Doane, D. D., LL. D., was born in Trenton, 
New Jersey, 1799. He was graduated at Union 
College, Schenectady, when nineteen years old, 
and immediately after commenced the study of 
theology. He was ordained deacon by Bishop 
Hobart, in J.821, and priest by the same prelate 
in 1823. He officiated in Trinity Church, New 
York, three years, and, in 1824, was appointed 
Professor of Belles Lettres and Oratory in Wash- 
ington College, Connecticut. He resigned that 
office in 1828, and soon after was elected rector 
of Trinity Church, in Boston. He was conse- 



crated Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey, 
on the thirty-first of October, 1832. The church 
has few more active, efficient, or popular pre- 
lates. 

Bishop Doaxe's " Songs by the Way," a col- 
lection of poems, chiefly devotional, were pub- 
lished in 1824, and appear to have been mostly 
produced during his college-life. He has since, 
from time to time, written poetry for festival-days 
and other occasions; but he has published no 
second volume. His contributions to the religious 
literature of the country are more numerous and 
valuable. 



ON A VERY OLD WEDDING-RING. 

The Device— Two hearts united. 
The Motto—" Dear love of mine, my heart is thine." 

I like that ring — that ancient ring, 

Of massive form, and virgin gold, 
As firm, as free from base alloy, 

As were the sterling hearts of old. 
I like it — for it wafts me back, 

Far, far along the stream of time, 
To other men, and other days, 

The men and days of deeds sublime. 

But most I like it, as it tells 

The tale of well-requited love ; 
How youthful fondness persevered, 

And youthful faith disdain'd to rove — 
How warmly he his suit preferr'd, 

Though she, unpitying, long denied, 
Till, spften'd and subdued, at last, 

He won his " fair and blooming bride." — 

How, till the appointed day arrived, 

They blamed the lazy-footed hours — 
How, then, the white-robed maiden train 

Strew'd their glad way with freshest flowers — 
And how, before the holy man, 

They stood, in all their youthful pride, 
And spoke those words, and vovv'd those vows, 

Which bind the husband to his bride : 

All this it tells ; the plighted troth — 

The gift of every earthly thing — 
The hand in hand — the heart in heart — 

For this I like that ancient ring. 
I like its old and quaint device ; 

" Two blended hearts" — though time may wear 
them, 
No mortal change, no mortal chance, 

" Till death," shall e'er in sunder tear them. 



Year after year, 'neath sun and storm, 

Their hopes in heaven, their trust in God, 
In changeless, heartfelt, holy love, 

These two the world's rough pathway trod. 
Age might impair their youthful fires, 

Their strength might fail, mid life's bleak weather, 
Still, hand in hand, they travell'd on — 

Kind souls ! they slumber now together. 

I like its simple poesy too : 

" Mine own dear love, this heart is thine !" 
Thine, when the dark storm howls along, 

As when the cloudless sunbeams shine. 
" This heart is thine, mine own dear love !" 

Thine, and thine only, and forever ; 
Thine, till the springs of life shall fail, 

Thine, till the cords of life shall sever. 

Remnant of days departed long, 

Emblem of plighted troth unbroken, 

Pledge of devoted faithfulness, 
Of heartfelt, holy love the token : 

What varied feelings round it cling ! — 

For these I like that ancient ring. 



THE VOICE OF RAMA. 

"Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be 
comforted." 

Heard ye, from Rama's ruin'd walls, 

That voice of bitter weeping ! — 
Is it the moan of fetter'd slave, 

His watch of sorrow keeping 1 
Heard ye, from Rama's wasted plains, 

That cry of lamentation ! — 
Is it the wail of Israel's sons, 

For Salem's devastation 1 



Ah, no — a sorer ill than chains 
That bitter wail is waking, 



231 



232 



GEORGE W. DOANE. 



And deeper wo than Salem's fall 
That tortured heart is breaking : 

'Tis Rachel, of her sons bereft, 
Who lifts that voice of weeping ; 

And childless are the eyes that there 
Their watch of grief are keeping. 

! who shall tell what fearful pangs 

That mother's heart are rending, 
As o'er her infant's little grave 

Her wasted form is bending ; 
From many an eye that weeps to-day 

Delight may beam to-morrow; 
But she — her precious babe is not ! 

And what remains but sorrow ? 

Bereaved one ! I may not chide 

Thy tears and bitter sobbing — 
Weep on ! 'twill cool that burning brow, 

And still that bosom's throbbing : 
But be not thine such grief as theirs 

To whom no hope is given — 
Snatch'd from the world, its sins and snares, 

Thy infant rests in heaven. 



THAT SILENT MOON. 

That silent moon, that silent moon, 
Careering now through cloudless sky, 

! who shall tell what varied scenes 
Have pass'd beneath her placid eye, 

Since first, to light this wayward earth, 

She walk'd in tranquil beauty forth ! 

How oft has guilt's unhallow'd hand, 
And superstition's senseless rite, 

And loud, licentious revelry 

Profaned her pure and holy light : 

Small sympathy is hers, I ween, 

With sights like these, that virgin queen ! 

But dear to her, in summer eve, 
By rippling wave, or tufted grove, 

When hand in hand is purely clasp'd, 
And heart meets heart in holy love, 

To smile in quiet loneliness, 

And hear each whisper'd vow, and bless. 

Dispersed along the world's wide way, 
When friends are far, and fond ones rove, 

How powerful she to wake the thought, 
And start the tear for those we love, 

Who watch with us at night's pale noon, 

And gaze upon that silent moon. 

How powerful, too, to hearts that mourn, 
The magic of that moonlight sky, 

To bring again the vanish'd scenes — 
The happy eves of days gone by ; 

Again to bring, mid bursting tears, 

The loved, the lost of other years. 

And oft she looks, that silent moon, 
On lonely eyes that wake to weep 

In dungeon dark, or sacred cell, 

Or couch, whence pain has banish'd sleep : 

O ! softly beams her gentle eye 

On those who mourn, and those who die ! 



But, beam on whomsoe'er she will, 
And fall where'er her splendours may, 

There's pureness in her chasten'd light, 
There's comfort in her tranquil ray : 

What power is hers to soothe the heart — 

What power, the trembling tear to start ! 

The dewy morn let others love, 
Or bask them in the noontide ray ; 

There's not an hour but has its charm, 
From dawning light to dying day : — 

But, ! be mine a fairer boon — 

That silent moon, that silent moon ! 



THERMOPYLAE. 

'T was an hour of fearful issues, 

When the bold three hundred stood, 
For their love of holy freedom, 
By that old Thessalian flood ; 
When, lifting high each sword of flame, 
They call'd on every sacred name, 
And swore, beside those dashing waves, 
They never, never would be slaves ! 

And, ! that oath was nobly kept : 

From morn to setting sun 
Did desperation urge the fight 

Which valour had begun ; 
Till, torrent-like, the stream of blood 
Ran down and mingled with the flood, 
And all, from mountain-cliff to wave, 
Was Freedom's, Valour's, Glory's grave. 

0, yes, that oath was nobly kept, 
Which nobly had been sworn, 
And proudly did each gallant heart 

The foeman's fetters spurn ; 
And firmly was the fight maintain'd, 
And amply was the triumph gain'd ; 
They fought, fair Liberty, for thee : 
They fell — to die is to be free. 



THE WATERS OF MARAH. 

" And Moses cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed 
him a tree, which, when he had cast into the waters, the 
waters were made sweet." 

B r Marah's stream of bitterness 

When Moses stood and cried, 
Jehovah heard his fervent prayer, 

And instant help supplied : 
The prophet sought the precious tree 

With prompt, obedient feet; 
'Twas cast into the fount, and made 

The bitter waters sweet. 

Whene'er affliction o'er thee sheds 

Its influence malign, 
Then, sufferer, be the prophet's prayer 

And prompt obedience, thine : 
'Tis but a Marah's fount, ordain'd 

Thy faith in Goo to prove, 
And prayer and resignation shall 

Its bitterness remove. 



GEORGE W. DOANE. 



233 



"WHAT IS THAT, MOTHER?" 

What is that, Mother ? — The lark, my child ! — 
The morn has but just look'd out, and smiled, 
When he starts from his humble grassy nest, 
And is up and away, with the dew on his breast, 
And a hymn in his heart, to yon pure, bright sphere, 
To warble it out in his Maker's ear. 

Ever, my child, be thy morn's first lays 
Tuned, like the lark's, to thy Maker's praise. 

What is that, Mother? — The dove, my son! — 
And that low, sweet voice, like a widow's moan, 
Is flowing out from her gentle breast, 
Constant and pure, by that lonely nest, 
As the wave is pour'd from some crystal urn, 
For her distant dear one's quick return: 
Ever, my son, be thou like the dove, 
In friendship as faithful, as constant in love. 

What is that, Mother] — The eagle, boy! — 
Proudly careering his course of joy; 
Firm, on his own mountain vigour relying, 
Breasting the dark storm, the red bolt defying, 
His wing on the wind, and his eye on the sun, 
He swerves not a hair, but bears onward, right on. 
Boy, may the eagle's flight ever be thine, 
Onward, and upward, and true to the line. 

What is that, Mother? — The swan, my love! — 
He is floating down from his native grove, 
No loved one now, no nestling nigh, 
He is floating down, by himself to die ; 
Death darkens his eye, and unplumes his wings, 
Yet his sweetest song is the last he sings. 

Live so, my love, that when death shall come, 
Swan-like and sweet, it may waft thee home. 



A CHERUB. 



"Dear Sir, I am in some little disorder by reason of the 
death of a little child of mine, a boy that lately made us 
very srlad ; but now he rejoices in his little orbe, while 
we thinke, and sigh, and long to be as safe as he is." — 
Jeremy Taylor to Evelyn, 1656. 

Beautiful thing, with thine eye of light, 
And thy brow of cloudless beauty bright, 
Gazing for aye on the sapphire throne 
Of Him who dwelleth in light alone — 
Art thou hasting now, on that golden wing, 
With the burning seraph choir to sing? 
Or stooping to earth, in thy gentleness, 
Our darkling path to cheer and bless ? 

Beautiful thing! thou art come in love, 
With gentle gales from the world above, 
Breathing of pureness, breathing of bliss, 
Bearing our spirits away from this, 
To the better thoughts, to the brighter skies, 
Where heaven's eternal sunshine lies ; 
Winning our hearts, by a blessed guile, 
With that infant look and angel smile. 



Beautiful thing ! thou art come in joy, 

With the look and the voice of our darling boy — 

Him that was torn from the bleeding hearts 

He had twined about with his infant arts, 

To dwell, from sin and sorrow far, 

In the golden orb of his little star: 

There he rejoiceth in light, while we 

Long to be happy and safe as he. 

Beautiful thing! thou art come in peace, 
Bidding our doubts and our fears to cease ; 
Wiping the tears which unbidden start 
From that bitter fount in the broken heart, 
Cheering us still on our lonely way, 
Lest our spirits should faint, or our feet should stray, 
Till, risen with Christ, we come to be, 
Beautiful thing, with our boy and thee. 



LINES BY THE LAKE SIDE. 

This placid lake, my gentle girl, 

Be emblem of thy life, 
As full of peace and purity, 

As free from care and strife ; 
No ripple on its tranquil breast 

That dies not with the day, 
No pebble in its darkest depths, 

But quivers in its ray. 

And see, how every glorious form 

And pageant of the skies, 
Reflected from its glassy face, 

A mirror'd image lies ; 
So be thy spirit ever pure, 

To God and virtue given, 
Ariel thought, and word, and action bear 

The imagery of heaven. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S DEATH. 

Liet not thou the wailing voice, 
Weep not, 'tis a Christian dieth, — 

Up, where blessed saints rejoice, 
Ransom'd now, the spirit flieth ; 

High, in heaven's own light, she dwelleth, 

Full the song of triumph swelleth ; 

Freed from earth, and earthly failing, 

Lift for her no voice of wailing ! 

Pour not thou the bitter tear; 

Heaven its book of comfort opeth; 
Bids thee sorrow not, nor fear, 

But, as one who alway hopeth, 
Humbly here in faith relying, 
Peacefully in Jesus dying, 
Heavenly joy her eye is flushing, — 
Why should thine with tears be gushing ) 

They who die in Chrtst are bless'd, — 
Ours be, then, no thought of grieving ! 

Sweetly with their God they rest, 
All their toils and troubles leaving: 

So be ours the faith that saveth, 

Hope that every trial braveth, 

Love that to the end endure th, 

And, through Christ, the crown secureth! 
tt2 



GRENVILLE MELLEN. 



[Born, 1799. Died, 1841.] 



Gre;ntieee Melees was the third son of the 
late Chief Justice Prentiss Meleex, LL. D., of 
Maine, and was born in the town of Biddeford, in 
that state, on the nineteenth day of June, 1799. 
He was educated at Harvard College, and after 
leaving that seminary became a law-student in the 
office of his father, who had before that time re- 
moved to Portland. Soon after being admitted to 
the bar, he was married, and commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession at North Yarmouth, a plea- 
sant village near his native town. Within three 
years — in October, 1828 — his wife, to whom he was 
devotedly attached, died, and his only child fol- 
lowed her to the grave in the succeeding spring. 
From this time his character was changed. He 
had before been an ambitious and a happy man. 
The remainder of his life was clouded with melan- 
choly. 

I believe Mr. Melees did not become known 
as a writer until he was about twenty-five years 
old. He was then one of the contributors to the 
Cambridge "United States Literary Gazette." In 
the early part of 1827, he published a satire en- 
titled " Our Chronicle of Twenty-six," and two 
years afterward, "Glad Tales and Sad Tales," a 
collection of prose sketches, which had previously 
been printed in the periodicals. "The Martyr's 
Triumph, Buried Valley, and other PoeMs," ap- 
peared in 1834. The principal poem in this volume 
is founded on the history of Saint Alban, the first 
Christian martyr in England. It is in the measure 
of the " Faery Queene," and has some creditable 
passages ; but, as a whole, it hardly rises above 
mediocrity. In the "Buried Valley" he describes 
the remarkable avalanche near the Notch in the 
White Mountains, by which the Willey family 
were destroyed, many years ago. In a poem enti- 
tled "The Rest of Empires," in the same collection, 
he laments the custom of the elder bards to immor- 
talize the deeds of conquerors alone, and contrasts 
their prostitution of the influence of poetry with 
the nobler uses to which it is applied in later days, 
in the following lines, which are characteristic of 
his best manner : — 

"We have been taught, in oracles of old, 
Of the enskied divinity of song; 
That Poetry and Music, hand in hand, 
Came in the light of inspiration forth, 
And claini'd alliance with the rolling heavens. 
And were those peerless bards, whose strains have come 
In an undying echo to the world, 
Whose numbers floated round the Grecian isles, 
And made melodious all the hills of Rome,— 
Were they inspired? — Alas, for Poetry! 
That her great ministers, in early time, 
Sung for the brave alone — and bade the soul 
Battle for heaven in the ranks of war! 
It was the treason of the godlike art 
That pointed glory to the sword and spear, 
And left the heart to moulder in its mail! 



It was the menial service of the bard — 
It was the basest bondage of his powers, 
In later times to consecrate a feast, 
And sing of gallantry in hall and bower, 

To courtly knights and ladies 

"But other times have strung new lyres again, 
And other music greets us. Poetry 
Comes robed in smiles, and, in low breathing sounds, 
Takes counsel, like a friend, in our still hours, 
And points us to the stars — the waneless stars — 
That whisper an hereafter to our souls. 
It breathes upon our spirits a rich balm, 
And, with its tender tones and melody, 
Draws mercy from the warrior — and proclaims 
A morn of bright and universal love 
To those who journey with us through the vale; 
It points to moral greatness— deeds of mind, 
And the high struggles, worthy of a man. 
Have we no minstrels in our echoing halls, 
No wild Cadwallon, with his wilder strain, 
Pouring his war-songs upon helmed ears? 
We have sounds stealing from the far retreats 
Of the bright company of gifted men, 
Who pour their mellow music round our age, 
And point us to our duties and our hearts; 
The poet's constellation beams around — 
A pensive Cowper lives in all his lines. 
And Milton hymns us on to hope and heaven !" 
After spending five or six years in Boston, Mr. 
Mellen removed to New York, where he resided 
nearly all the remainder of his life. He wrote 
much for the literary magazines, and edited seve- 
ral works for his friend, Mr. Colmajt, the pub- 
lisher. In 1839, he established a Monthly Mis- 
cellany, but it was abandoned after the publication 
of a few numbers. His health had been declining 
for several years ; his disease finally assumed the 
form of consumption, and he made a voyage to 
Cuba, in the summer of 1840, in the hope that he 
would derive advantage from a change of climate, 
and the sea air. He was disappointed ; and learn- 
ing of the death of his father, in the following 
spring, he returned to New York, where he died, 
on the fifth of September, 1841. 

Mr. Mellen was a gentle-hearted, amiable man, 
social in his feelings, and patient and resigned in 
the long period of physical suffering which pre- 
ceded his death. As a poet, he enjoyed a higher 
reputation in his lifetime than his works will pre- 
serve. They are without vigour of thought or 
language, and are often dreamy, mystic, and un- 
intelligible. In his writings there is no evidence 
of creative genius ; no original, clear, and manly 
thought ; no spirited and natural descriptions of 
life or nature ; no humour, no pathos, no passion; 
nothing that appeals to the common sympathies 
of mankind. The little poem entitled " The Bu- 
gle," although " it whispers whence it stole its 
spoils," is probably superior to any thing else he 
wrote. It is free from the affectations and un- 
meaning epithets which distinguish nearly all his 

works. 

234 



GRENVILLE MELLEN. 



ENGLISH SCENERY. 

The woods and vales of England ! — is there not 
A magic and a marvel in their names 1 
Is there not music in the memory 
Of their old glory 1 — is there not a sound, 
As of some watchword, that recalls at night 
All that gave light and wonder to the day 1 
In these soft words, that breathe of loveliness, 
And summon to the spirit scenes that rose 
Rich on its raptured vision, as the eye 
Hung like a tranced thing above the page 
That genius had made golden with its glow — 
The page of noble story — of high towers, 
And castled halls, envista'd like the line 
Of heroes and great hearts, that centuries 
Had led before their hearths in dim array — 
Of lake and lawn, and gray and cloudy tree, 
That rock'd with banner'd foliage to the storm 
Above the walls it shadow'd, and whose leaves, 
Rustling in gather'd music to the winds, 
Seem'd voiced as with the sound of many seas ! 

The woods and vales of England ! O, the founts, 
The living founts of memory ! how they break 
And gush upon my stirr'd heart as I gaze ! 
I hear the shout of reapers, the far low 
Of herds upon the banks, the distant bark 
Of the tired dog, stretch'd at some cottage door, 
The echo of the axe, mid forest swung, 
And the loud laugh, drowning the faint halloo. 

Land of our fathers ! though 'tis ours to roam 
A land upon whose bosom thou mightst lie, 
Like infant on its mother's — though 'tis ours 
To gaze upon a nobler heritage 
Than thou couldst e'er unshadow to thy sons, — 
Though ours to linger upon fount and sky, 
Wilder, and peopled with great spirits, who 
Walk with a deeper majesty than thine, — 
Yet, as our father-land, 0, who shall tell 
The lone, mysterious energy which calls 
Upon our sinking spirits to walk forth 
Amid thy wood and mount, where every hill 
Is eloquent with beauty, and the tale 
And song of centuries, the cloudless years 
When fairies walk'd thy valleys, and the turf 
Rung to their tiny footsteps, and quick flowers 
Sprang with the lifting grass on which they trod — 
When all the landscape murmur'd to its rills, 
And joy with hope slept in its leafy bowers ! 



MOUNT WASHINGTON. 

Mou?tt of the clouds, on whose Olympian height 
The tall rocks brighten in the ether air, 
And spirits from the skies come down at night, 
To chant immortal songs to Freedom there ! 
Thine is the rock of other regions, where 
The world of life, which blooms so far below, 
Sweeps a wide waste: no gladdening scenes appear, 
Save where, with silvery flash, the waters flow 
B eneath the far-off mountain, distant, calm, and slow. 

Thine is the summit where the clouds repose, 
Or, eddying wildly, round thy cliffs are borne ; 



When Tempest mounts his rushingcar, and throws 
His billowy mist amid the thunder's home ! 
Far down the deep ravine the whirlwinds come, 
And bow the forests as they sweep along ; 
While, roaring deeply from their rocky womb, 
The storms come forth, and, hurrying darkly on, 
Amid the echoing peaks the revelry prolong ! 

And when the tumult of the air is fled, 
And quench'd in silence all the tempest flame, 
There come the dim forms of the mighty dead, 
Around the steep which bears the hero's name : 
The stars look down upon them ; and the same 
Pale orb that glistens o'er his distant grave 
Gleams on the summit that enshrines his fame, 
And lights the cold tear of the glorious brave, 
The richest, purest tear that memory ever gave ! 

Mount of the clouds ! when winter round thee 
The hoary mantle of the dying year, [throws 
Sublime amid thy canopy of snows, 
Thy towers in bright magnificence appear! 
'T is then we view thee with a chilling fear, 
Till summer robes thee in her tints of blue ; 
When, lo ! in soften'd grandeur, far, yet clear, 
Thy battlements stand clothed in heaven's own hue, 
To swell as Freedom's home on man's unbounded 

VI P w \ 



THE BUGLE. 

! wild, enchanting horn ! 
Whose music up the deep and dewy air 
Swells to the clouds, and calls on Echo there, 

Till a new melody is born — 

Wake, wake again, the night 
Is bending from her throne of beauty down, 
With still stars burning on her azure crown, 

Intense and eloquently bright. 

Night, at its pulseless noon ! 
When the far voice of waters mourns in song, 
And some tired watch-dog, lazily and long 

Barks at the melancholy moon. 

Hark ! how it sweeps away, 
Soaring and dying on the silent sky, 
As if some sprite of sound went wandering by, 

With lone halloo and roundelay ! 

Swell, swell in glory out ! 
Thy tones come pouring on my leaping heart, 
And my stirr'd spirit hears thee with a start 

As boyhood's old remember'd shout. 

O ! have ye heard that peal, 
From sleeping city's moon-bathed battlements, 
Or from the guarded field and warrior tents, 

Like some near breath around you steal 1 

Or have ye in the roar 
Of sea, or storm, or battle, heard it rise, 
Shriller than eagle's clamour, to the skies, 

Where wings and tempests never soar 7 

Go, go — no other sound, 
j No music that of air or earth is born, 
j Can match the mighty music of that horn, 

On midnight's fathomless profound ! 



236 



GRENVILLE MELLEN. 



ON SEEING AN EAGLE PASS NEAR ME 
IN AUTUMN TWILIGHT. 

Satl on, thou lone, imperial bird, 

Of quenchless eye and tireless wing ; 
How is thy distant coming heard, 

As the night's breezes round thee ring! 
Thy course was 'gainst the burning sun 

In his extremest glory. How ! 
Is thy unequall'd daring done, 

Thou stoop'st to earth so lowly now 1 

Or hast thou left thy rocking dome, 

Thy roaring crag, thy lightning pine, 
To find some secret, meaner home, 

Less stormy and unsafe than thine 1 
Else why thy dusky pinions bend 

So closely to this shadowy world, 
And round thy searching glances send, 

As wishing thy broad pens were furl'd 1 

Yet lonely is thy shatter'd nest, 

Thy eyry desolate, though high ; 
And lonely thou, alike at rest, 

Or soaring in the upper sky. 
The golden light that bathes thy plumeg 

On thine interminable flight, 
Falls cheerless on earth's desert tombs, 

And makes the north's ice-mountains bright. 

So come the eagle-hearted down, 

So come the high and proud to earth, 
When life's night-gathering tempests frown 

Over their glory and their mirth : 
So quails the mind's undying eye, 

That bore, unveil'd, fame's noontide sun; 
So man seeks solitude, to die, 

His high place left, his triumphs done. 

So, round the residence of power, 

A cold and joyless lustre shines, 
And on life's pinnacles will lower 

Clouds, dark as bathe the eagle's pines. 
But, 0, the mellow light that pours 

From Go n's pure throne — the light that saves! 
It warms the spirit as it soars, 

And sheds deep radiance round our graves. 



THE TRUE GLORY OF AMERICA. 

Italta's vales and fountains, 

Though beautiful ye be, 
I love my soaring mountains 

And forests more than ye ; 
And though a dreamy greatness rise 

From out your cloudy years, 
Like hills on distant stormy skies, 

Seem dim through Nature's tears, 
Still, tell me not of years of old, 

Of ancient heart and clime ; 
Ours is the land and age of gold, 

And ours the hallow'd time ! 



The jewell'd crown and sceptre 

Of Greece have pass'd away ; 
And none, of all who wept her, 

Could bid her splendour stay. 
The world has shaken with the tread 

Of iron-sandall'd crime — 
And, lo ! o'ershadowing all the dead, 

The conqueror stalks sublime ! 
Then ask I not for crown and plume 

To nod above my land ; 
The victor's footsteps point to doom, 

Graves open round his hand ! 

Rome ! with thy pillar'd palaces, 

And sculptured heroes all, 
Snatch'd, in their warm, triumphal days, 

To Art's high festival ; 
Rome ! with thy giant sons of power, 

Whose pathway was on thrones, 
Who built their kingdoms of an hour 

On yet unburied bones, — 
I would not have my land like thee, 

So lofty — yet so cold ! 
Be hers a lowlier majesty, 

In yet a nobler mould. 

Thy marbles — works of wonder! 

In thy victorious days, 
Whose lips did seem to sunder 

Before the astonish'd gaze ; 
When statue glared on statue there, 

The living on the dead, — 
And men as silent pilgrims were 

Before some sainted head ! 
O, not for faultless marbles yet 

Would I the light forego 
That beams when other lights have set, 

And Art herself lies low ! 

O, ours a holier hope shall be 

Than consecrated bust, 
Some loftier mean of memory 

To snatch us from the dust. 
And ours a sterner art than this, 

Shall fix our image here, — 
The spirit's mould of loveliness— 

A nobler Belvedere ! 

Then let them bind with bloomless flowers 

The busts and urns of old, — 
A fairer heritage be ours, 

A sacrifice less cold ! 
Give honour to the great and good, 

And wreathe the living brow, 
Kindling with Virtue's mantling blood, 

And pay the tribute now ! 

So, when the good and great go down, 

Their statues shall arise, 
To crowd those temples of our own, 

Our fadeless memories ! 
And when the sculptured marble falls, 

And Art goes in to die, 
Our. forms shall live in holier halls, 

The Pantheon of the sky ! 



GEORGE HILL. 



[Bom, 1800.] 



George Hill is a native of Guilford, on Long 
Island Sound, near New Haven. He was ad- 
mitted to Yale College in his fifteenth year, and, 
when he graduated, took the Berkeleian prize, as 
the best classic. He was subsequently attached 
to the navy, as Professor of Mathematics ; and 
visited in this capacity the Mediterranean, its storied 
islands, and classic shores. After his return, he 
was appointed librarian to the State Department, 
at Washington : a situation which he at length 
resigned on account of ill health, and was ap- 
pointed Consul of the United States for the south- 
western portion of Asia Minor. The climate disa- 



greeing with him, he returned to Washington; 
and he is now attached again to one of the bureaus 
in the Department of State. 

The style of Mr. Hill's poetry is severe, and some- 
times so elliptical as to embarrass his meaning ; this 
is especially true of his more elaborate production, 
" The Ruins of Athens," written in the Spenserian 
stanza. He is most successful in his lyrics, where 
he has more freedom, without a loss of energy. 
His " Titania," a dramatic piece, is perhaps the 
most original of his productions. It is wild and 
fanciful, and graced with images of much beauty 
and freshness. 



FROM "THE RUINS OF ATHENS." 

The daylight fades o'er old Cyllene's hill, 
And broad and dun the mountain shadows fall ; 
The stars are up and sparkling, as if still 
Smiling upon their altars ; but the tall, 
Dark cypress, gently, as a mourner, bends — 
Wet with the drops of evening as with tears — 
Alike o'er shrine and worshipper, and blends, 
All dim and lonely, with the wrecks of years, 
As of a world gone by no coming morning cheers. 

There sits the queen of temples — gray and lone. 
She, like the last of an imperial line, 
Has seen her sister structures, one by one, 
To Time their gods and worshippers resign ; 
And the stars twinkle through the weeds that twine 
Their roofless capitals ; and, through the night, 
Heard the hoarse drum and the exploding mine, 
The clash of arms and hymns of uncouth rite, 
From their dismantled shrines the guardian powers 
affright. 

Go ! thou from whose forsaken heart are reft 
The ties of home ; and, where a dwelling-place 
Not Jove himself the elements have left, 
The grass-grown, undefined arena pace ! [hear 
Look on its rent, though tower-like shafts, and 
The loud winds thunder in their aged face ; 
Then slowly turn thine eye, where moulders near 
A Caesar's arch, and the blue depth of space 
Vaults like a sepulchre the wrecks of a past race. 

Is it not better with the Eremite, 

Where the weeds rustle o'er his airy cave, 

Perch'd on their summit, through the long, still 

night 
To sit and watch their shadows slowly wave — 



While oft some fragment, sapp'd by dull decay, 
In thunder breaks the silence, and the fowl 
Of Ruin hoots — and turn in scorn away 
Of all man builds, time levels, and the cowl 
Awards her moping sage in common with the owl ? 

Or, where the palm, at twilight's holy hour, 
By Theseus' fane her lonely vigil keeps : 
Gone are her sisters of the leaf and flower, 
With them the living crop earth sows and reaps, 
But these revive not : the weed with them sleeps, 
But clothes herself in beauty from their clay, 
And leaves them to their slumber; o'er them 

weeps 
Vainly the Spring her quickening dews awa\ , 

And Love as vainly mourns, and mourns, alas ! 
for aye. 
Or, more remote, on Nature's haunts intrude, 
Where, since creation, she has slept on flowers, 
Wet with the noonday forest-dew, and woo'd 
By untamed choristers in unpruned bowers : 
By pathless thicket, rock that time-worn towers 
O'er dells untrodden by the hunter, piled 
Ere by its shadow measured were the hours 
To human eye, the rampart of the wild, 

Whose banner is the cloud, by carnage undefiled. 

The weary spirit that forsaken plods 
The world's wide wilderness, a home may find 
Here, mid the dwellings of long-banish'd gods, 
And thoughts they bring, the mourners of the 

mind; 
The spectres that no spell has power to bind, 
The loved, but lost, whose soul's life is in ours, 
As incense in sepulchral urns, enshrined, 
The sense of blighted or of wasted powers, 
The hopes whose promised fruits have perish'd 

with their flowers. 

237 



238 



GEORGE HILL. 



There is a small, low cape — there, where the moon 
Breaks o'er the shatter'! and now shapeless stone; 
The waters, as a rude but fitting boon, 
Weeds and small shells have, like a garland, 

thrown 
Upon it, and the wind's and wave's low moan, 
And sighing grass, and cricket's plaint, are heard 
To steal upon the stillness, like a tone 
Remember'd. Here, by human foot unstirr'd, 
Its seed the thistle sheds, and builds the ocean-bird. 

Lurks the foul toad, the lizard basks secure 
Within the sepulchre of him whose name 
Had scatter'd navies like the whirlwind. Sure, 
If aught ambition's fiery wing may tame, 
'Tis here ; the web the spider weaves where Fame 
Planted her proud but sunken shaft, should be 
To it a fetter, still it springs the same, 
Glory's fool-worshipper ! here bend thy knee ! 
The tomb thine altar-stone, thine idol Mockery: 

A small, gray elf, all sprinkled o'er with dust 
Of crumbling catacomb, and mouldering shred 
Of banner and embroider'd pall, and rust 
Of arms, time-worn monuments, that shed 
A canker'd gleam on dim escutcheons, where 
The groping antiquary pores to spy — 
A what 1 a name — perchance ne'er graven there ; 
At whom the urchin, with his mimic eye, 
Sits peering through a skull, and laughs continually. 



THE MOUNTAIN-GIRL. 

The clouds, that upward curling from 

Nevada's summit fly, 
Melt into air : gone are the showers, 
And, deck'd, as 'twere with bridal flowers, 

Earth seems to wed the sky. 

All hearts are by the spirit that 

Breathes in the sunshine stirr'd ; 
And there 's a girl that, up and down, 
A merry vagrant, through the town, 
Goes singing like a bird. 

A thing all lightness, life, and glee ; 

One of the shapes we seem 
To meet in visions of the night ; 
And, should they greet our waking sight, 

Imagine that we dream. 

With glossy ringlet, brow that is 

As falling snow-flake white, 
Half-hidden by its jetty braid, 
And eye like dewdrop in the shade, 

At once both dark and bright ; 

And cheek whereon the sunny clime 

Its brown tint gently throws, 
Gently, as it reluctant were 
To leave its print on thing so fair — 

A shadow on a rose. 

She stops, looks up — what does she see ? 

A flower of crimson dye, 
Whose vase, the work of Moorish hands, 
A lady sprinkles, as it stands 

Upon a balcony : 



High, leaning from a window forth, 

From curtains that half-shroud 
Her maiden form with tress of gold, 
And brow that mocks their snow-white fold, 
Like Diast from a cloud. 

Nor flower, nor lady fair she sees — 

That mountain-girl — but dumb 
And motionless she stands, with eye 
That seems communing with the sky : 
Her visions are of home. 

That flower to her is as a tone 

Of some forgotten song, 
One of a slumbering thousand, struck 
From an old harp-string ; but, once woke, 

It brings the rest along. 

She sees beside the mountain-brook, 

Beneath the old cork tree 
And toppling crag, a vine-thatch'd shed, 
Perch'd, like the eagle, high o'erhead, 

The home of liberty; 

The rivulet, the olive shade, 

The grassy plot, the flock ; 
Nor does her simple thought forget, 
Haply, the little violet, 

That springs beneath the rock. 

Sister and mate, they may not from 

Her dreaming eye depart ; 
And one, the source of gentler fears, 
More dear than all, for whom she wears 

The token at her heart. 

And hence her eye is dim, her cheek 

Has lost its livelier glow ; 
Her song has ceased, and motionless 
She stands, an image of distress : — 

Strange, what a flower can do ! 



THE MIGHT OF GREECE.* 

TnE might of Greece ! whose story has gone forth, 

Like the eternal echo of a lyre 

Struck by an angel, to the bounds of earth, 

A marvel and a melody ; a fire 

Unquench'd, unquenchable. Castalia's choir 

Mourn o'er their altars worshipless or gone ; 

But the free mountain-air they did respire 

Has borne their music onward, with a tone 

Shaking earth's tyrant race through every distant 
zone ! 
A never-dying music, borne along [fraught 

The stream of years, that else were mute, and 
— A boundless echo, thunder peal'd in song — 
With the unconquerable might of thought : 
The Titan that shall rive the fetters wrought 
By the world's god, Opinion, and set free 
The powers of mind,giants from darkness brought; 
The trophies of whose triumph-march shall be 

Thrones, dungeons swept away, as rampires by the 



* From " The Ruins of Athens. 



GEORGE HILL. 



139 



THE FALL OF THE OAK. 

A glorious tree is the old gray oak : 
He has stood for a thousand years, 
Has stood and frown'd 
On the trees around, 
Like a king among his peers ; 
As round their king they stand, so now, 

When the flowers their pale leaves fold, 
The tall trees round him stand, array'd 
In their robes of purple and gold. 

He has stood like a tower 

Through sun and shower, 
And dared the winds to battle ; 

He has heard the hail, 

As from plates of mail, 
From his own limbs shaken, rattle ; 
He has toss'd them about, and shorn the tops 

(When the storm had roused his might) 
Of the forest trees, as a strong man doth 
The heads of his foes in fight. 

The autumn sun looks kindly down, 
But the frost is on the lea, 

And sprinkles the horn 

Of the owl at morn, 
As she hies to the old oak tree. 

Not a leaf is stirr'd ; 

Not a sound is heard 
But the thump of the thresher's flail, 

The low wind's sigh, 

Or the distant cry 
Of the hound on the fox's trail. 

The forester he has whistling plunged 
With his axe, in the deep wood's gloom, 
That shrouds the hill, 
Where few and chill 
The sunbeams struggling come : 
His brawny arm he has bared, and laid 
His axe at the root of the tree, 
The gray old oak, 
And, with lusty stroke, 
He wields it merrily : — 

With lusty stroke, — 
• And the old gray oak, 
Through the folds of his gorgeous vest 
You may see him shake, 
And the night-owl break 
From her perch in his leafy crest. 
She will come but to find him gone from where 

He stood at the break of day ; 
Like a cloud that peals as it melts to air, 
He has pass'd, with a crash, away. 

Though the spring in the bloom and the frost in gold 
No more his limbs attire, 

On the stormy wave 
He shall float, and brave 
The blast and the battle-fire ! 
Shall spread his white wings to the wind, 
And thunder on the deep, 

As he thunder'd when 
His bough was green, 
On the high and stormy steep. 



LIBERTY. 

There is a spirit working in the world, 

Like to a silent subterranean fire ; 
Yet, ever and anon, some monarch hurl'd 

Aghast and pale, attests its fearful ire. 

The dungeon'd nations now once more respire 
The keen and stirring air of Liberty. 
The struggling giant wakes, and feels he's free. 

By Delphi's fountain-cave, that ancient choir 
Resume their song; the Greek astonish'd hears, 
And the old altar of his worship rears. 

Sound on, fair sisters ! sound your boldest lyre, — 
Peal your old harmonies as from the spheres. 

Unto strange gods too long we 've bent the knee, 

The trembling mind, too long and patiently. 



TO A YOUNG MOTHER. 

What things of thee may 3 r ield a semblance meet, 

And him, thy fairy portraiture 1 a flower 
And bud, moon and attending star, a sweet 

Voice and its sweeter echo. Time has sm all power 
O'er features the mind moulds; and such are thine, 

Imperishably lovely. Roses, where 
They once have bloom'd, a fragrance leave behind ; 
And harmony will linger on the wind ; 

And suns continue to light up the air, 
When set ; and music from the broken shrine 

Breathes, it is said, around whose altar-stone 
His flower the votary has ceased to twine : — 

Types of the beauty that, when youth is gone, 
Beams from the soul whose brightness mocks 
decline. 



SPRING. 

Now Heaven seems one bright, rejoicing eye, 
And Earth her sleeping vesture flings aside, 
And with a blush awakes as does a bride ; 

And Nature speaks, like thee, in melody. 

The forest, sunward, glistens, green and high ; 
The ground each moment, as some blossom 
springs, 

Puts forth, as does thy cheek, a lovelier dye, 
And each new morning some new songster brings. 

And, hark ! the brooks their rocky prisons break, 

And echo calls on echo to awake, 

Like nymph to nymph. The air is rife with wings, 

Rustling through wood or dripping over lake. 
Herb, bud, and bird return — but not to me 
With song or beauty, since they bring not thee. 



NOBILITY. 

Go, then, to heroes, sages if allied, 
Go ! trace the scroll, but not with eye of pride, 
Where Truth depicts their glories as they shone, 
And leaves a blank where should have been your 
own. 

Mark the pure beam on yon dark wave impress'd ; 
So shines the star on that degenerate breast — 
Each twinkling orb,that burns with borrow'd fires, — 
So ye reflect the glory of your sires. 



JAMES G. BROOKS. 



[Born, 1801. Died, 1S41.] 



The late James Gordon Brooks was born at 
Red Hook, near the city of New York, on the 
third day of September, 1801. His father was 
an officer in the revolutionary army, and, after the 
achievement of our independence, a member of 
the national House of Representatives. Our 
author was educated at Union College, in Sche- 
nectady, and was graduated in 1819. In the fol- 
lowing year he commenced studying the law with 
Mr. Justice Exott, of Poughkeepsie ; but, though 
he devoted six or seven years to the acquisition 
of legal knowledge, he never sought admission to 
the bar. In 1823, he removed to New York, 
where he was for several years an editor of the 
Morning Courier, one of the most able and influ- 
ential journals in this country. 

Mr. Brooks began to write for the press in 
1817. Two years afterward he adopted the sig- 
nature of "Florio," by which his contributions 
to the periodicals were from that time known. In 
1828, he was married. His wife, under the signa- 
ture of "Noma," had been for several years a 



writer for the literary journals, and, m 1829, a 
collection of the poetry of both w r as published, 
entitled " The Rivals of Este, and other Poems, 
by James G. and Mary E. Brooks." The poem 
which gave its title to the volume was by Mrs. 
Brooks. The longest of the pieces by her hus- 
band was one entitled " Genius," wdiich he had 
delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of 
Yale College, in 1827. He wrote but little po- 
etry after the appearance of this work. 

In 1830 or 1831, he removed to Winchester, 
in Virginia, where, for four or five years, he edited 
a political and literary gazette. He returned to the 
state of New York, in 1838, and established him- 
self in Albany, where he remained until the 20th 
day of February, 1841, when he died. 

The poems of Mr. Brooks are spirited and 
smoothly versified, but diffuse and carelessly writ- 
ten. He was imaginative, and composed with 
remarkable ease and rapidity ; but was too indif- 
ferent in regard to his reputation ever to rewrite 
or revise his productions. 



GREECE— 1832. 

La>~d of the brave ! where lie inurn'd 

The shrouded forms of mortal clay, 
In whom the fire of valour burn'd, 

And blazed upon the battle's fray : 
Land, where the gallant Spartan few 

Bled at Thermopylae of yore, 
When death his purple garment threw 

On Helle's consecrated shore ! 

Land of the Muse ! within thy bowers 

Her soul-entrancing echoes rung, 
While on their course the rapid hours 

Paused at the melody she sung — 
Till every grove and every hill, 

And every stream that flow'd along, 
From morn to night repeated still 

The winning harmony of song. 

Land of dead heroes ! living slaves ! 

Shall glory gild thy clime no more 1 
Her banner float above thy waves 

Where proudly it hath swept before ? 
Hath not remembrance then a charm 

To break the fetters and the chain, 
To bid thy children nerve the arm, 

And strike for freedom once again ? 

No ! coward souls, the light which shone 
On Leuctra's war-empurpled day, 

The light which beam'd on Marathon 
Hath lost its splendour, ceased to play ; 



And thou art but a shadow now, 

With helmet shatter'd — spear in rust — 

Thy honour but a dream — and thou 
Despised — degraded in the dust ! 

Where sleeps the spirit, that of old 

Dash'd down to earth the Persian plume, 
When the loud chant of triumph told 

How fatal was the despot's doom 1 — 
The bold three hundred — where are they, 

Who died on battle's gory breast 1 
Tyrants have trampled on the clay 

Where death hath hush'd them into rest. 

Yet, Ida, yet upon thy hill 

A glory shines of ages fled ; 
And fame her light is pouring still, 

Not on the living, but the dead ! 
But 'tis the dim, sepulchral light, 

Which sheds a faint and feeble ray, 
As moonbeams on the brow of night, 

When tempests sweep upon their way. 

Greece ! yet awake thee from thy trance, 

Behold, thy banner waves afar ; 
Behold, the glittering weapons glance 

Along the gleaming front of war! 
A gallant chief, of high emprize, 

Is urging foremost in the field, 
Who calls upon thee to arise 

In might — in majesty reveal'd. 

240 



JAMES G. BROOKS. 



241 



In vain, in vain the hero calls — 

In vain he sounds the trumpet loud ! 
His banner totters — see ! it falls 

In ruin, Freedom's battle-shroud : 
Thy children have no soul to dare 

Such deeds as glorified their sires ; 
Their valour's but a meteor's glare, 

Which gleams a moment, and expires. 

Lost land ! where Genius made his reign, 

And rear'd his golden arch on high ; 
Where Science raised her sacred fane, 

Its summits peering to the sky ; 
Upon thy clime the midnight deep 

Of ignorance hath brooded long, 
And in the tomb, forgotten, sleep 

The sons of science and of song. 

Thy sun hath set — the evening storm 

Hath pass'd in giant fury by, 
To blast the beauty of thy form, 

And spread its pall upon the sky ! 
Gone is thy glory's diadem, 

And freedom never more shall cease 
To pour her mournful requiem 

O'er blighted, lost, degraded Greece ! 



TO THE DYING YEAR. 

Thou desolate and dying year ! 

Emblem of transitory man, 
Whose wearisome and wild career, 

Like thine, is bounded to a span ; 
It seems but as a little day 

Since nature smiled upon thy birth, 
And Spring came forth in fair array, 

To dance upon the joyous earth. 

Sad. alteration ! now how lone, 

How verdureless is nature's breast, 
Where ruin makes his empire known, 

In autumn's yellow vesture dress'd ; 
The sprightly bird, whose carol sweet 

Broke on the breath of early day, 
The summer flowers she loved to greet ; 

The bird, the flowers, ! where are they 1 

Thou desolate and dying year ! 

Yet lovely in thy lifelessness 
As beauty stretch'd upon the bier, 

In death's clay-cold and dark caress ; 
There's loveliness in thy decay, 

Which breathes, which lingers on thee still, 
Like memory's mild and cheering ray 

Beaming upon the night of ill. 

Yet, yet the radiance is not gone, 

Which shed a richness o'er the scene, 
Which smiled upon the golden dawn, 

When skies were brilliant and serene ; 
! still a melancholy smile 

( rleams upon Nature's aspect fair, 
To charm the eye a little while, 

Ere ruin spreads his mantle there ! 



Thou desolate and dying year ! 

Since time entwined thy vernal wreath, 
How often love hath shed the tear, 

And knelt beside the bed of death ; 
How many hearts, that lightly sprung 

When joy was blooming but to die, 
Their finest chords by death unstrung, 

Have yielded life's expiring sigh, 

And, pillow'd low beneath the clay, 

Have ceased to melt, to breathe, to burn 
The proud, the gentle, and the gay, 

Gather'd unto the mouldering urn ; 
While freshly flow'd the frequent tear 

For love bereft, affection fled ; 
For all that were our blessings here, 

The loved, the lost, the sainted dead ' 

Thou desolate and dying year ! 

The musing spirit finds in thee 
Lessons, impressive and serene, 

Of deep and stern morality ; 
Thou teachest how the germ of youth, 

Which blooms in being's dawning day, 
Planted by nature, rear'd by truth, 

Withers, like thee, in dark decay. 

Promise of youth ' fair as the form 

Of Heaven's benign and golden bow, 
Thy smiling arch begirds the storm, 

And sheds a light on every wo ; 
Hope wakes for thee, and to her tongue 

A tone of melody is given, 
As if her magic voice were strung 

With the empyreal fire of heaven. 

And love which never can expire, 

Whose origin is from on high, 
Throws o'er thy morn a ray of fire, 

From the pure fountains of the sky ; 
That ray which glows and brightens still, 

Unchanged, eternal and divine ; 
Where seraphs own its holy thrill, 

And bow before its gleaming shrine. 

Thou desolate and dying year ! 

Prophetic of our final fall ; 
Thy buds are gone, thy leaves are sear ; 

Thy beauties shrouded in the pall ; 
And all the garniture that shed 

A brilliancy upon thy prime, 
Hath like a morning vision fled 

Unto the expanded grave of time. 

Time ! Time ! in thy triumphal flight, 

How all life's phantoms fleet away ; 
Th} r smile of hope, and young delight, 

Fame's meteor-beam, and Fancy's ray : 
They fade ; and on the heaving tide, 

Rolling its stormy waves afar, 
Are borne the wreck of human pride, 

The broken wreck of Fortune's war. 

There, in disorder, dark and wild, 
Are seen the fabrics once so high ; 

Which mortal vanity had piled 
As emblems of eternity ! 
X 



242 



JAMES G. BROOKS. 



And deem'd the stately piles, whose forms 
Frown'd in their majesty sublime, 

Would stand unshaken by the storms 
That gather'd round the brow of Time. 

Thou desolate and dying year ! 

Earth's brightest pleasures fade like thine ; 
Like evening shadows disappear, 

And leave the spirit to repine. 
The stream of life, that used to pour 

Its fresh and sparkling waters on, 
While Fate stood watching on the shore, 

And number'd all the moments gone — 

Where hath the morning splendour flown, 

Which danced- upon the crystal stream ] 
Where are the joys to childhood known, 

When life was an enchanted dream 1 
Enveloped in the starless night 

Which destiny hath overspread ; 
Enroll' d upon that trackless flight 

Where the death-wing of time hath sped ! 

O ! thus hath life its even-tide 

Of sorrow, loneliness, and grief; 
And thus, divested of its pride, 

It withers like the yellow leaf: 
! such is life's autumnal bower, 

When plunder'd of its summer bloom ; 
And such is life's autumnal hour, 

Which heralds man unto the tomb ! 



TO THE AUTUMN LEAF. 

Thou faded leaf! it seems to be 

But as of yesterday, 
When thou didst nourish on the tree 

In all the pride of May : 
Then t 'was the merry hour of spring, 
Of nature's fairest blossoming, 

On field, on flower, and spray ; 
It promised fair ; how changed the scene 
To what is now, from what hath been ! 

So fares it with life's early spring ; 

Hope gilds each coming day. 
And sweetly doth the syren sing 

Her fond, delusive lay : 
Then the young, fervent heart beats high, 
While passion kindles in the eye, 

With bright, unceasing play ; 
Fair are thy tints, thou genial hour, 
Yet transient as the autumn flower. 

Thou faded leaf ! how like to thee 

Is beauty in her morning pride, 
When life is but a summer sea, 

And hope illumes its placid tide : 
Alas ! for beauty's autumn hour, 
Alas ! for beauty's blighted flower, 

When hope and bliss have died ! 
Her pallid brow, her cheek of grief, 
Have thy sad hue, thou faded leaf! 

Autumnal leaf! thus honour's plume, 

And valour's laurel wreath must fade : 

Must lose the freshness, and the bloom 

On which the beam of glory play'd ; 



The banner waving o'er the crowd, 
Far streaming like a silver cloud, 

Must sink within the shade, 
Where dark oblivion's waters flow 
O'er human weal and human wo. 

Autumnal leaf! there is a stern 

And warning tone in thy decay ; 
Like thee must man to death return 

With his frail tenement of clay 
Thy warning is of death and doom, 
Of genius blighted in its bloom, 

Of joy's beclouded ray ; 
Life, rapture, hope, ye are as brief 
And fleeting as the autumn leaf ! 



THE LAST SONG. 

Strike the wild harp yet once again ! 

Again its lonely numbers pour ; 
Then let the melancholy strain 

Be hush'd in death for evermore. 
For evermore, for evermore, 

Creative fancy, be thou still ; 
And let oblivious Lethe pour 

Upon my lyre its waters chill. 

Strike the wild harp yet once again ! 

Then be its fitful chords unstrung, 
Silent as is the grave's domain, 

And mute as the death-moulder'd tongue : 
Let not a thought of memory dwell 
One moment on its former song; 
Forgotten, too, be this farewell, 

Which plays its pensive strings along ! 

Strike the wild harp yet once again ! 

The saddest and the latest lay ; 
Then break at once its strings in twain, 

And they shall sound no more for aye : 
And hang it on the cypress tree : 

The hours of youth and song have pass'd, 
Have gone, with all their witchery ; 

Lost lyre ! these numbers are thy last. 



JOY AND SORROW. 

Jot kneels, at morning's rosy prime, 

Tn worship to the rising sun ; 
But Sorrow loves the calmer time, 

When the day-god his course hath run: 
When Night is on her shadowy car, 

Pale sorrow wakes while Joy doth sleep ; 
\nd, guided by the evening star, 

She wanders forth to muse and weep. 

Joy loves to cull the summer-flower, 

And wreathe it round his happy brow ; 
But when the dark autumnal hour 

Hath laid the leaf and blossoms low ; 
When the frail bud hath lost its worth, 

And Joy hath dash'd it from his crest, 
Then Sorrow takes it from the earth, 

To wither on her wither' d breast. 



GEORGE P. MORRIS. 



[Bom, 1S01.] 



This popular song-writer is a native of Phila- 
delphia. In common with many prominent au- 
thors of the present time, he commenced his lite- 
rary career by contributions to the journals. "When 
about fifteen years of age he wrote verses for the 
" New York Gazette," and he subsequently filled 
occasionally « the poet's corner" in the "American," 
at that time under the direction of Mr. Johxso:* 
Verplaxxk. In 1823, with the late Mr. Woob- 
worth, he established the "New York Mirror," a 
weekly miscellany which for nearly nineteen years 
was conducted with much taste and ability. In 
1827 his play, in five acts, entitled "Brier Cliff, 
a tale of the American Revolution," was brought 
out at the Chatham Theatre by Mr. Wallack, 
and acted forty nights successively. I have been 
informed that its popularity was so great that it 
was played at four theatres in New York, to full 
houses, on the same evening, and that it yielded 
the author a profit of three thousand five hundred 
dollars, a larger sum, probably, than was ever paid 
for any other dramatic composition in the United 
States. 

In 1836 General Morris published a volume 
of amusing prose writings under the title of 
"The Little Frenchman and his Water Lots;" 
in 1838 "The Deserted Bride and other Poems," 
of which an enlarged edition, illustrated by Wier 
and Chapmax, appeared in 1843; and in 1844 
a complete collection of his "Songs and Ballads." 
The composition which is understood to rank 
highest in his own estimation is the poetry of 
"The Maid of Saxony," an opera with music by 
Mr. Charles Horx, produced at the Park Thea- 
tre in 1842. In 1843, in conjunction with Mr. 
Willis, he reestablished " The Mirror," and he is 
now associated with that popular author in con- 
thcting'"The Home Journal." 

If there is any literary work which calls for a 
special gift of nature, perhaps it is the song. In 
terms of a sounder theory, I may say, that its suc- 
cessful accomplishment, beyond almost any other 
composition, demands an intelligent insight into 
the principles upon which its effect depends, and a 
capacity, if not to combine with imposing strength, 
yet to select with the nicest judgment. Other 
productions often gratify long and highly, in spite 
of considerable defects, while the song, to suc- 
ceed at all, must be nearly perfect. It implies a 
taste delicately skilled in the fine influences of lan- 
guage. It has often shunned the diligence of men 
who have done greater things. Starting from some 
common perception, by almost a crystalline pro- 
cess of accretion, it should grow up into a poem. 
Its first note should find the hearer in sympathy 
with it, and its last should leave him moved and 
wondering. Throughout, it must have an affi- 



nity to some one fixed idea. Its propriety is, not 
so much to give expression to a feeling existing 
in the bosom of the author, as to reproduce that 
feeling in the heart of the listener. The tone of 
the composition ought therefore to be, as much as 
is possible, below the force of the feeling which it 
would inspire. It should be simple, entire, and 
glowing. 

The distinction and difficulty of the song are 
illustrated by the genius of Jcxsox, Marlowe, 
and Drytjex ; by the fame of Moore, and the 
failure of Byron:. Several of the songs of 
Morris, whether judged of by their success, or 
by the application of any rules of criticism, are 
nearly faultless. They are in a very chaste style 
of art. They have the simplicity which is the 
characteristic of the classic models, and the purity 
which was once deemed an indispensable quality 
in the lyric poet. They are marked by neatne?s of 
language, free from every thing affected or finical ; 
a natural elegance of sentiment, and a correct 
moral purpose. His best effusions have few marks 
of imitation; they are like each other, but no 
English song can be named from which, in cha- 
racter and tone, they are not different. "The 
Chieftain's Daughter" is an example of the narra- 
tive song, in which the whole story is told, in a few 
lines, without omission and without redundancy; 
" When other friends are round thee," is a beauti- 
ful expression of affection; "Land, Ho!" is an 
exceedingly spirited and joyous nautical piece ; 
and in « Near the Lake," the very delicate effect 
which the author has contemplated is attained 
with remarkable precision. In sentiment, as in 
sound, there are certain natural melodies, which 
seem to be discovered rather than contrived, and 
which, as they are evolved from time to time by 
the felicity or skill of successive artists, are sure 
to be received with unbounded popularity. The 
higher and more elaborate productions of genius 
are best appreciated by the thoughtful analysis of 
a single critic; but the appropriate test of the 
merit of these simple, apparently almost sponta- 
neous effusions, is the response which they meet 
with from the common heart of man. The me- 
lodies of Mozart and Atjber, doubtless, en- 
chanted their ears who first heard them played by 
the composers, but we know them to be founded 
in the enduring truth of art, only because they 
have made themselves a home in the streets of 
every city of Europe and America, and after long 
experience have been found to be among the na- 
tural formulas by which gaiety and melancholy 
express themselves in every rank and in every 
land. The song of " Woodman, spare that Tree," 
has touched one of those cords of pervading nature 
which fraternize multitudes of different nations. 

243 



244 



GEORGE P. MORRIS. 



THE WEST. 

Ho ! brothers — come hither and list to my story — 

Merry and brief will the narrative be : 
Here, like a monarch, I reign in my glory — 

Master am I, boys, of all that I see. 
Where once frown'd a forest a garden is smiling — 

The meadow and moorland are marshes no 
more; 
And there curls the smoke of my cottage, beguiling 

The children who cluster like grapes at the door, 
Then enter, boys ; cheerly, boys, enter and rest ; 
The land of the heart is the land of the west. 
Oho, boys ! — oho, boys ! — oho ! 

Talk not of the town, boys, — give me the broad 
prairie, 

Where man like the wind roams impulsive and 
Behold how its beautiful colours all vary, [free ; 

Like those of the clouds, or the deep-rolling sea. 
A life in the woods, boys, is even as changing ; 

With proud independence we season our cheer, 
And those who the world are for happiness ranging, 

Won't find it at all, if they don't find it here. 
Then enter, boys ; cheerly, boys, enter and rest ; 
I'll show you the life, boys, we live in the west. 
Oho, boys ! — oho, boys ! — oho ! 

Here, brothers, secure from all turmoil and danger, 

We reap what we sow, for the soil is our own ; 
We spread hospitality's board for the stranger, 

And care not a fig for the king on his throne; 
We never know want, for we live by our labour, 

And in it contentment and happiness find ; 
We do what we can for a friend or a neighbour, 

And die, boys, in peace and good-will to mankind. 
Then enter, boys ; cheerly, boys, enter and rest ; 
You know how we live, boys, and die in the west ! 
Oho, boys ! — oho, boys ! — oho ! 



« LAND-HO !" 

Up, vp, with the signal! The land is in sight ! 
We'll be happy, if never again, boys, to-night ! 
The cold, cheerless ocean in safety we've pass'd, 
And the warm genial earth glads our vision at last. 
In the land of the stranger true hearts we shall find, 
To soothe us in absence of those left behind. 
Land ! — land-ho ! All hearts glow with joy at the 

sight ! 
We'll be happy, if never again, boys, to-night ! 

The signal is waving ! Till morn we'll remain, 
Then part in the hope to meet one day again 
Round the hearth-stone of home in the land of our 

birth, 
The holiest spot on the face of the earth ! 
Dear country ! our thoughts are as constant to thee, 
As the steel to the star, or the stream to the sea. 
Ho ! — land-ho ! We near it — we bound at the 

sight ! 
Then be happy, if never again, boys, to-night ! 

The signal is answer d ! The foam-sparkles rise 
Like tears from the fountain of joy to the eyes ! 



May rain-drops that fall from the storm-clouds of 

care, 
Melt away in the sun-beaming smiles of the fair ! 
One health, as chime gayly the nautical bells, 
To woman — God bless her ! — wherever she dwells ! 
The pilot's oisr board ! — and, thank Heaven, 

all's right ! 
So be happy, if never again, boys, to-night ! 



THE CHIEFTAIN'S DAUGHTER. 

Upok the barren sand 

A single captive stood, 
Around him came, with bow and brand, 

The red men of the wood. 
Like him of old, his doom he hears, 

Rock-bound on ocean's rim : — 
The chieftain's daughter knelt in tears, 

And breathed a prayer for him. 

Above his bead in air, 

The savage war-club swung, 
The frantic girl, in wild despair, 

Her arms about him flung. 
Then shook the warriors of the shade, 

Like leaves on aspen limb, 
Subdued by that heroic maid 

Who breathed a prayer for him. 

« Unbind him?" gasp'd the chief, 

" Obey your king's decree !" 
He kiss'd away her tears of grief, 

And set the captive free. 
'Tis ever thus, when in life's storm, 

Hope's star to man grows dim, 
An angel kneels in woman's form, 

And breathes a prayer for him. 



NEAR THE LAKE. 

Near, the lake where droop'd the willow, 

Long time ago ! 
Where the rock threw back the billow, 

Brighter than snow ; 
Dwelt a maid, beloved and cherish'd, 

By high and low ; 
But with autumn's leaf she perished, 

Long time ago ! 

Rock and tree and flowing water, 

Long time ago ! 
Bee and bird and blossom taught her 

Love's spell to know ! 
While to my fond words she listened, 

Murmuring low, 
Tenderly her dove-eyes glistened 

Long time ago ! 

Mingled were our hearts for ever ! 

Long time ago ! 
Can I now forget her 1 — Never ! 

No, lost one, no ! 
To her grave these tears are given, 

Ever to flow ; 
She's the star I miss'd from heaven, 

Long time ago ! 



GEOKGE P. MORRIS. 



245 



« WHEN OTHER FRIENDS ARE ROUND 
THEE." 

When other friends are round thee, 

And other hearts are thine, 
When other bays have crown'd thee, 

More fresh and green than mine, 
Then think how sad and lonely 

This doating heart will be, 
Which, while it throbs, throbs only, 

Beloved one, for thee ! 

Yet do not think I doubt thee, 

I know thy truth remains ; 
I would not live without thee, 

For all the world contains. 
Thou art the star that guides me 

Along life's changing sea ; 
And whate'er fate betides me, 

This heart still turns to thee. 



WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE.* 

Woodman, spare that tree ! 

Touch not a single bough ! 
In youth it shelter' d me, 

And I'll protect it now. 
'Twas my forefather's hand 

That placed it near his cot ; 
There, woodman, let it stand, 

Thy axe shall harm it not ! 

That old familiar tree, 

Whose glory and renown 
Are spread o'er land and sea, 

And wouldst thou hew it down 1 
Woodman, forbear thy stroke ! 

Cut not its earth-bound ties ; 
Oh spare that aged oak, 

Now towering to the skies ! 

When but an idle boy 

I sought its grateful shade ; 

In all their gushing joy 
Here too my sisters play'd. 

My mother kiss'd me here ; 

- My father press'd my hand — 

Forgive this foolish tear, 
But let that old oak stand ! 

My heart-strings round thee cling, 

Close as thy bark, old friend ! 
Here shall the wild-bird sing, 

And still thy branches bend. 
Old tree ! the storm still brave ! 

And, woodman, leave the spot; 
While I've a hand to save, 

Thy axe shall harm it not. 

*After I had sung the noble ballad of Woodman, spare 
that tree, at Boulogne, says Mr. Henry Russell, the vo- 
calist, an old gentleman, among the audience, who was 
greatly moved by the simple and touching beauty of the 
words, rose and said, " I beg your pardon, Mr. Russell, 
but was the tree really spared!" " It was," said I. "I 
am very glad to hear it," said he, as he took his seat 
amidst the unanimous applause of the whole assembly. 
I never saw such excitement in a concert-room. 



« WHERE HUDSON'S WAVE." 

Wheee Hudson's wave o'er silvery sands 

Winds through the hills afar, 
Old Cronest like a monarch stands, 

Crown'd with a single star ! 
And there, amid the billowy swells 

Of rock-ribb'd, cloud-capp'd earth, 
My fair and gentle Ida dwells, 

A nymph of mountain birth. 

The snow-flake that the cliff receives, 

The diamonds of the showers, 
Spring's tender blossoms, buds, and leaves, 

The sisterhood of flowers, 
Morn's early beam, eve's balmy breeze, 

Her purity define ; 
But Ida's dearer far than these 

To this fond breast of mine. 

My heart is on the hills. The shades 

Of night are on my brow : 
Ye pleasant haunts and quiet glades, 

My soul is with you now ! 
I bless the s«ar-crown'd highlands where 

M3 7 Ida's footsteps roam — 
Oh ! for a falcon's wing to bear 

Me onward to my home. 



THE PASTOR'S DAUGHTER. 

A>* ivy-mantled cottage smiled, 

Deep-wooded near a streamlet's side, 

Where dwelt the village pastor's child, 
In all her maiden bloom and pride. 

Proud suitors paid their court and duty 

To this romantic sylvan beauty : 

Yet none of all the swains who sought her, 

Was worthy of the pastor's daughter. 

The town-gallants cross'd hill and plain, 

To seek the groves of her retreat, 
And many follow'd in her train, 
To lay their riches at her feet. 
But still, for all their arts so wary, 
From home they could not lure the fairy. 
A maid without a heart, they thought her, 
And so they left the pastor's daughter. 

One balmy eve in dewy spring 

A bard became her father's guest ; 
He struck his harp, and every string 

To love vibrated in her breast. 
With that true faith which cannot falter, 
Her hand was given at the altar, 
And faithful was the heart he brought her 
To wedlock and the pastor's daughter. 

How seldom learn the worldly gay, 
With all their sophistry and art, 

The sweet and gentle primrose-way 
To woman's fond, devoted heart : 

They seek, but never find the treasure, 

Although reveal'd in jet and azure. 

To them, like truth in wells of water, 

A fable is the pastor's daughter. 
x2 






r 



ALBERT G. GREENE. 



[Born, 1802.; 



Mr. Greene was born in Providence, Rhode 
Island, on the tenth day of February, 1802. He 
was educated at Brown University, in that city, at 
which he was graduated in 1820. He was soon 
after admitted to the bar, and followed his profes- 
sion until 1834, when he was elected to an office 
under the city government, in which he has since 



THE BARON'S LAST BANQUET. 

O'er a low couch the setting sun 

Had thrown its latest ray, 
Where in his last strong agony 

A dying warrior lay, 
The stern, old Baron Rudiger, 

Whose feme had ne'er been bent 
By wasting pain, till time and toil 

Its iron strength had spent. 

" They come around me here, and say 

My days of life are o'er, 
That I shall mount my noble steed 

And lead my band no more ; 
They come, and to my beard they dare 

To tell me now, that I, 
Their own liege lord and master born, — 

That I — ha ! ha ! — must die. 

" And what is death 1 I 've dared him oft 

Before the Paynim spear, — 
Think ye he's entered at my gate, 

Has come to seek me here ] 
I've met him, faced him, scorn'd him, 

When the fight was raging hot, — 
I '11 try his might — I '11 brave his power ; 

Defy, and fear him not. 

" Ho ! sound the tocsin from my tower, — 

And fire the culverin, — 
Bid each retainer arm with speed, — 

Call every vassal in ; 
Up with my banner on the wall, — 

The banquet board prepare, — 
Throw wide the portal- of my hall, 

And bring my armour there !" 

A hundred hands were busy then, — 

The banquet forth was spread, — 
And rung the heavy oaken floor 

With many a martial tread, 
While from the rich, dark tracery 

Along the vaulted wall, 
Lights gleam'd on harness, plume, and spear, 

O'er the proud, old Gothic hall. 



remained. One of his earliest metrical composi- 
tions was the familiar piece entitled " Old Grimes," 
which was written in the year in which he entered 
the university. 

His poems, except one delivered before a literary 
society, at Providence, were written for periodicals, 
and have never been published in a collected form. 



Fast hurrying through the outer gate, 

The mail'd retainers pour'd, 
On through the portal's frowning arch, 

And throng'd around the board. 
While at its head, within his dark, 

Carved oaken chair of state, 
Arm'd cap-a-pie, stern Rudiger, 

With girded falchion, sate. 

" Fill every beaker up, my men, 

Pour forth the cheering wine ; 
There 's life and strength in every drop,- 

Thanksgiving to the vine ! 
Are ye all there, my vassals true 1 ? — 

Mine eyes are waxing dim ; — 
Fill round, my tried and fearless ones, 

Each goblet to the brim. 

« Ye 're there, but yet I see ye not. 

Draw forth each trusty sword, — 
And let me hear your faithful steel 

Clash once around my board : 
I hear it faintly : — Louder yet ! — 

What clogs my heavy breath 1 
Up all, — and shout for Rudiger, 

< Defiance unto Death !' " 

Bowl rang to bowl, — steel clang'd to steel, 

— And rose a deafening cry 
That made the torches flare around, 

And shook the flags on high : — 
" Ho ! cravens, do ye fear him 1 — 

Slaves, traitors ! have ye flown 1 
Ho ! cowards, have ye left me 

To meet him here alone ! 

But J defy him : — let him come !" 

Down rang the massy cup, 
While from its sheath the ready blade 

Came flashing halfway up ; 
And, with the black and heavy plumes 

Scarce trembling on his head, 
There, in his dark, carved, oaken chair, 

Old Rudiger sat, dead. 

246 



ALBERT G. GREENE. 



241 



TO THE WEATHERCOCK ON OUR 
STEEPLE. 

The dawn has broke, the morn is up, 

Another day begun ; 
And there thy poised and gilded spear 

Is flashing in the sun, 
Upon that steep and lofty tower 

Where thou thy watch hast kept, 
A true and faithful sentinel, 

While all around thee slept. 

'For years, upon thee, there has pour'd 

The summer's noon-day heat, 
And through the long, dark, starless night, 

The winter storms have beat ; 
B ut yet thy duty has been done, 

By day and night the same, 
Still thou hast met and faced the storm, 

Whichever way it came. 

No chilling blast in wrath has swept 

Along the distant heaven, 
But thou hast watch' d its onward course, 

And distant warning given ; 
And when mid-summer's sultry beams 

Oppress all living things, 
Thou dost foretell each breeze that comes 

With health upon its wings. 

How oft I 've seen, at early dawn, 

Or twilight's quiet hour, 
The swallows, in their joyous glee, 

Come darting round thy tower, 
As if, with thee, to hail the sun 

And catch his earliest light, 
And offer ye the morn's salute, 

Or bid ye both, — good-night. 

And when, around thee or above, 

No breath of air has stirr'd, 
Thou seem'st to watch the circling flight 

Of each free, happy bird, 
Till, after twittering round thy head 

In many a mazy track, 
The whole delighted company 
' Have settled on thy back. 

Then, if, perchance, amidst their mirth, 

A gentle breeze has sprung, 
And, prompt to mark its first approach, 

Thy eager form hath swung, 
I 've thought I almost heard thee say, 

As far aloft they flew, — 
« Now all away ! — here ends our play, 

For I have work to do ' 

Men slander thee, my honest friend, 

And call thee, in their pride, 
An emblem of their fickleness, 

Thou ever-faithful guide. 
Each weak, unstable human mind 

A "weathercock" they call; 
And thus, unthinkingly, mankind 

Abuse thee, one and all. 



They have no right to make thy name 

A by-word for their deeds : — 
They change their friends, their principles, 

Their fashions, and their creeds ; 
Whilst thou hast ne'er, like them, been known 

Thus causelessly to range ; 
But when thou changest sides, canst give 

Good reason for the change. 

Thou, like some lofty soul, whose course 

The thoughtless oft condemn, 
Art touch'd by many airs from heaven 

Which never breathe on them, — 
And moved by many impulses 

Which they do never know, 
Who, round their earth-bound circles, plod 

The dusty paths below. 

Through one more dark and cheerless night 

Thou well hast kept thy trust, 
And now in glory o'er thy head 

The morning light has burst. 
And unto earth's true watcher, thus, 

When his dark hours have pass'd, 
Will come " the day-spring from on high," 

To cheer his path at last. 

Bright symbol of fidelity, 

Still may I think of thee : 
And may the lesson thou dost teach 

Be never lost on me ; — 
But still, in sunshine or in storm, 

Whatever task is mine, 
May I be faithful to my trust, 

As thou hast been to thine. 



ADELHEID. 

Why droop the sorrowing trees, 
Swayed by the autumn breeze, 
Heavy with rain ! 
Drearily, wearily, 
Move as in pain 1 
Weeping and sighing, 
They ever seem crying, 
" Adelheid ! Adelheid !" evening and morn : 
•< Adelheid ! Adelheid! where has she gone!' 

With their arms bending there, 
In the cold whiter air, 
Icy and chill, 
Trembling and glistening, 
Watching and listening, 
Awaiting her still, 
With the snow round their feet, 
Still they the name repeat — 
" Adelheid ! Adelheid ! here is her home : 
Adelheid ! Adelheid ! when will she cornel" 

With the warm breath of Spring 
Now the foliage is stirr'd ; 

On the pathway below them 
A footstep is heard. 



248 



ALBERT G. GREENE. 



Now bent gently o'er her, 

How joyous the greeting, 
Now waving before her 

Each sound seems repeating — 
Adelheid ! Adelheid ! welcome again." 
Their branches upspringing, 
The breeze through them ringing, 
The birds through them singing, 

Unite in the strain — 
Adelheid ! Adelheid ! welcome again !" 



OLD GRIMES. 

Old Grimes is dead ; that good old man 

We never shall see more : 
He used to wear a long, black coat, 

All button'd down before. 

His heart was open as the day, 

His feelings all were true ; 
His hair was some inclined to gray — 

He wore it in a queue. 

Whene'er he heard the voice of pain, 
His breast with pity burn'd ; 

The large, round head upon his cane 
From ivory was turn'd. 

Kind words he ever had for all ; 

He knew no base design : 
His eyes were dark and rather small, 

His nose was aquiline. 

He lived at peace with all mankind, 

In friendship he was true : 
His coat had pocket-holes behind, 

His pantaloons were blue. 

Unharm'd, the sin which earth pollutes 

He pass'd securely o'er, 
And never wore a pair of boots 

For thirty years or more. 

But good old Grimes is now at rest, 
Nor fears misfortune's frown : 

He wore a double-breasted vest — 
The stripes ran up and down. 

He modest merit sought to find, 

And pay it its desert : 
He had no malice in his mind, 

No ruffles on his shirt. 

His neighbours he did not abuse — 

Was sociable and gay : 
He wore large buckles on his shoes, 

And changed them every day. 

His knowledge, hid from public gaze, 

He did not bring to view, 
Nor make a noise, town-meeting days, 

As many people do. 
His worldly goods he never threw 

In trust to fortune's chances, 
But lived (as all his brothers do) 

In easy circumstances. 
Thus undisturb'd by anxious cares, 

His peaceful moments ran ; 
And everybody said he was 

A fine old gentleman. 



OH, THINK NOT THAT THE BOSOM'S 
LIGHT. 

Oh think not that the bosom's light 

Must dimly shine, its fire be low, 
Because it doth not all invite 

To feel its warmth and share its glow. 
The altar's strong and steady blaze 

On all around may coldly shine, 
But only genial warmth conveys 

To those who gather near the shrine. 
The lamp within the festal hall 

Doth not more clear and brightly burn 
Than that, which shrouded by the pall, 

Lights but the cold funereal urn. 

The fire which lives through one brief hour, 

More sudden heat perchance reveals 
Than that whose tenfold strength and power 

Its own unmeasured depth conceals. 
Brightly the summer cloud may glide 

But bear no heat within its breast, 
Though all its gorgeous folds are dyed 

In the full glories of the west : 
'Tis that which through the darken'd sky, 

Surrounded by no radiance, sweeps — 
In which, conceal'd from every eye, 

The wild and vivid lightning sleeps. 

Do the dull flint, the rigid steel, 

Which thou within thy hand mayst hold, 
Unto thy sight or touch reveal 

The hidden power which they enfold ] 
But take those cold, unyielding things, 

And beat their edges till you tire, 
And every atom forth that springs 

Is a bright spark of living fire : 
Each particle, so dull and cold 

Until the blow that woke it came, 
Did still within it slumbering hold 

A power to wrap the world in flame. 

What is there, when thy sight is turn'd 

To the volcano's icy crest, 
By which the fire can be discem'd 

That rages in its silent breast ; 
Which hidden deep, but quenchless still, 

Is at its work of sure decay, 
And will not cease to burn until 

It wears its giant heart away. 
The mountain's side upholds in pride 

Its head amid the realms of snow, 
And gives its bosom depth to hide 

The burning mass which lies below. 

While thus in things of sense alone 

Such truths from sense lie still conceal'd, 
How can the living heart be known,* 

Its secret, inmost depths reveal'd 1 
Oh, many an overburden'd soul 

Has been at last to madness wrought, 
While proudly struggling to control 

Its burning and consuming thought — 
When it had sought communion long, 

And had been doom'd in vain to seek 
For feelings far too deep and strong 

For heart to bear or tongue to speak ! 



GEORGE W. BETHUNE. 



[Born about 1802.] 



The Rev. George W. Bethttne, D. D., is a 
native of New York, and is widely known as one 
of the finest scholars and most eloquent preachers 
in the American church. He is author of several 
volumes of literary and religious discourses, which 



are as much distinguished as his poems by a genial, 
loving spirit, and a classical elegance of diction. 
In 1847 he published an edition of Walton's An- 
gler, with ingenious and learned notes, and in the 
same year a volume of " Lays of Love and Faith." 



TO MY MOTHER. 

My mother ! — Manhood's anxious brow 
And sterner cares have long been mine ; 

Yet turn I to thee fondly now, 
As when upon thy bosom's shrine 

My infant griefs were gently hush'd to rest, 

And thy low-whisper'd prayers my slumber bless'd. 

I never call that gentle name, 

My mother ! but I am again 
E'en as a child ; the very same 

That prattled at thy knee ; and fain 
Would I forget, in momentary joy, 
That I no more can be thy happy boy ; — 

The artless boy, to whom thy smile 

Was sunshine, and thy frown sad night, 

(Though rare that frown, and brief the while 
It veil'd from me thy loving light ;) 

For well-conn'd task, ambition's highest bliss, 

To win from thine approving lips a kiss. 

I've loved through foreign lands to roam, 
And gazed o'er many a classic scene ; 

Yet would the thought of that dear home, 
Which once was ours, oft intervene, 

And bid me close again my weary eye 

To think of thee, and those sweet days gone by. 

That pleasant home of fruits and flowers, 
Where, by the Hudson's verdant side 

My sisters wove their jasmine bowers, 
And he, we loved, at eventide 

Would hastening come from distant toil to bless 

Thine, and his children's radiant happiness. 

Alas, the change ! the rattling car 

On flint-paved streets profanes the spot, 

Where o'er the sod, we sow'd the Star 
Of Bethlehem, and Forget-me-not. 

Oh, wo to Mammon's desolating reign ! 

We ne'er shall find on earth a home again ! 

I've pored o'er many a yellow page 

Of ancient wisdom, and have won, 
Perchance, a scholar's name — but sage 

Or bard have never taught thy son 
Lessons so dear, so fraught with holy truth, 
As those his mother's faith shed on his youth. 

If, by the Saviour's grace made meet, 
My God will own my life and love, 

32 



Methinks, when singing at His feet, 
Amid the ransom'd throng above, 
Thy name upon my glowing lips shall be, 
And I will bless that grace for heaven and thee. 

For thee and heaven; for thou didst tread 
The way that leads me heavenward, and 

My often wayward footsteps led 

In the same path with patient hand ; 

And when I wander'd far, thy earnest call 

Restored my soul from sin's deceitful thrall. 

I have been bless'd with other ties, 
Fond ties and true, yet never deem 

That I the less thy fondness prize ; 
No, mother ! in my warmest dream 

Of answer'd passion, through this heart of mine 

One chord will vibrate to no name but thine. 

Mother ! thy name is widow — well 

I know no love of mine can fill 
The waste place of thy heart, or dwell 

Within one sacred recess : still 
Lean on the faithful bosom of thy son, 
My parent, thou art mine, my only one ! 



NIGHT STUDY. 

I aivi alone ; and yet 
In the still solitude there is a rush 

Around me, as were met 
A crowd of viewless wings ; I hear a gush 
Of utter'd harmonies — heaven meeting earth, 
Making it to rejoice with holy mirth. 

Ye winged Mysteries, 
Sweeping before my spirit's conscious eye, 

Beckoning me to arise, 
And go forth from my very self, and fly 
With you far in the unknown, unseen immense 
Of worlds beyond our sphere — What are ye] 
Whence ? 

Ye eloquent voices, 
Now soft as breathings of a distant flute, 

Now strong as when rejoices, 
The trumpet in the victory and pursuit; 
Strange are ye, yet familiar, as ye call 
My soul to wake from earth's sense and its thrall. 

I know you now — I see 
With more than natural light — ye are the good 
The wise departed — ye 



250 



GEORGE W. BETHUNE. 



Are come from heaven to claim your brotherhood 
With mortal brother, struggling in the strife 
And chains, which once were yours in this sad life. 

Ye hover o'er the page 
Ye traced in ancient days with glorious thought 

For many a distant age ; 
Ye love to watch the inspiration caught, 
From your sublime examples, and so cheer 
The fainting student to your high career. 

Ye come to nerve the soul 
Like him who near the Atoner stood, when He, 

Trembling, saw round him roll 
The wrathful potents of Gethsemane, 
With courage strong: the promise ye have known 
And proved, rapt for me from the Eternal throne. 

Still keep ! 0, keep me near you, 
Compass me round with your immortal wings : 

Still let my glad soul hear you 
Striking your triumphs from your golden strings, 
Until with you I mount, and join the song, 
An angel, like you, 'mid the white-robed throng. 



LINES 

WRITTEN ON SEEING THORWATDSEN'S BAS-RELIEF 
REPRESENTING NIGHT. 

Yes ! bear them to their rest ; 
The rosy babe, tired with the glare of day, 
The prattler fallen asleep e'en in his play, 

Clasp them to thy soft breast, 
Night, 
Bless them in dreams with a deep hush'd delight. 

Yet must they wake again, 
Wake soon to all the bitterness of life, 
The pang of sorrow, the temptation strife, 

Aye, to the conscience-pain — 
O Night, 
Canst thou not take with them a longer flight 1 

Canst thou not bear them far — 
E'en now all innocent — before they know 
The taint of sin, its consequence of wo, 

The world's distracting jar, 
Night, 
To some ethereal, holier, happier height 1 

Canst thou not bear them up 
Through starlit skies, far from this planet dim 
And sorrowful, e'en while they sleep, to Him 

Who drank for us the cup, 
Night, 
The cup of wrath for hearts in faith contrite 1 

To Him, for them who slept 
A babe all lowly on His mother's knee, 
And from that hour to cross-crown'd Calvary, 

In all our sorrows wept, 

Night, [light. 

That on our souls might dawn Heaven's cheering 

So, lay their little heads 
Close to that human breast, with love divine 
Deep beating, while his arms immortal twine 

Around them as he sheds, 

O Night, [might. 

On them a brother's grace of God's own boundless 



Let them immortal wake 
Among the breathless flowers of Paradise, 
Where angel-songs of welcome with surprise 

This their last sleep may break, 
Night, 
And to celestial joy their kindred souls invite. 

There can come no sorrow, 
The brow shall know no shade, the eye no tears, 
For ever young through heaven's eternal years, 

In one unfading morrow, 
Night, 
Nor sin, nor age, nor pain their cherub-beauty blight 

Would we could sleep as they, 
So stainless and so calm, at rest with thee, 
And only wake in immortality ! 

Bear us with them away, 
O Night, 
To that ethereal, holier, happier height. 



TO MY WIFE. 

Afar from thee ! the morning breaks, 

But morning brings no joy to me ; 
Alas ! my spirit only wakes 

To know I am afar from thee. 
In dreams I saw thy blessed face, 

And thou wert nestled on my breast ; 
In dreams I felt thy fond embrace, 

And to mine own thy heart was press'd. 

Afar from thee ! 'tis solitude ! 

Though smiling crowds around me be, 
The kind, the beautiful, the good, 

For I can only think of thee ; 
Of thee, the kindest, loveliest, best, 

My earliest and my only one ! 
Without thee I am all unbless'd, 

And wholly bless'd with thee alone. 

Afar from thee ! the words of praise 

My listless ear unheeded greet; 
What sweetest seem'd, in better days, 

Without thee seems no longer sweet. 
The dearest joy fame can bestow 

Is in thy moisten'd eye to see, 
And in thy check's unusual glow, 

Thou deem'st me not unworthy thee. 

Afar from thee ! the night is come, 

But slumbers from my pillow flee ; 
Oh, who can rest so far from home 1 

And my heart's home is, love, with thee. 
I kneel me down in silent prayer, 

And then I know that thou art nigh : 
For Gon, who seeth everywhere, 

Bends on us both his watchful eye. 

Together, in his loved embrace, 

No distance can our hearts divide ; 
Forgotten quite the mediate space, 

I kneel thy kneeling form beside. 
My tranquil frame then sinks to sleep, 

But soars the spirit far and free ; 
Oh, welcome be night's slumbers deep, 

For then, sweet love, I am with thee. 



WILLIAM LEGGETT. 



[Bom, 1802. Died, 1840.] 



This distinguished political and miscellaneous 
writer was born in the city of New York, in the 
summer of 1802, and was educated at the George- 
town College, in the District of Columbia. In 
1822 he entered the navy of the United States as 
a midshipman ; but in consequence of the arbitrary 
conduct of his commander, Captain John Orde 
Creighton, he retired from the service in 1826, 
after which time he devoted himself mainly to litera- 
ry pursuits. His first publication was entitled " Lei- 
sure Hours at Sea," and was composed of various 
short poems written while he was in the navy. In 
1828 he established, in New York, "The Critic," 
a weekly literary gazette, which he conducted with 
much ability for seven or eight months, at the end 
of which time it was united with the « Mirror," to 
which he became a regular contributor. In " The 
Critic" and "The Mirror," he first published "The 
Rifle," " The Main Truck, or the Leap for Life," 
" White Hands, or Not Quite in Character," and 
other stories, afterward embraced in the volumes 
entitled " Tales by a Country Schoolmaster," and 
" Sketches of the Sea." These tales and sketches 
are probably the most spirited and ingenious pro- 
ductions of their kind ever written in this country. 

In 1829 Mr. Leggett became associated with 
Mr. Bryant, in the editorship of the "Evening 
Post," and on the departure of that gentleman for 
Europe, in 1834, the entire direction of that able 
journal was devolved to him. A severe illness, 
which commenced near the close of the succeed- 
ing year, induced him to relinquish his connexion 
with the "Post;" and on his recovery, in 1836, he 
commenced " The Plaindealer," a weekly periodi- 
cal devoted to politics and literature, for which he 
obtained great reputation by his independent and 
fearless assertion of doctrines, and the vigorous 
eloquence and powerful reasoning by which he 
maintained them. It was discontinued, in conse- 
quence of the failure of his publisher, before the 
close of the year ; and his health, after that period, 
prevented his connexion with any other journal. 
In 1828 he had been married to Miss Elmira 
Waring, daughter of Mr. Jona. Waring, of New 
Rochelle ; and to that pleasant village he now re- 
tired, with his family. He occasionally visited his 
friends in the city, and a large portion of the 
democratic party there proposed to nominate him 
for a seat in Congress ; but as he had acted inde- 
pendently of a majority of the party in regard to 
certain important political questions, his formal 
nomination was prevented. In April, 1840, he 
was appointed by Mr. Van Buren, then President 
of the United States, a diplomatic agent* from our 

* Soon after the death of Mr. Leggett, Mr. John L. 
Stephens, whose "Travels in Central America" have 
been since published, was appointed his successor as 
diplomatic agent to that country. 



government to the Republic of Guatemala. He 
was preparing to depart for that country, when he 
suddenly expired, on the twenty-ninth day of fol- 
lowing month, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. 

A few months after his death, a collection of his 
political writings, in two large duodecimo volumes, 
was published, under the direction of his friend, 
Mr. Theodore Sedgwick:. Besides the works 
already mentioned, he wrote much in various peri- 
odicals, and was one of the authors of " The Tales 
of Glauber Spa," published in 1832. In the ma- 
turity of his powers, his time and energies were 
devoted to political writing. His poems are the 
poorest of his productions, and were written while 
he was in the naval service, or during his editor- 
ship of " The Critic." In addition to his Melodies — 
which are generally ingenious and well versified — 
he wrote one or two prize addresses for the thea- 
tres, and some other pieces, which have considera- 
ble merit. 

His death was deeply and generally deplored, 
especially by the members of the democratic party, 
who regarded him as one of the ablest champions 
of their principles. Mr. Bryant, with whom he 
was for several years intimately associated, pub- 
lished in the " Democratic Review" the following 
tribute to his character : — 

"The earth may ring from shore to shore, 
With echoes of a glorious name ; 
But he whose loss our hearts deplore 
Has left behind him more than fame. 

"For when the death-frost came to lie 
Upon that warm and mighty heart, 
And quench that bold and friendly eye, 
His spirit did not all depart. 
" The words of fire that from his pen 
Were flung upon the lucid page, 
Still move, still shake the hearts of men, 
Amid a cold and coward age. 

" His love of Truth, too warm — too strong 
For Hope or Fear to chain or chill, 
His hate of Tyranny and Wrong, 
Burn in the breasts he kindled still." 

Mr. Sedgwick, in the preface to his political 
writings, remarks that " every year was softening 
his prejudices, and calming his passions; enlarging 
his charities, and widening the bounds of his libe- 
rality. Had a more genial clime invigorated his 
constitution, and enabled him to return to his 
labours, a brilliant and honourable future might 
have been predicted of him. It is not the sugges- 
tion of a too fond affection, but the voice of a calm 
judgment, which declares that, whatever public 
career he had pursued, he must have raised to his 
memory an imperishable monument, and that as 
no name is now dearer to his friends, so few could 
have been more honourably associated witn tne 
history of his country, than that of William 
Leggett." 

251 



252 



WILLIAM LEGGETT. 



A SACRED MELODY. 

If yon bright stars which gem the night 

Be each a blissful dwelling sphere, 
Where kindred spirits reunite, 

Whom death has torn asunder here ; 
How sweet it were at once to die, 

And leave this blighted orb afar — 
Mixed soul with soul, to cleave the sky, 

And soar away from star to star. 

But, ! how dark, how drear, how lone 

Would seem the brightest world of bliss, 
If, wandering through each radiant one, 

We fail'd to find the loved of this ! 
If there no more the ties should twine, 

Which death's cold hand alone can sever, 
Ah ! then these stars in mockery shine, 

More hateful, as they shine forever. 

It cannot be ! each hope and fear 

That lights the eye or clouds the brow, 
Proclaims there is a happier sphere 

Than this bleak world that holds us now ! 
There is a voice which sorrow hears, 

When heaviest weighs life's galling chain; 
'Tis heaven that whispers, « Dry thy tears : 

The pure in heart shall meet again !" 



LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP. 

The birds, when winter shades the sky, 

Fly o'er the seas away, 
Where laughing isles in sunshine lie, 

And summer breezes play ; 

And thus the friends that flutter near 

While fortune's sun is warm, 
Are startled if a cloud appear, 

And fly before the storm. 

But when from winter's howling plains 

Each other warbler's past, 
The little snow-bird still remains, 

And chirrups midst the blast. 

Love, like that bird, when friendship's throng 

With fortune's sun depart, 
Still lingers with its cheerful song, 

And nestles on the heart. 



SONG. 



I trust the frown thy features wear 

Ere long into a smile, will turn ; 
T would not that a face so fair 

As thine, beloved, should look so stern. 
The chain of ice that winter twines, 

Holds not for aye the sparkling rill, 
[t melts away when summer shines, 

And leave the waters sparkling still. 
Thus let thy cheek resume the smile 

That shed such sunny light before ; 
And though I left thee for a while, 

I'll swear to leave thee, love, no more. 



As he who, doomed o'er waves to roam, 

Or wander on a foreign strand, 
Will sigh whene'er he thinks of home, 

And better love his native land ; 
So I, though lured a time away, 

Like bees by varied sweets, to rove, 
Return, like bees, by close of day, 

And leave them all for thee, my love. 
Then let thy cheek resume the smile 

That shed such sunny light before, 
And though I left thee for a while, 

I swear to leave thee, love, no more. 



LIFE'S GUIDING STAR. 

The youth whose bark is guided o'er 

A summer stream by zephyr's breath, 
With idle gaze delights to pore 

On imaged skies that glow beneath. 
But should a fleeting storm arise 

To shade a while the watery way, 
Quick lifts to heaven his anxious eyes, 

And speeds to reach some sheltering bay, 

'Tis thus, down time's eventful tide, 

While prosperous breezes gently blow, 
In life's frail bark we gayly glide, 

Our hopes, our thoughts all fix'd below. 
But let one cloud the prospect dim, 

The wind its quiet stillness mar, 
At once we raise our prayer to Him 

Whose light is life's best guiding star. 



TO ELMIRA. 

WRITTEN WITH FRENCH CHALK* ON A FANE OF GLASS 
IN THE HOUSE OF A FRIEND. 

On this frail glass, to others' view, 

No written words appear ; 
They see the prospect smiling through, 

Nor deem what secret 's here. 
But shouldst thou on the tablet bright 

A single breath bestow, 
At once the record starts to sight 

Which only thou must know. 

Thus, like this glass, to strangers' gaze 

My heart seemed unimpress'd ; 
In vain did beauty round me blaze, 

It could not warm my breast. 
But as one breath of thine can make 

These letters plain to see, 
So in my heart did love awake 

When breathed upon by thee. 



* The substance usually called French chalk has this 
singular property, that what is written on glass, though 
easily rubbed out again, so that no trace remains visible, 
by being breathed on becomes immediately distinctly 
legible. 



EDWARD C. PINKNEY. 



[Born 1802. Died 1828.] 



Edward Coate PiNKKETwas born in London, 
in October, 1802, while his father, the Honourable 
William Pinkney, was the American Minister 
at the court of St. James'. Soon after the return of 
his family to Baltimore, in 1811, he entered St. 
Mary's College, in that city, and remained there 
until he was fourteen years old, when he was ap- 
pointed a midshipman in the navy. He con- 
tinued in the service nine years, and in that period 
visited the Mediterranean and several other foreign 
stations, and acquired much general knowledge 
and acquaintance with mankind. 

The death of his father, and other circumstances, 
induced him, in 1824, to resign his place in the 
navy ; and in the same year he was married, and 
admitted to the Maryland bar. His career as a 
lawyer was brief and unfortunate. He opened an 
office in Baltimore, and applied himself earnestly 
to his profession ; but though his legal acquire- 
ments and forensic abilities were respectable, his 
rooms were seldom visited by a client; and after 
two years had passed, disheartened by neglect, and 
with a prospect of poverty before him, he suddenly 
determined to enter the naval service of Mexico, 
in which a number of our officers had already won 
distinction and fortune. When, however, he pre- 
sented himself before Commodore Porter, then 
commanding the sea-forces of that country, the 
situation he solicited was refused,* and he was 
compelled reluctantly to return to the United 
States. 

He reappeared in Baltimore, poor and dejected. 
He turned his attention again to the law, but in 
his vigorous days he had been unable to support 
himself by his profession ; and now, when he was 
suffering from disease and a settled melancholy, 
it was not reasonable to anticipate success. The 
erroneous idea that a man of a poetical mind 
cannot transact business requiring patience and 
habits of careful investigation, was undoubtedly 
one of the principal causes of his failure as a 
lawyer ; for that he was respected, and that his 
fellow-citizens were willing to confer upon him 
honours, is evident from the fact that, in 1826, he 
was appointed one of the professors in the Uni- 
versity of Maryland. This office, however, was 
one of honour only : it yielded no profit. 

Pinkney now became sensible that his consti- 
tution was broken, and that he could not long: 



* It has been said that Commodore Porter refused 
to give Pinkney a commission, because he was known 
to be a warm adherent of an administration to which he 
was himself opposed ; but it is more reasonable to be- 
lieve, as was alleged at the time, that the navy of Mexico 
was full, and that the citizens of that republic bad begun 
to regard with jealousy the too frequent admission of 
foreigners into the service. 



survive ; but he had no wish to live. His feelings 
at this period are described in one of his poems : — 

"A sense it was, that I could see 

The angel leave my side — 
That thenceforth my prosperity 

Must be a falling tide; 
A strange and ominous belief, 
That in spring-time the yellow leaf 

Had fallen on my hours ; 
And that all hope must be most vain, 
Of finding on my path again 

Its former vanish'd flowers." 

Near the close of the year 1827, a political 
gazette, entitled " The Marylander," was esta- 
blished in Baltimore, and, in compliance with the 
general wish of the proprietors, Mr. Pixkney 
undertook to conduct it. He displayed much 
sagacity and candour, and in a few weeks won 
a high reputation in his new vocation ; but his 
increasing illness compelled him to leave it, and he 
died on the eleventh of April, 1828, at the early 
age of twenty-five years and six months. He 
was a man of genius, and had all the qualities of 
mind and heart that win regard and usually lead 
to greatness, except hope and energy. 

A small volume containing "Rodolph," and 
other poems, was published by Pinkney in 1825. 
"Rodolph" is his longest work. It was first pub- 
lished, anonymously, soon after he left the navy, 
and was probably written while he was in the 
Mediterranean. It is in two cantos. The first 
begins, — 

"The summer's heir on land and sea 

Had thrown his parting glance 
And winter taken angrily 

His waste inheritance. 
The winds in stormy revelry 
Sported beneath a frowning sky; 
The chafing waves, with hollow roar, 
Tumbled upon the shaken shore, 
And sent their spray in upward showers 
To Rodolph's proud ancestral towers, 
Whose bastion, from its mural crown, 
A regal look cast sternly down." 

There is no novelty in the story, and not much 
can be said for its morality. The hero, in the 
season described in the above lines, arrives at his 
own domain, after many years of wandering in fo- 
reign lands, during which he had « grown old in 
heart, and infirm of frame." In his youth he had 
loved — the wife of another — and his passion had 
been returned. "At an untimely tide," he had met 
the husband, and, in encounter, slain him. The 
wife goes into a convent, and her paramour seeks 
refuge from remorse in distant countries. In the 
beginning of the second canto, he is once more in 
his own castle ; but, feeling some dark presenti- 
ment, he wanders to a cemetery, where, in the 
morning, he is found by his vassals, "senseless 
___ Y 253 



254 



EDWARD C. PINKNEY. 



beside his lady's urn." In the delirium which 
follows, he raves of many crimes, but most 

. . . "Of one too dearly loved, 

And one untimely slain, 
Of an affection hardly proved 

By murder done in vain." 

He dies in madness, and the story ends abruptly 
and coldly. It has more faults than Pinknet's 
other works ; in many passages it is obscure ; its 
beauty is marred by the use of obsolete words ; and 
the author seems to delight in drawing his com- 
parisons from the least known portions of ancient 
literature. 

Some of his lighter pieces are very beautiful. 
"A Health," "The Picture-Song," and "A Se- 
renade," have *not often been equalled ; and 



"Italy," — an imitation of Goethe's Kcnnst du 
das Land — ha& some noble lines. Where is there 
a finer passage than this : 

"The winds are awed, nor dare to breathe aloud ; 
The air seems never to have borne a cloud, 
Save where volcanoes send to heaven their curl'd 
And solemn smokes, like altars of the world !" 

Pinknet's is the first instance in this country 
in which we have to lament the prostitution of 
true poetical genius to unworthy purposes. Per- 
vading much that he wrote there is a selfish me- 
lancholy and sullen pride; dissatisfaction with the 
present, and doubts in regard to the future life. 
The great distinguishing characteristic of Ameri- 
can poetry is its pure and high morality. May it 
ever be so ! 



ITALY. 



THE INDIAN'S BRIDE. 



K^ow'st thou the land whichlovers ought tochoose? 
Like blessings there descend the sparkling dews ; 
In gleaming streams the crystal rivers run, 
The purple vintage clusters in the sun ; 
Odours of flowers haunt the balmy breeze, 
Rich fruits hang high upon the verdant trees ; 
And vivid blossoms gem the shady groves, 
Where bright-plumed birds discourse their careless 

loves. 
Beloved ! — speed we from this sullen strand, 
TJntil thy light feet press that green shore's yellow 

sand. 

IiOok seaward thence, and naught shall meet thine 
But fairy isles, like paintings on the sky; [eye 
And, flying fast and free before the gale, 
The gaudy vessel with its glancing sail ; 
And waters glittering in the glare of noon, 
Or touch'd with silver by the stars and moon, 
Or fleck'd with broken lines of crimson light, 
When the far fisher's fire affronts the night. 
Lovely as loved ! toward that smiling shore 
Bear we our household gods, to fix forever more. 

It looks a dimple on the face of earth, 

The seal of beauty, and the shrine of mirth ; 

Nature is delicate and graceful there, 

The place's genius, feminine and fair; 

The winds are awed, nor dare to breathe aloud ; 

The air seems never to have borne a cloud, 

Save where volcanoes send to heaven their curl'd 

And solemn smokes, like altars of the world. 

Thrice beautiful ! — to that delightful spot 

Carry our married hearts, and be all pain forgot. 

There Art, too, shows, when Nature's beauty palls, 
Her sculptured marbles, and her pictured walls ; 
And there are forms in which they both conspire 
To whisper themes that know not how to tire; 
The speaking ruins in that gentle clime 
Have but been hallow'd by the hand of Time, 
And each can mutely prompt some thought of flame: 
The meanest stone is not without a name. 
Then come, beloved ! — hasten o'er the sea, 
To build our happy hearth in blooming Italy. 



Why is that graceful female here 
With yon red hunter of the deer ] 
Of gentle mien and shape, she seems 

For civil halls design'd, 
Yet with the stately savage walks, 

As she were of his kind. 
Look on her leafy diadem, 
Enrich'd with many a floral gem: 
Those simple ornaments about 

Her candid brow, disclose 
The loitering spring's last violet, 

And summer's earliest rose ; 
But not a flower lies breathing there 
Sweet as herself, or half so fair. 
Exchanging lustre with the sun, 

A part of day she strays — 
A glancing, living, human smile 

On Nature's face she plays. 
Can none instruct me what are these 
Companions of the lofty trees 1 



Intent to blend her with his lot, 
Fate form'd her all that he was not ; 
And, as by mere unlikeness, thoughts 

Associate we see, 
Their hearts, from very difference, caught 

A perfect sympathy. 
The household goddess here to be 
Of that one dusky votary, 
She left her pallid countrymen, 

An earthling most divine, 
And sought in this sequester'd wood 

A solitary shrine. 
Behold them roaming hand in hand, 
Like night and sleep, along the land ; 
Observe their movements : — he for her 

Restrains his active stride, 
While she assumes a bolder gait 

To ramble at his side ; 
Thus, even as the steps they frame, 
Their souls fast alter to the same. 




::j)So 



EDWARD C. PINKNEY. 



255 



The one forsakes ferocity, 

And momently grows mild ; 

The other tempers more and more 
The artful with the wild. 

She humanizes him, and he 

Educates him to liberty. 



0, say not they must soon be old, — 

Their limbs prove faint, their breasts feel cold ! 

Yet envy I that sylvan pair 

More than my words express, — 
The singular beauty of their lot, 

And seeming happiness. 
They have not been reduced to share 
The painful pleasures of despair; 
Their sun declines not in the sky, 

Nor are their wishes cast, 
Like shadows of the afternoon, 

Repining towards the past : 
With nought to dread or to repent, 
The present yields them full content. 
In solitude there is no crime ; 

Their actions all are free, 
And passion lends their way of life 

The only dignity ; 
And how can they have any cares 1 — 
Whose interest contends with theirs 1 



The world, for all they know of it, 
Is theirs : — for them the stars are lit ; 
For them the earth beneath is green, 

The heavens above are bright ; 
For them the moon doth wax and wane, 

And decorate the night ; 
For them the branches of those trees 
Wave music in the vernal breeze ; 
For them, upon that dancing spray, 

The free bird sits and sings, 
And glittering insects flit about 

Upon delighted wings ; 
For them that brook, the brakes among, 
Murmurs its small and drowsy song; 
For them the many-colour'd clouds 

Their shapes diversify, 
And change at once, like smiles and frowns, 

The expression of the sky. 
For them, and by them, all is gay, 
And fresh and beautiful as they : 
The images their minds receive, 

Their minds assimilate 
To outward forms, imparting thus 

The glory of their state. 



Could aught be painted otherwise 

Than fair, seen through her star-bright eyes'? 

He, too, because she fills his sight, 

Each object falsely sees ; 
The pleasure that he has in her 

Makes all things seem to please. 
And this is love ; — and it is life 
They lead, — that Indian and his wife. 



SONG. 

We break the glass, whose sacred wine, 

To some beloved health we drain. 
Lest future pledges, less divine, 

Should e'er the hallow'd toy profane ; 
And thus I broke a heart that pour'd 

Its tide of feelings out for thee, 
In draughts, by after-times deplored, 

Yet dear to memory. 

But still the old, impassion'd ways 

And habits of my mind remain, 
And still unhappy light displays 

Thine image chamber' d in my brain, 
And still it looks as when the hours 

Went by like flights of singing birds, 
Or that soft chain of spoken flowers, 

And airy gems — thy words. 



A HEALTH. 

I fixl this cup to one made up 

Of loveliness alone, 
A woman, of her gentle sex 

The seeming paragon ; 
To whom the better elements 

And kindly stars have given 
A form so fair, that, like the air, 

'Tis less of earth than heaven. 

Her every tone is music's own, 

Like those of morning birds, 
And something more than melody 

Dwells ever in her words ; 
The coinage of her heart are they, 

And from her lips each flows 
As one may see the burden'd bee 

Forth issue from the rose. 

Affections are as thoughts to her, 

The measures of her hours ; 
Her feelings have the fragrancy, 

The freshness of young flowers ; 
And lovely passions, changing oft, 

So fill her. she appears 
The image of themselves by turns,- 

The idol of past years ! 

Of her bright face one glance will trace 

A picture on the brain, 
And of her voice in echoing hearts 

A sound must long remain ; 
But memory, such as mine of her, 

So very much endears, 
When death is nigh my latest sigh 

Will not be life's, but hers. 

I fill'd this cup to one made up 

Of loveliness alone, 
A woman, of her gentle sex 

The seeming paragon — 
Her health ! and would on earth there stood, 

Some more of such a frame, 
That life might be all poetry, 

And weariness a name. 
2 A 



EDWARD C. PINKNEY. 



THE VOYAGER'S SONG.* 

SorxD trumpets,ho! — weigh anchor — loosen sail — 
The seaward flying banners chide delay ; 
As if 'twere heaven that breathes this kindly gale, 
Our life-like bark beneath it speeds away. 
Flit we, a gliding dream, with troublous motion, 
Across the slumbers of uneasy ocean ; 
And furl our canvass by a happier land, 
So fraught with emanations from the sun, 
That potable gold streams through the sand 
Where element should run. 

Onward, my friends, to that bright, florid isle, 
The jewel of a smoothe and silver sea, 
With springs on which perennial summers smile 
A power of causing immortality. 
For Bimini ; — in its enchanted ground, 
The hallow'd fountains we would seek, are found ; 
Bathed in the waters of those mystic wells, 
The frame starts up in renovated truth, 
And. freed from Time's deforming spells, 
Resumes its proper youth. 

Hail, bitter birth ! — once more my feelings all 
A graven image to themselves shall make, 
And, placed upon my heart for pedestal, 
That glorious idol long will keep awake 
Their natural religion, nor be cast 
To earth by Age, the great Iconoclast. 
As from Gadara's founts they once could come, 
Chann-call'd, from these Love's genii shall arise, 
And build their perdurable home, 
Mikaxda, in thine eyes. 

By Nature wisely gifted, not destroyed 
With golden presents, like the Roman maid, — 
. A sublunary paradise enjoy'd, 
Shall teach thee bliss incapable of shade ; — 
An Eden ours, nor angry go Is, nor men, 
Nor star-clad Fates, can take from us again. 
Superior to animal decay, 
Sun of that perfect heaven, thou 'It calmly see 
Stag, raven, phenix, drop away 
With human transiency. 

Thus rich in being, — beautiful, — adored, 
Fear not exhausting pleasure's precious mine ; 
The wondrous waters we approach, when pour'd 
On passion's lees, supply the wasted wine : 
Then be thy bosom's tenant prodigal, 
And confident of termless carnival. 
Like idle yellow leaves afloat on time, 
Let others lapse to death's pacific sea, — 
We '11 fade nor fall, but sport sublime 
In green eternity. 



*"A tradition prevailed among the natives of Puerto 
Rico, that in the Isle of Bimini, one of the Lucayos, 
there was a fountain of such wonderful virtue, as to re- 
new the youth and recall the vigour of every person who 
bathed in its salutary waters. In hopes of finding this 
grand restorative, Ponce de Leon and his followers, 
ranged through the islands, searching with fruitless soli- 
citude for the fountain, which was the chief object of 
the expedition "—Robertson's America. 



The envious years, which steal our pleasures, thou 
Mayst call at once, like magic memory, back, 
And, as they pass o'er thine unwithering brow, 
Efface their footsteps ere they form a track. 
Thy bloom with wilful weeping never stain, 
Perpetual life must not belong to pain. 
For me, — this world has not yet been a place 
Conscious of joys so great as will be mine, 
Because the light has kiss'd no face 
Forever fair as thine. 



A PICTURE-SONG. 

How may this little tablet feign 

The features of a face, 
Which o'er informs with loveliness, 

Its proper share of space ; 
Or human hands on ivory, 

Enable us to see 
The charms, that all must wonder at, 

Thou work of gods in thee ! 

But yet, methinks, that sunny smile 

Familiar stories tells, 
And I should know those placid eyes, 

Two shaded crystal wells ; 
Nor can my soul, the limner's art 

Attesting with a sigh, 
Forget the blood that deck'd thy cheek, 

As rosy clouds the sky. 

They could not semble what thou art, 

More excellent than fair, 
As soft as sleep or pity is, 

And pure as mountain-air ; 
But here are common, earthly hues, 

To such an aspect wrought, 
That none, save thine, can seem so like 

The beautiful of thought. 

The song I sing, thy likeness like, 

Is painful mimicry 
Of something better, which is now 

A memory to me, 
Who have upon life's frozen sea 

Arrived the icy spot, 
Where man's magnetic feelings show 

Their guiding task forgot. 

The sportive hopes, that used to chase 

Their shifting shadows on, 
Like children playing in the sun, 

Are gone — forever gone ; 
And on a careless, sullen peace, 

My double-fronted mind, 
Like Janus when his gates were shut, 

Looks forward and behind. 

Apollo placed his harp, of old, 

A while upon a stone, 
Which has resounded since, when struck, 

A breaking harp-string's tone ; 
And thus my heart, though wholly now, 

From early softness free, 
If touch'd, will yield the music yet, 

It first received of thee. 



EDWARD C. PINKNEY. 



257 



THE OLD TREE. 

And is it gone, that venerable tree, 

The old spectator of my infancy? — 

It used to stand upon this very spot, 

And now almost its absence is forgot. 

I knew its mighty strength had known decay, 

Its heart, like every old one, shrunk away, 

But dreamt not that its frame would fall, ere mine 

At all partook my weary soul's decline. 

The great reformist, that each day removes 
The old, yet never on the old improves, 
The dotard, Time, that like a child destroys, 
As sport or spleen may prompt, his ancient toys, 
And shapes their ruins into something new — 
Has planted other playthings where it grew. 
The wind pursues an unobstructed course, 
Which once among its leaves delay'd perforce ; 
The harmless Hamadryad, that of yore 
Inhabited its bole, subsists no more ; 
Its roots have long since felt the ruthless plough — 
There is no vestige of its glories now ! 
But in my mind, which doth not soon forget, 
That venerable tree is growing yet ; 
Nourish'd, like those wild plants that feed on air, 
By thoughts of years unconversant with care, 
And visions such as pass ere man grows wholly 
A fiendish thing, or mischief adds to folly. 
I still behold it with my fancy's eye, 
A vernant record of the days gone by : 
I see not the sweet form and face more plain, 
Whose memory was a weight upon my brain. 
— Dear to my song, and dearer to my soul, 
Who knew but half my heart, yet had the whole 
Sun of my life, whose presence and whose flight 
Its brief day caused, and never-ending night ! 
Must this delightless verse, which is indeed 
The mere wild product of a worthless weed, 
(But which, like sunflowers, turns a loving face 
Towards the lost light, and scorns its birth and place,) 
End with such cold allusion unto you, 
To whom, in youth, my very dreams were true 1 
It must; I have no more of that soft kind, 
My age is not the same, nor is my mind. 



TO 



'T was eve ; the broadly shining sun 
Its long, celestial course had run ; 
The twilight heaven, so soft and blue, 
Met earth in tender interview, 
E'en as the angel met of yore 
His gifted mortal paramour, 
Woman, a child of morning then, — 
A spirit still, — compared with men. 
lake happy islands of the sky, 
The gleaming clouds reposed on high, 
Each fix'd sublime, deprived of motion, 
A Delos to the airy ocean. 
Upon the stirless shore no breeze 
Shook the green drapery of the trees, 
Or, rebel to tranquillity, 
Awoke a ripple on the sea. 
Nor, in a more tumultuous sound, 
Were the world's audible breathings drown'd : 
33 



The low, strange hum of herbage growing, 

The voice of hidden waters flowing, 

Made songs of nature, which the ear 

Could scarcely be pronounced to hear ; 

But noise had furl'd its subtle wings, 

And moved not through material things, 

All which lay calm as they had been 

Parts of the painter's mimic scene. 

'T was eve ; my thoughts belong to thee, 

Thou shape of separate memory ! 

When, like a stream to lands of flame, 

Unto my mind a vision came. 

Methought, from human haunts and strife 

Remote, we lived a loving life ; 

Our wedded spirits seem'd to blend 

In harmony too sweet to end, 

Such concord as the echoes cherish 

Fondly, but leave at length to perish. 

Wet rain-stars are thy lucid eyes, 

The Hyades of earthly skies, 

But then upon my heart they shone, 

As shines on snow the fervid sun. 

And fast went by those moments bright, 

Like meteors shooting through the night ; 

But faster fleeted the wild dream 

That clothed them with their transient beam. 

Yet love can years to days condense, 

And long appear'd that life intense ; 

It was, — to give a better measure 

Than time, — a century of pleasure. 



ELYSIUM. 

She dwelleth in Elysium ; there, 
Like Echo, floating in the air ; 
Feeding on light as feed the flowers, 
She fleets away uncounted hours, 
Where halcyon Peace, among the bless'd, 
Sits brooding o'er her tranquil nest. 

She needs no impulse ; one she is, 
Whom thought supplies with ample bliss : 
The fancies fashion'd in her mind 
By Heaven, are after its own kind; 
Like sky-reflections in a lake, 
Whose calm no winds occur to break. 

Her memory is purified, 

And she seems never to have sigh'd : 

She hath forgot the way to weep ; 

Her being is a joyous sleep ; 

The mere imagining of pain, 

Hath pass'd, and cannot come again. 

Except of pleasure most intense 

And constant, she hath lost all sense ; 

Her life is day without a night, 

An endless, innocent delight ; 

No chance her happiness now mars 

Howe'er Fate twine her wreaths of stars. 

And palpable and pure, the part 
Which pleasure playeth with her heart ; 
For every joy that seeks the maid, 
Foregoes its common painful shade 
Like shapes that issue from the grove 
Arcadian, dedicate to Jove. 
y2 



258 



EDWARD C. PINKNEY. 



TO H- 



The firstlings of my simple song 

Were offer'd to thy name ; 
Again the altar, idle long, 

In worship rears its flame. 
My sacrifice of sullen years, 
My many hecatombs of tears, 

No happier hours recall — 
Yet may thy wandering thoughts restore 
To one who ever loved thee more 

Than fickle Fortune's all. 

And now, farewell ! — and although here 

Men hate the source of pain, 
I hold thee arid thy follies dear, 

Nor of thy faults complain. 
For my misused and blighted powers, 
My waste of miserable hours, 

I will accuse thee not : — 
The fool who could from self depart, 
And take for fate one human heart, 

Deserved no better lot. 

I reck of mine the less, because 

In wiser moods I feel 
A doubtful question of its cause 

And nature, on me steal — 
An ancient notion, that time flings 
Our pains and pleasures from his wings 

With much equality — 
And that, in reason, happiness 
Both of accession and decrease 

Incapable must be. 

Unwise, or most unfortunate, 

My way was ; let the sign, 
The proof of it, be simply this — 

Thou art not, wert not mine ! 
For 'tis the wont of chance to bless 
Pursuit, if patient, with success ; 

And envy may repine, 
That, commonly, some triumph must 
Be won by every lasting lust. 

How I have lived imports not now ; 

I am about to die, 
Else I might chide thee that my life 

Has been a stifled sigh ; 
Yes, life ; for times beyond the line 
Our parting traced, appear not mine, 

Or of a world gone by ; 
And often almost would evince, 
My soul had transmigrated since. 

Pass wasted flowers ; alike the grave, 

To which I fast go down, 
Will give the joy of nothingness 

To me, and to renown : 
Unto its careless tenants, fame 
Is idle as that gilded name, 

Of vanity the crown, 
Helvetian hands inscribe upon 
The forehead of a skeleton. 

List the last cadence of a lay, 

That, closing as begun, 
Is govern'd by a note of pain, 

O, lost and worshipp'd one ! 



None shall attend a sadder strain, 
Till Memson's statue stand again 

To mourn the setting sun, — 
Nor sweeter, if my numbers seem 
To share the nature of their theme. 



SERENADE. 

Look out upon the stars, my love, 

And shame them with thine eyes, 
On which, than on the lights above, 

There hang more destinies. 
Night's beauty is the harmony 

Of blending shades and light ; 
Then, lady, up, — look out, and be 

A sister to the night ! — 

Sleep not ! — thine image wakes for aye 

Within my watching breast : 
Sleep not ! — from her soft sleep should fly, 

Who robs all hearts of rest. 
Nay, lady, from thy slumbers break, 

And make this darkness gay 
With looks, whose brightness well might mat 

Of darker nights a day. 



THE WIDOW'S SONG. 

I burn no incense, hang no wreath 

O'er this, thine early tomb : 
Such cannot cheer the place of death, 

But only mock its gloom. 
Here odorous smoke and breathing flower 

No grateful influence shed ; 
They lose their perfume and their pow%,r, 

When offer'd to the dead. 

And if, as is the Afghaun's creed, 

The spirit may return, 
A disembodied sense, to feed 

On fragrance, near its urn — 
It is enough, that she, whom thou 

Didst love in living years, 
Sits desolate beside it now, 

And falls these heavy tears. 



SONG. 



I need not name thy thrilling name, 

Though now I drink to thee, my dear, 
Since all sounds shape that magic word, 

That fall upon my ear, — Mam ; 
And silence, with a wakeful voice, 

Speaks it in accents loudly free, 
As darkness hath a light that shows 

Thy gentle face to me, — Mary. 

I pledge thee in the grape's pure soul, 

With scarce one hope, and many fears, 
Mix'd, were I of a melting mood, 

With many bitter tears, — Marx — 
I pledge thee, and the empty cup 

Emblems this hollow life of mine, 
To which, a gone enchantment, thou 

No more wilt be the wi,ie, — Mart. 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON 



[Born, 1803.] 



Ralph Waido Emersott, one of the most 
eminent authors of this country, was born in Bos- 
ton about the year 1803. After obtaining his 
bachelor's degree at Harvard College, he studied 
theology, and was settled over the Second Unitarian 
Church in his native city, but subsequently aban- 
doned the pulpit on account of having adopted the 
Quaker opinion in regard to the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper ; and has since lived in retirement, 
devoting his time to the study of literature and 
philosophy. 



Mr. Emersox has been a contributor to the 
" North American Review" and the " Christian 
Examiner," and was two years editor of "The 
Dial," a literary and philosophical magazine printed 
in Boston. He has published a work entitled 
" Nature ;" a collection of " Orations," and two 
volumes of " Essays," all of which have peculiar 
and extraordinary merits. The first collection of 
his Poems was published in Boston in the begin- 
ning of 1847. Many of them bear the unques- 
tionable marks of genius. 



EACH IN ALL. 

Little thinks in the field yon red-cloak'd clown ! 

Of thee from the hill-top looking down ; 

And the heifer that lows in the upland farm 

Far heard, lows not thine ear to charm ; 

The sexton tolling his bell at noon 

Dreams not that great Napoleox 

Stops his horse, and lists with delight, 

Whilst his files sweep round yon Alpine height ; 

Nor knowest thou what argument 

Thy life to thy neighbour's creed hath lent, 

All are needed by each one ; 

Nothing is fair or good alone. 

I thought the sparrow's note from heaven, 
Singing at dawn on the alder bough ; 

I brought him home in his nest at even, — 
He sings the song, but it pleases not now, 

For I did not bring home the river and sky, 

He sang to my ear, these sang to my eye. 

The delicate shells lay on the shore — 

The bubbles of the latest wave 

Fresh pearls to their enamel gave, 

And the bellowing of the savage sea 

Greeted their safe escape to me. 

I wiped away the weeds and foam, 

I fetch'd my sea-born treasures home, 

But the poor, unsightly, noisome things 

Had left their beauty on the shore, 

With the sun, and the sand, and the wild uproar. 

Nor rose, nor stream, nor bird is fair, 

Their concord is beyond compare. 

The lover watch'd his graceful maid 

As mid the virgin train she stray'd, 

Nor knew her beauty's best attire 

Was woven still by that snow-white quire. 

At last, she came to his hermitage, 

Like the bird from the woodlands to the cage, — 

The gay enchantment was undone, — 

A gentle wife, but fairy none. 



Then, I said, "I covet truth ; 

Beauty is unripe childhood's cheat ; 
I leave it behind with the games of youth ;' 

As I spoke, beneath my feet 

The ground-pine curl'd its pretty wreath, 

Running over the hair-cap burs : 
I inhaled the violet's breath : 

Around me stood the oaks .<nd firs : 
Pine-cones and acorns lay on the ground. 
Over me soar'd the eternal sky 
Full of light and of deity; 
Again I saw — again I heard, 
The rolling river, the morning bird : 
Beauty through my senses stole, — 
I yielded myself to the perfect whole. 



"GOOD-BYE, PROUD WORidD !'" 

Gooti-bte, proud world! I'm going home. 

Thou art not my friend ; I am not thine : 
Too long through weary crowds I roam : — 

A river ark on the ocean brine, 
Too long I am toss'd like the driven foam 
But now, proud world, I 'm going home. 

Good-bye to Flattery's fawning face ; 

To Grandeur with his wise grimace : 

To upstart Wealth's averted eye ; 

To supple office, low and high ; 

To crowded halls, to court and street, 

To frozen hearts, and hasting feet, 

To those who go, and those who come, — 

Good-bye, proud world, Im going home. 

I go to seek my own hearth-stone 
Bosom'd in yon green hills alone ; 
A secret lodge in a pleasant land, 
Whose groves the frolic fairies plann'd, 
Where arches green, the livelong day 
Echo the blackbird's roundelay, 
And evil men have never trod 
A spot that is sacred to thought and God. 

259 



260 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 



O, when I am safe in my sylvan home, 
I mock at the pride of Greece and Rome ; 
And when I am stretch'd beneath the pines 
Where the evening star so holy shines, 
I laugh at the lore and pride of man, 
At the sophist schools, and the learned clan ; 
For what are they all in their high conceit, 
When man in the bush. with God may meet 1 



TO THE HUMBLE-BEE. 

Fixe humble-bee ! fine humble-bee ! 
Where thou art is clime for me, 
Let them sail for Porto Rique, 
Far-off heats through seas to seek, — 
I will follow thee alone, 
Thou animated torrid zone ! 
Zig-zag steerer, desert cheerer, 
Let me chase thy waving lines, 
Keep me nearer, me thy hearer, 
Singing over shrubs and vines. 

Flower-bells, 
Honey'd cells, — 
These the tents 
Which he frequents. 

Insect lover of the sun, 
Joy of thy dominion ! 
Sailor of the atmosphere, 
Swimmer through the waves of air, 
Voyager of light and noon, 
Epicurean of June, 
Wait, I prithee, till I come 
Within earshot of thy hum, — 
All without is martyrdom. 

When the south wind, in May days, 

With a net of shining haze, 

Silvers the horizon wall, 

And with softness touching all, 

Tints the human countenance 

With a colour of romance, 

And infusing subtle heats 

Turns the sod to violets, — 

Thou in sunny solitudes, 

Rover of the underwoods, 

The green silence dost displace 

With thy mellow breezy bass. 

Hot midsummer's petted crone, 
Sweet to me thy drowsy tune, 
Telling of countless sunny hours, 
Long days, and solid banks of flowers, 
Of gulfs of sweetness without bound 
In Indian wildernesses found, 
Of Syrian peace, immortal leisure. 
Firmest cheer, and bird-like pleasure. 

Aught unsavoury or unclean 
Hath my insect never seen, 
But violets, and bilberry bells, 
Maple sap, and daffodels, 
Clover, catchfly, adders-tongue, 
And brier-roses dwelt among. 
All beside was unknown waste, 
All was picture as he pass'd. 



Wiser far than human seer, 
Yellow-breech'd philosopher, 
Seeing only what is fair, 

Sipping only what is sweet 
Thou dost mock at fate and care, 

Leave the chaff and take the wheat. 
When the fierce north-western blast 
Cools sea and land so far and fast, — 
Thou already slumberest deep, 
W T o and want thou canst outsleep ; 
Want and wo which torture us, 
Thy sleep makes ridiculous. 



THE RHODORA. 

LINES ON BEING ASKED, WHENCE IS THE FLOWER? 

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, 
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods, 
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook, 
To please the desert and the sluggish brook ; 
The purple petals fallen in the pool 

Made the black waters with their beauty gay ; 
Young Raphael might covet such a school ; 

The lively show beguiled me from my way. 
Rhodora ! if the sages ask thee why 
This charm is wasted on the marsh and sky, 
Dear, tell them, that if eyes were made for seeing, 
Then beauty is its own excuse for being. 

Why, thou wert there, O, rival of the rose ! 
I never thought to ask, I never knew, 

But in my simple ignorance suppose [y°u. 

The selfsame Power that brought me there, brought 



THE SNOW-STORM. 

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky 
Arrives the snow, and driving o'er the fields, 
Seems nowhere to alight : the whited air 
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven, 
And veils the farm-house at the garden's end. 
The sled and traveller stopp'd, the courier's feet 
Delay'd, all friends shut out, the housemates sit 
Around the radiant fire-place, enclosed 
In a tumultuous privacy of storm. 

Come see the north-wind's masonry. 
Out of an unseen quarry evermore 
Furnish'd with tile, the fierce artificer 
Curves his white bastions with projected roof 
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door. 
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work 
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he 
For number or proportion. Mockingly 
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths ; 
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn ; 
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall, 
Maugre the farmer's sighs, and at the gate 
A tapering turret overtops the work. 
And when his hours are number'd, and the world 
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not, 
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonish'd Art 
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone, 
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work, 
The frolic architecture of the snow. 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 



261 



THE SPHINX. 

The Sphinx is drowsy, 

Her wings are furl'd, 
Her ear is heavy, 

She broods on the world. 
"Who'll tell me my secret 

The ages have kept ] 
I awaited the seer 

While they slumber' d and slept. 

" The fate of the manchild, — 

The meaning of man, — 
Known fruit of the unknown, 

Daedalian plan. 
Out of sleeping a waking, 

Out of waking a sleep, 
Life death overtaking, 

Deep underneath deep. 

" Erect as a sunbeam 

Upspringeth the palm ; 
The elephant browses 

Undaunted and calm; 
In beautiful motion 

The thrush plies his wings, 
Kind leaves of his covert ! 

Your silence he sings. 

« The waves unashamed 

In difference sweet, 
Play glad with the breezes, 

Old playfellows meet. 
The journeying atoms, 

Primordial wholes, 
Firmly draw, firmly drive, 

By their animate poles. 

" Sea, earth, air, sound, silence, 

Plant, quadruped, bird, 
By one music enchanted, 

One deity stirr'd, 
Each the other adorning, 

Accompany still, 
Night veileth the morning, 

The vapour the hill. 

" The babe, by its mother 
' Lies bathed in joy, 
Glide its hours uncounted, 

The sun is its toy ; 
Shines the peace of all being 

Without cloud in its eyes, 
And the sum of the world 

In soft miniature lies. 

" But man crouches and blushes, 

Absconds and conceals ; 
He creepeth and peepcth, 

He palters and steals ; 
Infirm, melancholy, 

Jealous glancing around, 
An oaf, an accomplice, 

He poisons the ground. 

« Outspoke the great mother 

Beholding his fear ; — 
At the sound of her accents 

Cold shudder'd the sphere ; — 



« Who has drugg'd my boy's cup, 
Who has mix'd my boy's bread 1 

Who, with sadness and madness, 
Has turn'd the manchild's headl' " 

I heard a poet answer 

Aloud and cheerfully, 
" Say on, sweet Sphinx ! — thy dirges 

Are pleasant songs to me. 
Deep love lieth under 

These pictures of time, 
They fade in the light of 

Their meaning sublime. 

" The fiend that man harries 

Is love of the Best, 
Yawns the Pit of the Dragon 

Lit by rays from the Blest ; 
The Lethe of Nature 

Can't trance him again, 
Whose soul sees the Perfect 

Which his eyes seek in vain. 

" Profounder, profounder 

Man's spirit must dive : 
To his aye-rolling orbit 

No goal will arrive. 
The heavens that now draw him 

With sweetness untold, 
Once found, — for new heavens 

He spurneth the old. 

" Pride ruin'd the angels, 

Their shame them restores : 
And the joy that is sweetest 

Lurks in stings of remorse. 
Have I a lover 

Who is noble and free, — 
I would he were nobler 

Than to love me. 

"Eterne alternation 

Now follows, now flies, 
And under pain, pleasure, — 

Under pleasure, pain lies. 
Love works at the centre 

Heart heaving alway, 
Forth speed the strong pulses 

To the borders of day. 

"Dull Sphinx, Jove keep thy five wits! 

Thy sight is growing blear ; 
Hemlock and vitriol for the Sphinx 

Her muddy eyes to clear." 
The old Sphinx bit her thick lip, — 

Said, « Who taught thee me to name \ 
Manchild! I am thy spirit; 

Of thine eye I am eyebeam. 

« Thou art the unanswer'd question : — 

Could st see thy proper eye, 
Alway it asketh, asketh, 

And each answer is a lie. 
So take thy quest through nature, 

It through thousand natures ply, 
Ask on, thou clothed eternity, 

Time is the false reply." 



2Q2 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 


Uprose the merry Sphinx, 


Bestrode the tribes that knelt within. 


And crouch'd no more in stone, 


Ever the fiery Pentacost 


She hopp'd into the baby's eyes, 


Girds with one flame the countless host, 


She hopp'd into the moon, 


Trances the heart through chanting quires, 


She spired into a yellow flame, 


And through the priest the mind inspires. 


She flower'd in blossoms red, 


The word unto the prophet spoken, 


She flow'd into a foaming wave, 


Was writ on tables yet unbroken ; 


She stood Monadnoc's head. 


The word by seers or sybils told 


Thorough a thousand voices 


In groves of oak or fanes of gold, 


Spoke the universal dame, 


Still floats upon the morning wind, 


« Who telleth one of my meanings 


Still whispers to the willing mind. 


Is master of all I am." 


One accent of the Holy Ghost 




The heedless world hath never lost. 
I know what say the Fathers wise, — 




THE PROBLEM. 


The book itself before me lies, — 




Old Chrijsostom, best Augustine, 


I like a church, I like a cowl, 


And he who blent both in his line, 


I love a prophet of the soul, 


The younger Golden Lips or mines, 


And on my heart monastic aisles 


Taylor, the Shakspeare of divines ; 


Fall like sweet strains or pensive smiles, 


His words are music in my ear, 


Yet not for all his faith can see 


I see his cowled portrait dear, 


Would I that cowled churchman be. 


And yet, for all his faith could see, 


Why should the vest on him allure, 


I would not the good bishop be. 


Which I could not on me endure 1 
Not from a vain or shallow thought 






His awful Jove young Phidias brought ; 


THE FORE-RUNNERS. 


Never from lips of cunning fell 





The thrilling Delphic oracle ; 


Long I follow'd happy guides : 


Out from the heart of nature roll'd 


I could never reach their sides. 


The burdens of the Bible old ; 


Their step is forth and, ere the day, 


The litanies of nations came, 


Breaks up their leaguer and away. 


Like the volcano's tongue of flame, 


Keen my sense, my heart was young, 


Up from the burning core below, — 


Right good will my sinews strung. 


The canticles of love and wo. 


But no speed of mine avails 


The hand that rounded Peter's dome, 


To hunt upon their shining trails. 


And groin'd the aisles of Christian Rome, 


On and away, their hasting feet 


Wrought in a sad sincerity. 


Make the morning proud and sweet. 


Himself from God he could not free ; 


Flowers they strew, I catch the scent, 


He builded better than he knew, 


Or tone of silver instrument 


The conscious stone to beauty grew. 


Leaves on the wind melodious trace, 


Know'st thou what wove yon wood-bird's nest 


Yet I could never see their face. 


Of leaves, and feathers from her breast; 


On eastern hills I see their smokes 


Or how the fish outbuilt her shell, 


Mix'd with mist by distant lochs. 


Painting with morn each annual cell ; 


I met many travellers 


Or how the sacred pine tree adds 


Who the road had surely kept, 


To her old leaves new myriads ? 


They saw not my fine revellers, 


Such and so grew these holy piles, 


These had cross'd them while they slept. 


Whilst love and terror laid the tiles. 


Some had heard their fair report, 


Earth proudly wears the Parthenon 


In the country or the court. 


As the best gem upon her zone ; 


Fleetest couriers alive 


And morning opes with haste her lids 


Never yet could once arrive, 


To gaze upon the Pyramids ; 


As they went or they return'd, 


O'er England's Abbeys bends the sky 


At the house where these sojoum'd. 


As on its friends with kindred eye ; 


Sometimes their strong speed they slacken, 


For, out of Thought's interior sphere 


Though they are not overtaken : 


These wonders rose to upper air, 


In sleep their jubilant troop is near, 


And nature gladly gave them place, 


I tuneful voices overhear, 


Adopted them into her race, 


It may be in wood or waste, — ' 


And granted them an equal date 


At unawares 'tis come and pass'd. 


With Andes and with Ararat. 


Their near camp my spirit knows 


These temples grew as grows the grass, 


By signs gracious as rainbows. 


Art might obey but not surpass. 


I thenceforward and long after, 


The passive Master lent his hand 


Listen for their harp-like laughter, 


To the vast Soul that o'er him plann'd, 


And carry in my heart for days 


And the same power that rear'd the shrine, 


Peace that hallows rudest ways. 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 



263 



THE POET. 

For this present, hard 
Is the fortune of the bard 

Born out of time ; 
All his accomplishment 
From nature's utmost treasure spent 

Booteth not him. 
When the pine tosses its cones 
To the song of its waterfall tones, 
He speeds to the woodland walks, 
To birds and trees he talks: 
Caesar of his leafy Rome, 
There the poet is at home. 
He goes to the river side, — 

Not hook nor line hath he : 
He stands in the meadows wide, — 

Nor gun nor scythe to see ; 
With none has he to do, 
And none to seek him, 
Nor men below, 

Nor spirits dim. 
What he knows nobody wants ; 
What he knows, he hides, not vaunts. 
Knowledge this man prizes best 
Seems fantastic to the rest ; 
Pondering shadows, colours, clouds, 
Grass buds, and caterpillars' shrouds, 
Boughs on which the wild bees settle, 
Tints that spot the violets' petal, 
Why nature loves the number five, 

And why the star-form she repeats ; — 
Lover of all things alive, 

Wonderer at all he meets, 
Wonderer chiefly at himself, — 

Who can tell him what he is ; 
Or how meet in human elf 

Coming and past eternities? .... 
And such I knew, a forest seer, 
A minstrel of the natural year, 
Foreteller of the vernal ides, 
Wise harbinger of spheres and tides, 
A lover true, who knew by heart 
Each joy the mountain dales impart; 
It seem'd that nature could not raise 
A plant in any seci-et place, 
In quaking bog, on snowy hill, 
Beneath the grass that shades the rill, 
Under the snow, between the rocks, 
In damp fields known to bird and fox, 
But he would come in the very hour 
It open'd in its virgin bower, 
As if a sunbeam show'd the place, 
And tell its long descended race. 
It seem'd as if the breezes brought him, 
It seem'd as if the sparrows taught him, 
As if by secret sight he knew 
Where in far fields the orchis grew. 
There ax*e many events in the field, 

Which are not shown to common eyes, 
But all her shows did nature yield 

To please and win this pilgrim wise. 
He saw the partridge drum in the woods, 

He heard the woodcock's evening hymn, 
He found the tawny thrush's broods, 
And the shy hawk did wait for him. 



What others did at distance hear, 

And guess'd within the thicket's gloom, 

Was show'd to this philosopher, 
And at his bidding seem'd to come. 



DIRGE. 



Knows he who tills this lonely field 

To reap its scanty corn, 
What mystic fruit his acres yield 

At midnight and at morn 1 

In the long sunny afternoon 

The plain was full of ghosts, 
I wander'd up, I wander'd down, 

Beset by pensive hosts. 

The winding Concord gleam'd below, 

Pouring as wide a flood 
As when my brothers, long ago, 

Came with me to the wood. 

But they are gone — the holy ones 
Who trod with me this lonely vale, 

The strong, star-bright companions 
Are silent, low, and pale. 

My good, my noble, in their prime, 
Who made this world the feast it was, 

Who learn'd with me the lore of Time, 
Who loved this dwelling-place ; 

They took this valley for their toy, 
They play'd with it in every mood, 

A cell for prayer, a hall for joy, 

They treated Nature as they would. 

They colour'd the whole horizon round, 
Stars flamed and faded as they bade, 

All echoes hearken'd for their sound, 
They made the woodlands glad or mad. 

I touch this flower of silken leaf 
Which once our childhood knew, 

Its soft leaves wound me with a grief 
Whose balsam never grew. 

Hearken to yon pine warbler, 

Singing aloft in the tree ; 
Hearest thou, O traveller ! 

What he singeth to me 1 

Not unless God made sharp thine ear 

With sorrow such as mine, 
Out of that delicate lay couldst thou 

Its heavy tale divine. 

« Go, lonely man," it saith, 

"They loved thee from their birth, 

Their hands were pure, and pure their faith, 
There are no such hearts on earth. 

« Ye drew one mother's milk, 

One chamber held ye all, 
A very tender history 

Did in your childhood fall. 

" Ye cannot unlock your heart, 

The key is gone with them ; 
The silent organ loudest chants 

The master's requiem." 



204 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 



TO RHEA. 

Thee, dear friend, a brother soothes, 
Not with flatteries, but truths, 
Which tarnish not, but purify- 
To light which dims the morning's eye. 
I have come from the spring-woods, 
From the fragrant solitudes : 
Listen what the poplar tree 
And murmuring waters counsell'd me. 

If with love thy heart has burn'd, 
If thy love is unreturn'd, 
Hide thy grief within thy breast, 
Xhough it tear- thee unexpress'd; 
For when love has once departed 
From the eyes of the false-hearted, 
And one by one has torn off quite 
The bandages of purple light, 
Though thou wert the loveliest 
Form the soul had ever dress'd, 
Thou shalt seem, in each reply, 
A vixen to his altered eye ; 
Thy softest pleadings seem too bold, 
Thy praying lute will seem to scold ; 
Though thou kept the straightest road, 
Yet thou errest far and broad. 

But thou shalt do as do the gods 
In their cloudless periods ; 
For of this lore be thou sure — 
Though thou forget, the gods, secure, 
Forget never their command, 
But make the statute of this land. 

As they lead, so follow all, 
Ever have done, ever shall. 
Warning to the blind and deaf, 
'T is written on the iron leaf — 
Who drinks of Cupid's nectar cup, 
Loveth downward, and not up ; 
Therefore, who loves, of gods or men, 
Shall not by the same be loved again ; 
His sweetheart's idolatry 
Falls, in turn, a new degree. 
When a god is once beguiled 
By beauty of a mortal child, 
And by her radiant youth delighted, 
He is not fool'd, but warily knoweth 
His love shall never be requited. 
And thus the wise Immortal doeth. — 
'T is his study and delight 
To bless that creature day and night — 
From all evils to defend her, 
In her lap to pour all splendour, 
To ransack earth for riches rare, 
And fetch her stars to deck her hair ; 
He mixes music with her thoughts, 
And saddens her with heavenly doubts : 
All grace, all good, his great heart knows, 
Profuse in love, the king bestows : 
Saying, " Hearken ! earth, sea, air ! 
This monument of my despair 
Build I to the All-Good, All-Fair. 
Not for a private good, 
But I, from my beatitude, 
Albeit scorn'd as none was scorn'd, 



Adorn her as was none adorn'd. 

I make this maiden an ensample 

To Nature, through her kingdoms ample, 

Whereby to model newer races, 

Statelier forms, and fairer faces ; 

To carry man to new degrees 

Of power and of comeliness. 

These presents be the hostages 

Which I pawn for my release. 

See to thyself, Universe ! 

Thou art better, and not worse." — 

And the god, having given all, 

Is freed forever from his thralL 



TO EVA. 

Oh fair and stately maid, whose eyes 
Were kindled in the upper skies 

At the same torch that lighted mine ; 
For so I must interpret still 
Thy sweet dominion o'er my will, 

A sympathy divine. 

Ah, let me blameless gaze upon 
Features that seem at heart my own ; 

Nor fear those watchful sentinels, 
Who charm the more their glance forbids, 
Chaste-glowing, underneath their lids, 

With fire that draws while it repels. 



THE AMULET. 

Yotjr picture smiles as first it smiled ; 

The ring you gave is still the same ; 
Your letter tells, oh changing child ! 

No tidings since it came. 

Give me an amulet 

That keeps intelligence with you — 
Red when you love, and rosier red, 

And when you love not, pale and blue. 

Alas ! that neither bonds nor vows 

Can certify possession: 
Torments me still the fear that love 

Died in its last expression. 



THINE EYES STILL SHINED. 

Thine eyes still shined for me, though far 
I lonely roved the land or sea : 

As I behold yon evening star, 
Which yet beholds not me. 

This morn I climb'd the misty hill, 
And roamed the pastures through ; 

How danced thy form before my path, 
Amidst the deep-eyed dew ! 

When the red-bird spread his sable wing, 
And show'd his side of flame — 

When the rosebud ripen'd to the 
In both I read thy name. 



SUMNER LINCOLN FAIRFIELD. 



[Bom 1803. Died 1844.] 



The author of « The Last Night of Pompeii" 
was born in Warwick, near the western border of 
Massachusetts, in the autumn of 1803. His father, 
a respectable physician, died in 1806, and his mo- 
ther, on becoming a widow, returned with two 
children to her paternal home in Worcester. 

Mr. Fairfield entered Harvard College when 
thirteen years of age; but, after spending two 
years in that seminary, was compelled to leave it, 
to aid his mother in teaching a school in a neigh- 
bouring village. He subsequently passed two or 
three years in Georgia and South Carolina, and in 
1824 went to Europe. He returned in 1826, was 
soon afterwards married, and from that period re- 
sided in Philadelphia, where for several years he 
conducted the "North American Magazine," a 
monthly miscellany in which appeared most of his 
prose writings and poems. 

He commenced the business of authorship at a 
very early period, and perhaps produced more in 
the form of poetry than any of his American con- 
temporaries. " The Cities of the Plain," one of 
his earliest poems, was originally published in 
England. It was founded on the history of the 
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the eigh- 
teenth and nineteenth chapters of Genesis. The 
"Heir of the World," which followed in 1828, is 
a poetical version of the life of Abraham. It is 
in the Spenserian measure, and contains some fine 
passages, descriptive of scenery and feeling. His 
next considerable work, " The Spirit of Destruc- 
tion," appeared in 1830. Its subject is the deluge. 
Like the " Cities of the Plain," it is in the heroic 
verse, in which he wrote with great facility. His 
"Last Night of Pompeii"* was published in 1832. 
It is the result of two years' industrious labour, and 
was written amid the cares and vexations of poverty. 
The destruction of the cities of Herculaneum, Pom- 
peii, Retina and Stabise, by an eruption of Vesuvius, 
in the summer of the year seventy-nine, is perhaps 
one of the finest subjects for poetry in modern his- 
tory. Mr. Fairfield in this poem exhibits a fa- 
miliar acquaintance with the manners and events 
of the period, and his style is stately and sustained. 
His shorter pieces, though in some cases turgid and 
unpolished, are generally distinguished for vigour 
of thought and depth of feeling. An edition of his 
principal writings was published in a closely-printed 
octavo volume, in Philadelphia, in 1841. 

The first and last time I ever saw Fairfield 
was in the summer of 1842, when he called at 
my hotel to thank me for some kind notice of him 
in one of the journals, of which he supposed me 

* Mr. Fairfield accused Sir Edward Bulwer Lyt- 
tox of founding on this poem his romance of the "Last 
Days of Pompeii." 

34 



! to be the author. In a note sent to my apartment 
I he described himself as " an outcast from all hu- 
man affections" except those of his mother and his 
children, with whom he should remain but a little 
while, for he " felt the weight of the arm of Death." 
He complained that every man's hand had been 
against him, that exaggerated accounts had been 
published of his infirmities, and uncharitable views 
given of his misfortunes. He said his mother, 
who had "been abused as an annoying old crone," 
in the newspapers, for endeavouring to obtain sub- 
scribers for his works, was attending him from his 
birth to his burial, and would never grow weary 
till the end. This prediction was verified. About 
a year afterwards I read in a published letter from 
New Orleans that Fairfield had wandered to 
that city, lived there a few months in solitude and 
destitution, and after a painful illness died. While 
he lingered on Iris pallet, between the angel of 
death and his mother, she counted the hours of 
day and night, never slumbering by his side, nor 
leaving him, until as his only mourner she had fol- 
lowed him to a grave. 

Not wishing to enter into any particular exami- 
nation of his claims to personal respect, I must still 
express an opinion that Fairfield was harshly 
treated, and that even if the specific charges against 
him were true, it was wrong to permit the private 
character of the author to have any influence upon 
critical judgments of his works. He wrote much, 
and generally with commendable aims. His know- 
ledge of bocks was extensive and accurate. He had 
considerable fancy, which at one period was under the 
dominion of cultivated taste and chastened feeling; 
but troubles, mostly resulting from a want of skill 
in pecuniary affairs, induced recklessness, misan- 
thropy, intemperance, and a general derangement 
and decay of his intellectual and moral nature. I 
see not much to admire in his poems, but they are 
by no means contemptible ; and " the poet Fair- 
field" had during a long period too much notoriety 
not to deserve some notice in a work of this sort, 
even though his verses had been still less poetical. 
Persons of an ardent temperament and refined 
sensibilities have too frequently an aversion to the 
practical and necessary duties of common life, to 
the indulgence of which they ow 7 e their chief mis- 
fortunes and unhappiness. The mind of the true 
poet, however, is well ordered and comprehensive, 
and shrinks not from the humblest of duties. 
Fairfield had the weakness or madness, absurdly 
thought to belong to the poetical character, which 
unfitted him for an honourable and distinguished 
life. He needed, besides his " some learning and 
more feeling," a strong will and good sense, to be 
either srreat or useful. 

Z 265 



2G6 



SUMNER LINCOLN FAIRFIELD. 



DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII.* 

A roar, as if a myriad thunders burst, 
Now hurtled o'er the heavens, and the deep earth 
Shudder'd, and a thick storm of lava hail 
Rush'd into air, to fall upon the world. 
And low the lion cower'd, with fearful moans 
And upturn'd eyes, and quivering limbs, and clutch'd 
The gory sand instinctively in fear. 
The very soul of silence died, and breath 
Through the ten thousand pallid lips, unfelt, 
Stole from the stricken bosoms ; and there stood, 
With face uplifted, and eyes fix'd on air, 
(Which unto him was throng'd with angel forms,) 
The Christian — waiting the high will of Heaven. 

A wandering sound of wailing agony, 
A cry of coming horror, o'er the street 
Of tombs arose, and all the lurid air 
Echo'd the shrieks of hopelessness and death. 



"Hear ye not now 



id Pajjsa. Death is 
Ye saw the avalanche of fire descend [here ! 

Vesuvian steeps, and, in its giant strength 
Sweep on to Herculaneum; and ye cried, 
'It threats not us: why should we lose the sport 1 ? 
Though thousands perish, why should we refrain V 
Your sister city — the most beautiful — 
Gasps in the burning ocean — from her domes 
Fly the survivors of her people, driven 
Before the torrent-floods of molten earth, 
With desolation red — and o'er her grave 
Unearthly voices raise the heart's last cries — 
1 Fly, fly! 0, horror! O, my son! my sire !' 
The hoarse shouts multiply ; without the mount 
Are agony and death — within, such rage 
Of fossil fire as man may not behold ! 
Hark ! the destroyer slumbers not — and now, 
Be your theologies but true, your Jove, 
Mid all his thunders, would shrink back aghast, 
Listening the horrors of the Titan's strife. 
The lion trembles ; will ye have my blood, 
Or flee, ere Herculaneum's fate is yours 1" 

Vesuvius answer'd : from its pinnacles 
Clouds of far-flashing cinders, lava showers, 
And seas, drank up by the abyss of fire, 
To be hurl'd forth in boiling cataracts, 
Like midnight mountains, wrapp'd in lightnings, fell. 
O, then, the love of life ! the struggling rush, 
The crushing conflict of escape ! few, brief, 
And dire the words delirious fear spake now, — 
One thought, one action sway'd the tossing crowd. 
All through the vomitories madly sprung, 
And mass on mass of trembling beings press'd, 
Gasping and goading, with the savageness 
That is the child of danger, like the waves 
Chary bdis from his jagged rocks throws down, 
Mingled in madness — warring in their wrath. 
Some swoon'd, and were trod down by legion feet ; 
Some cried for mercy to the unanswering gods ; 
Some shriek'd for parted friends, forever lost ; 
And some, in passion's chaos, with the yells 
Of desperation, did blaspheme the heavens ; 

* From "The Last Night of Pompeii." This scene 
follows the destruction of Herculaneum. Pansa, a 
Christian, condemned by Diomede, is brought into the 
gladiatorial arena, when a new eruption from Vesuvius 
causes a suspension of the proceedings. 



And some were still in utterness of wo. 

Yet all toil'd on in trembling waves of life 

Along the subterranean corridors. 

Moments were centuries of doubt and dread ; 

Each breathing obstacle a hated thing; 

Each trampled wretch a footstool to o'erlook 

The foremost multitudes ; and terror, now, 

Begat in all a maniac ruthlessness, — 

For, in the madness of their agonies, 

Strong men cast down the feeble, who delay 'd 

Their flight; and maidens on the stones were crush'd, 

And mothers madden'd when the warrior's heel 

Pass'd o'er the faces of their sons ! The throng 

Press'd on, and in the ampler arcades now 

Beheld, as floods of human life roll'd by, 

The uttermost terrors of the destined hour. 

In gory vapours the great sun went down ; 

The broad, dark sea heaved like the dying heart, 

'Tween earth and heaven hovering o'er the grave. 

And moan'd through all its waters ; every dome 

And temple, charr'd and choked with ceaseless 

Of suffocating cinders, seem'd the home [showers 

Of the triumphant desolator, Death. 

One dreadful glance sufficed, — and to the sea, 

Like Lybian winds, breathing despair, they fled. 

Nature's quick instinct, in most savage beasts, 
Prophesies danger ere man's thought awakes, 
And shrinks in fear from common savageness, 
Made gentle by its terror ; thus, o'erawed, 
E'en in his famine's fury, by a Power 
Brute beings more than human oft adore, 
The lion lay, his quivering paws outspread, 
His white teeth gnashing, till the crushing throngs 
Had pass'd the corridors ; then, glaring up, 
His eyes imbued with samiel light, he saw 
The crags and forests of the Apennines 
Gleaming far off, and, with the exulting sense 
Of home and lone dominion, at a bound 
He leap'd the lofty palisades, and sprung 
Along the spiral passages, with howls 
Of horror, through the flying multitudes, 
Flying to seek his lonely mountain-lair. 

From every cell shrieks burst; hyenas cried, 
Like lost child, wandering o'er the wilderness, 
That, in deep loneliness, mingles its voice 
With wailing winds and stunning waterfalls ; 
The giant elephant, with matchless strength, 
Struggled against the portal of his tomb, 
And groan'd and panted ; and the leopard's yell, 
And tiger's growl, with all surrounding cries 
Of human horror mingled ; and in air, 
Spotting the lurid heavens and waiting prey, 
The evil birds of carnage hung and watch'd, 
As ravening heirs watch o'er the miser's couch. 
All awful sounds of heaven and earth met now ; 
Darkness behind the sun-god's chariot roll'd, 
Shrouding destruction, save when volcan fires 
Lifted the folds, to glare on agony ; 
And, when a moment's terrible repose 
Fell on the deep convulsions, all could hear 
The toppling cliffs explode and crash below, — 
While multitudinous waters from the sea 
In whirlpools through the ohannel'd mountain rocks 
Rush'd, and, with hisses like the damned's speech, 
Fell in the mighty furnace of the mount. 



SUMNER LINCOLN FAIRFIELD. 



2g: 



VISIONS OF ROMANCE. 

Whes- dark-brow'd midnight o'er the slumbering 

world 
Mysterious shadows and bewildering throws, 
And the tired wings of human thought are furl'd, 
And sleep descends, like dew upon the rose, — 
How full of bliss the poet's vigil hour, 
When o'er him elder time hath magic power ! 

Before his eye past ages stand reveal'd, 
When feudal chiefs held lordly banquettings, 
In the spoils revelling of flood and field, 
Among their vassals proud, unquestion'd kings : 
While honour'd minstrels round the ample board 
The lays of love or songs of battle pour'd. 

The dinted helmet, with its broken crest, 
The serried sabre, and the shatter'd shield 
Hung round the wainscot, dark, and well express'd 
That wild, fierce pride, which scorn'd, unscathed, to 
The pictures there, with dusky glory rife, [yield ; 
From age to age bore down stern characters of strife. 

Amid long lines of glorious ancestry, [walls, 

Whose eyes flash'd o'er them from the gray, old 
What craven quails at Danger's lightning eye 1 
What warrior blenches when his brother falls ! 
Bear witness Cressy and red Agincourt ! 
Bosworth, and Bannockburn, and Marston Moor! 

The long, lone corridors, the antler'd hall, 
The massive walls, the all-commanding towers — 
Where revel reign'd, and masquerading ball, 
And beauty won stern warriors to her bowers — 
In ancient grandeur o'er the spirit move, 
With all their forms of chivalry and love. 

The voice of centuries bursts upon the soul ; 
Long-buried ages wake and live again; 
Past feats of fame and deeds of glory roll, 
Achieved for ladye-love in knighthood's reign ; 
And all the simple state of olden time 
Assumes a garb majestic and sublime. 

The steel-clad champion on his vaulting steed, 
The mitred primate, and the Norman lord, 
The peerless maid, awarding valour's meed, 
And the meek vestal, who her God adored— 
The pride, the pomp, the power and charm of earth 
From fancy's dome of living thought come forth. 

The feast is o'er, the huntsman's course is done, 
The trump of war, the shrill horn sounds no more ; 
The heroic revellers from the hall have gone, 
The lone blast moans the ruin'd castle o'er ! 
The spell of beauty, and the pride of power 
Have pass'd forever from the feudal tower. 

No more the drawbridge echoes to the tread 
Of visor'd knights, o'ercanopied with gold ; 
O'er mouldering gates and crumbling archways 
Dark ivy waves in many a mazy fold, [spread, 
Where chiefs flash'd vengeance from their lightning 
glance, [lance. 

And grasp'd the brand, and couch'd the conquering 

The gorgeous pageantry of times gone by, 
The tilt, the tournament, the vaulted hall, 
Fades in its glory on the spirit's eye, 
And fancy's bright and gay creations — all 



Sink into dust, when reason's searching glance 
Unmasks the age of knighthood and romance. 

Like lightning hurtled o'er the lurid skies, 
Their glories flash along the gloom of years ; 
The beacon-lights of time, to wisdom's eyes, 
O'er the deep-rolling stream of human tears. 
Fade ! fade ! ye visions of antique romance ! 
Tower, casque, and mace, and helm, and banner'd 
lance ! 



AN EVENING SONG OF PIEDMONT. 

Ave Maria ! 't is the midnight hour, 
The starlight wedding of the earth and heaven, 
When music breathes its perfume from the flower, 
And high revealings to the heart are given ; 
Soft o'er the meadows steals the dewy air — 
Like dreams of bliss ; the deep-blue ether glows, 
And the stream murmurs round its islets fair 
The tender night-song of a charm'd repose. 

Ave Maria ! 't is the hour of love, 
The kiss of rapture, and the link'd embrace, 
The hallow'd converse in the dim, still grove, 
The elysium of a heart-revealing face, 
When all is beautiful — for we are bless'd, 
When all is lovely — for we are beloved, 
When all is silent — for our passions rest, 
When all is faithful — for our hopes are proved. 

Ave Maria ! 't is the hour of prayer, 
Of hush'd communion with ourselves and Heaven, 
When our waked hearts their inmost thoughts 

declare, 
High, pure, far-searching, like the light of even; 
When hope becomes fruition, and we feel 
The holy earnest of eternal peace, 
That bids our pride before the Omniscient kneel, 
That bids our wild and warring passions cease. 

Ave Maria ! soft the vesper hymn 
Floats through the cloisters of yon holy pile, 
And, mid the stillness of the night-watch dim, 
Attendant spirits seem to hear and smile ! 
Hark! hath it ceased 1 The vestal seeks her cell, 
And reads her heart — a melancholy tale ! 
A song of happier years, whose echoes swell 
O'er her lost love, like pale bereavement's wail. 

Ave Maria ! let our prayers ascend 
From them whose holy offices afford 
No joy in heaven — on earth without a friend- 
That true, though faded image of the Lord ! 
For them in vain the face of nature glows, 
For them in vain the sun in glory burns, 
The hollow breast consumes in fiery woes, 
And meets despair and death where'er it turns. 

Ave Maria ! in the deep pine wood, 
On the clear stream, and o'er the azure sky 
Bland midnight smiles, and starry solitude 
Breathes hope in every breeze that wanders by. 
Ave Maria ! may our last hour come 
As bright, as pure, as gentle, Heaven ! as this ! 
Let faith attend us smiling to the tomb, 
And life and death are both the heirs of bliss ! 



RUFUS DAWES. 



{Born, 1803.] 



The family of the author of " Geraldine" is one 
of the most ancient and respectable in Massachu- 
setts. His ancestors were among the earliest set- 
tlers of Boston ; and his grandfather, as president 
of the Council, was for a time acting governor of 
the state, on the death of the elected chief magis- 
trate. His father, Thomas Dawes, was for ten 
years one of the associate judges of the Supreme 
Court of Massachusetts, and was distinguished 
among the advocates of the Federal Constitution, 
in the state convention called for its consideration. 
He was a sound lawyer, a man of great independ- 
ence of character, and was distinguished for the 
brilliancy of his wit, and for many useful qualities.* 

Rufus Dawes was born in Boston, on the 
twenty-sixth of January, 1803, and was the 
youngest but one of sixteen children. He entered 
Harvard College in 1820 ; but in consequence of 
class disturbances, and insubordination, of which 
it was afterward shown he was falsely accused, he 
was compelled to leave that institution without a 
degree. This indignity he retaliated by a severe 
satire on the most prominent members of the 
faculty — the first poem he ever published. He 
then entered the office of General William Sul- 
livan, as a law-student, and was subsequently 
admitted a member of the Suffolk county bar. 
He has however never pursued the practice of the 
legal profession, having been attracted by other 
pursuits more congenial with his feelings. 

In 1829 he was married to the third daughter 



of Chief Justice Craxch, of Washington. In 
1830 he published " The Valley of the Nashaway, 
and other Poems," some of which had appeared 
originally in the Cambridge " United States Lite- 
rary Gazette;" and in 1839, "Athenia of Damas- 
cus," "Geraldine," and his miscellaneous poetical 
writings. His last work, " Nix's Mate," an histo- 
rical romance, appeared in the following year. 

With Mr. Dawes poetry seems to have been a 
passion, which is fast subsiding and giving place 
to a love of philosophy. He has been said to be 
a disciple of Coleridge, but in reality is a de- 
voted follower of Swebenborg; and to this influ- 
ence must be ascribed the air of mysticism which 
pervades his later productions. He has from time 
to time edited several legal, literary, and political 
works, and in the last has shown himself to be an 
adherent to the principles of the old Federal party. 
As a poet, his standing is yet unsettled, there 
being a wide difference of opinion respecting his 
writings. His versification is generally easy and 
correct, and in some pieces he exhibits considera- 
ble imagination. 

In the winter of 1840-41, he delivered a course 
of lectures in the city of New York, before the 
American Institute, in which he combated the 
principles of the French eclectics and the Tran- 
scendentalists, contending that their philosophy is 
only a sublimated natural one, and very far re- 
moved from the true system of causes, and genu- 
ine spirituality. 



LANCASTER. 

The Queen of May has bound her virgin brow, 
And hung with blossoms every fruit-tree bough ; 
The sweet Southwest, among the early flowers, 
Whispers the coming of delighted hours, 
While birds within the heaping foliage, sing 
Their music-welcome to returning Spring. 

O, Nature ! loveliest in thy green attire — 
Dear mother of the passion-kindling lyre ; 
Thou who, in early days, upled'st me where 
The mountains freeze above the summer air ; 
Or luredst my wandering way beside the streams, 
To watch the bubbles as they mock'd my dreams, 
Lead me again thy flowery paths among, 
To sing of native scenes as yet unsung ! 

Dear Lancaster ! thy fond remembrance brings 
Thoughts, like the music of ^Eolian strings, 

* He is classed by Mr. Kettell among the American 
poets; and in the Book of "Specimens" published by 
him are given some passages of his "Law given on 
Sinai," published in Boston in 1777. 



When the hush'd wind breathes only as it sleeps, 
While tearful Love his anxious vigil keeps : — 
When press'd with grief, or sated with the show 
That Pleasure's pageant offers here below, 
Midst scenes of heartless mirth or joyless glee, 
How oft my aching heart has turn'd to thee, 
And lived again, in memory's sweet recess, 
The innocence of youthful happiness ! 

In life's dull dream, when want of sordid gain 
Clings to our being with its cankering chain, 
When lofty thoughts are cramp'd to stoop below 
The vile, rank weeds that in their pathway grow, 
Who would not turn amidst the darken'd scene, 
To memoried spots where sunbeams intervene ; 
And dwell with fondness on the joyous hours, 
When youth built up his pleasure-dome of flowers? 

Now, while the music of the feather'd choir 
Rings where the sheltering blossoms wake desire, 
W) >n dew-eyed Love looks tenderness, and speaks 
A llent language with his mantling cheeks ; 
I .aink of those delicious moments past, 
Which joyless age shall dream of to the last ; 



RUFUS DAWES. 



269 



As now, though far removed, the Muse would tell, 
Though few may listen, what she loved so well. 

Dear hours of childhood, youth's propitious spring, 
When Time fann'd only roses with his wing, 
When dreams, that mock reality, could move 
To yield an endless holiday to Love, 
How do ye crowd upon my fever'd brain, 
And, in imagination, live again ! 

Lo ! I am with you now, the sloping green, 
Of many a sunny hill is freshly seen ; 
Once more the purple clover bends to meet, 
And shower their dew-drops on the pilgrim's feet ; 
Once more he breathes the fragrance of your fields, 
Once more the orchard tree its harvest yields, 
Again he hails the morning from your hills, 
And drinks the cooling water of your rills, 
While, with a heart subdued, he feels the power 
Of every humble shrub and modest flower. 

O thou who journeyest through that Eden-clime, 
Winding thy devious way to cheat the time, 
Delightful Nashaway ! beside thy stream, 
Fain would I paint thy beauties as they gleam. 
Eccentric river ! poet of the woods ! 
Where, in thy far secluded solitudes, 
The wood-nymphs sport and naiads plash thy wave, 
With charms more sweet than ever Fancy gave ; 
How oft with Mantua's bard, from school let free, 
I've conn'd the silver lines that flow like thee, 
Couch'd on thy emerald banks, at full length laid, 
Where classic elms grew lavish of their shade, 
Or indolently listen'd, while the throng 
Of idler beings woke their summer song ; 
Or, with rude angling gear, outwatched the sun, 
Comparing mine to deeds by Walton done, 

Far down the silent stream, where arching trees 
Bend their green boughs so gently to the breeze, 
One live, broad mass of molten crystal lies, 
Clasping the mirror'd beauties of the skies ! 
Look, how the sunshine breaks upon the plains ! 
So the deep blush their flatter'd glory stains. 

Romantic river ! on thy quiet breast, 
While fiash'd the salmon with his lightning crest, 
Not long ago, the Indian's thin canoe 
Skimm'd lightly as the shadow which it threw ; 
Not long ago, beside thy banks of green, 
The night-fire blazed and spread its dismal sheen. 

Thou peaceful valley ! when I think how fair 
Thy various beauty shines, beyond compare, 
I cannot choose but own the Power that gave 
Amidst thy woes a helping hand to save, 
When o'er thy hills the savage war-whoop came, 
And desolation raised its funeral flame ! 

'T is night ! the stars are kindled in the sky, 
And hunger wakes the famished she-wolf's cry, 
While, o'er the crusted snow, the careful tread 
Betrays the heart whose pulses throb with dread ; 
Yon flickering light, kind beacon of repose ! 
The weaiy wanderer's homely dwelling shows, 
Where, by the blazing fire, his bosom's joy 
Holds to her heart a slumbering infant boy ; 
While every sound her anxious bosom moves, 
She starts and listens for the one she loves ; — 
Hark! was't the night-bird's cry that met her 

ear, 
Curdling the blood that thickens with cold fear? — 



« Again, God ! that voice, — 'tis his ! 'tis his !" 
She hears the death-shriek and the arrow's whiz, 
When, as she turns, she sees the bursting door 
Roll her dead husband bleeding on the floor. 

Loud as the burst of sudden thunder, rose 
The maddening war-cry of the ambush'd foes ; 
Startling in sleep, the dreamless infant wakes, 
Like morning's smile when daylight's slumber 

breaks ; 
" For mercy ! spare my child, forbear the blow !" 
In vain ; — the warm blood crimsons on the snow. 

O'er the cold earth the captive mother sighs, 
Her ears still tortured by her infant's cries ; 
She cannot weep, but deep resolve, unmoved, 
Plots vengeance for the victims so beloved ; 
Lo ! by their fire the glutted warriors lie, 
Locked in the death-sleep of ebriety, 
When from her bed of snow, whence slumber flew, 
The frenzied woman rose the deed to do ; — 
Firmly beside the senseless men of blood, 
With vengeful arm, the wretched mother stood ; 
She hears her groaning, dying lord expire, 
Her woman's heart nerves up with maddening fire, 
She sees her infant dashed against the tree, — 
'T is done ! — the red men sleep eternally. [now, 

Such were thy wrongs, sweet Lancaster ! but 
No spot so peaceful and serene as thou ; 
Thy hills and fields in checker'd richness stand, 
The glory and the beauty of the land. 

From calm repose, while glow'd the eastern sky, 
And the fresh breeze went fraught with fragrance by, 
Waked by the noisy woodbird, free from care, 
What joy was mine to drink the morning air ! 
Not all the bliss maturer life can bring, 
When ripen'd manhood soars with strengthen'd 

wing, — 
Not all the rapture Fancy ever wove, 
Nor less than that which springs from mutual love, 
Could challenge mine, when to the ravish'd sense 
The sunrise painted God's magnificence ! 
George-hill, thou pride of Nashaway, for thee, — 
Thyself the garden of fertility, — 
Nature has hung a picture to the eye, 
Where Beauty smiles at sombre Majesty. 
The river winding in its course below, [grow, 
Through fertile fields where yellowing harvests 
The bowering elms that so majestic grew, 
A green arcade for waves to wander through ; 
The deep, broad valley, where the new-mown hay 
Loads the fresh breezes of the rising day, 
And, distant far, Wachusett's towering height, 
Blue in the lingering shadows of the night, 
Have power to move the sternest heart to love, 
That Nature's loveliness could ever move. 

Ye who can slumber when the starlight fades, 
And clouds break purpling through the eastern 

shades, 
Whose care-worn spirits cannot wake at morn, 
To lead your buoyant footsteps o'er the lawn, 
Can never know what joy the ravish'd sense 
Feels in that moment's sacred influence. 
I will not ask the meed of fortune's smile, 
The flatterer's praise, that masks his heart of guile, 
So I can walk beneath the ample sky, 
And hear the birds' discordant melody, 
z2 



270 



RUFUS DAWES. 



And see reviving Spring, and Summer's gloom, 
And Autumn bending o'er his icy tomb, 
And hoary Winter pile his snowy drifts ; 
For these to me are Fortune's highest gifts ; 
And I have found in poor, neglected flowers, 
Companionship for many weary hours ; 
And high above the mountain's crest of snow, 
Communed with storm-clouds in their wrath below ; 
And where the vault of heaven, from some vast 

height 
Grew black, as fell the shadows of the night, 
Where the stars seem to come to you, I've woo'd 
The grandeur of the fearful solitude. 
From such communion, feelings often rise, 
To guard the heart midst life's perplexities, 
Lighting a heaven within, whose deep-felt joy 
Compensates well for Sorrow's dark alloy. 
Then, though the worldly chide, and wealth deny, 
And passion conquer where it fain would fly, 
Though friends you love betray, while these are left, 
The heart can never wholly be bereft. 

Hard by yon giant elm, whose branches spread 
A rustling robe of leaves above your head ; 
Where weary travellers, from noonday heat, 
Beneath the hospitable shade retreat, 
The school-house met the stranger's busy eye, 
Who turned to gaze again, he knew not why. 
Thrice lovely spot ! where, in the classic spring, 
My young ambition dipp'd her fever'd wing, 
And drank unseen the vision and the fire 
That break with quenchless glory from the lyre ! 
Amidst thy wealth of art, fair Italy ! 
While Genius warms beneath thy cloudless sky, 
As o'er the waking marble's polished mould 
The sculptor breathes Pygmalion's prayer of old, 
His heart shall send a frequent sigh to rove, 
A pilgrim to the birth-place of his love ! 

And can I e'er forget that hallowed spot, 
Whence springs a charm that may not be forgot ; 
Where, in a grove of elm and sycamore, 
The pastor show'd his hospitable door, 
And kindness shone so constantly to bless 
That sweet abode of peace and happiness 1 

The oaken bucket — where I stoop'd to drink 
The crystal water, trembling at the brink, 
Which through the solid rock in coldness flow'd, 
While creaked the ponderous lever with its load ; 
The dairy — where so many moments flew, 
With half the dainties of the soil in view ; [care, 
Where the broad pans spread out the milkmaid's 
To feed the busy churn that labour'd there; 
The garden — where such neatness met the eye, 
A stranger could not pass unheeding by ; 
The orchard — and the yellow-mantled fields, 
Each in its turn some dear remembrance yields. 

Ye who can mingle with the glittering crowd, 
Where Mammon struts in rival splendour proud ; 
Who pass your days in heartless fashion's round, 
And bow with hatred, where ye fear to wound ; 
Away ! no flatterer's voice, nor coward's sneer, 
Can find a welcome, or an altar here. 
But ye who look beyond the common ken, 
Self-unexalted when ye judge of men, 
Who, conscious of defects, can hurry by 
Faults that lay claim upon your charity ; 



Who feel that thrilling vision of the soul 
Which looks through faith beyond an earthly goal, 
And will not yet refuse the homely care 
Which every being shares, or ought to share ; 
Approach ! the home of Goodness is your own, 
And such as ye are worthy, sUch alone. 

When silence hung upon the Sabbath's smile, 
And noiseless footsteps paced the sacred aisle, 
When hearts united woke the suppliant lay, 
And happy faces bless'd the holy day; 
0, Nature ! could thy worshipper have own'd 
Such joy, as then upon his bosom throned ; 
When feelings, even as the printless snow, 
Were harmless, guileless as a child can know ; 
Or, if they swerved from right, were pliant still, 
To follow Virtue from the path of ill ] 
No ! when the morning 's old, the mist will rise 
To cloud the fairest vision of our eyes ; 
As hopes too brightly formed in rainbow dyes, 
A moment charm — then vanish in the skies ! 

Sweet hour of holy rest, to mortals given, 
To paint with love the fairest way to heaven ; 
When from the sacred book instruction came 
With fervid eloquence and kindling flame. 
No mystic rites were there ; to God alone 
Went up the grateful heart before his throne, 
While solemn anthems from the organ pour'd 
Thanksgiving to the high and only Lord. 

Lo ! where yon cottage whitens through the 
green, 
The loveliest feature of a matchless scene ; 
Beneath its shading elm, with pious fear, 
An aged mother draws her children near ; 
While from the Holy Word, with earnest air, 
She teaches them the privilege of prayer. 
Look ! how their infant eyes with rapture speak ; 
Mark the flush'd lily on the dimpled cheek ; 
Their hearts are filled with gratitude and love, 
Their hopes are center'd in a world above, 
Where, in a choir of angels, faith portrays 
The loved, departed father of their days. 

Beside yon grassless mound, a mourner kneels, 
There gush no tears to soothe the pang he feels ; 
His loved, his lost, lies coffin'd in the sod, 
Whose soul has found a dwelling-place with Gon ! 
Though press'd with anguish, mild religion shows 
His aching heart a balm for all its woes ; 
And hope smiles upward, where his love shall find 
A union in eternity of mind ! 

Turn there your eyes, ye cold, malignant crew, 
Whose vile ambition dims your reason's view, 
Ye faithless ones, who preach religion vain, 
And, childlike, chase the phantoms of your brain ; 
Think not to crush the heart whose truth has 
Its confidence in heavenly love reveal'd. [seal'd 
Let not the atheist deem that Fate decrees 
The lot of man to misery or ease, 
While to the contrite spirit faith is given, 
To find a hope on earth, a rest in heaven. 

Unrivall'dNashaway ! where the willows throw 
Their frosted beauty on thy path below, 
Beneath the verdant drapery of the trees, 
Luxuriant Fancy woos the sighing breeze. 
The redbreast singing where the fruit-tree weaves 
Its silken canopy of mulb'ry leaves ; 



RUFUS DAWES. 



271 



Enamell'd fields of green, where herding kine 
Crop the wet grass, or in the shade recline; 
The tapping woodbird, and the minstrel bee, 
The squirrel racing on his moss-grown tree, 
With clouds of pleasant dreams, demand in vain 
Creative thought to give them life again. 

I turn where, glancing down, the eye surveys 
Art building up the wreck of other days ; 
For graves of silent tribes upheave the sod, 
And Science smiles where savage Philip trod ; 
Where wing'd the poison'd shaft along the skies, 
The hammer rings, the noisy shuttle flies ; 
Impervious forests bow before the blade, 
And fields rise up in yellow robes array 'd. 
No lordly palace nor imperial seat 
Grasps the glad soil where freemen plant their 

feet; 
No ruin'd castle here with ivy waves, 
To make us blush for ancestry of slaves ; 
But, lo ! unnumber'd dwellings meet the eye, 
Where men lie down in native majesty : 
The morning birds spring from their leafy bed, 
As the stern ploughman quits his happy shed ; 
His arm is steel'd to toil — his heart to bear 
The robe of pain, that mortals always wear ; 
Though wealth may never come, a plenteous board 
Smiles at the pamper'd rich man's joyless hoard ; 
True, when among his sires, no gilded heir 
Shall play the fool, and damn himself to care, 
But Industry and Knowledge lead the way, 
Where Independence braves the roughest day. 

Nurse of my country's infancy, her stay 
In youthful trials and in danger's day ; 
Diffusive Education! 'tis to thee 
She owes her mountain-breath of Liberty ; 
To thee she looks, through time's illusive gloom, 
To light her path, and shield her from the tomb ; 
Beneath thine iEgis tyranny shall fail, 
Before thy frown the traitor's heart shall quail; 
Ambitious foes to liberty may wear 
A patriot mask, to compass what they dare, 
And sting the thoughtless nation, while they smile 
Benignantly and modestly the while ; 
But thou shalt rend the virtuous-seeming guise, 
And guard her from the worst of enemies. 
Eternal Power ! whose tempted thunder sleeps, 
While heaven-eyed Mercy turns away and weeps ; 
Thou who didst lead our fathers where to send 
Their free devotions to their God and friend ; 
Thou who hast swept a wilderness away, 
That men may walk in freedom's cloudless day ; 
Guard well their trust, lest impious faction dare 
Unlock the chain that binds our birthright fair ; 
That private views to public good may yield, 
And honest men stand fearless in the field ! 

Once more I turn to thee, fair Nashaway ! 
The farewell tribute of my humble lay ; 
The time may come, when lofty notes shall bear 
Thy peerless beauty to the gladden'd air ; 
Now to the lyre no daring hand aspires, 
And rust grows cankering on its tuneless wires. 

Our lays are like the fitful streams that flow 
From careless birds, that carol as they go ; 
Content, beneath the mountain-top to sing, 
And only touch Castalia with a wing. 



ANNE BOLEYN. 

I weep while gazing on thy modest face, 
Thou pictured history of woman's love ! 
Joy spreads his burning pinions on thy cheek, 
Shaming its whiteness ; and thine eyes are full 
Of conscious beauty, as they undulate. 
Yet all thy beauty, poor, deluded girl ! 
Served but to light thy ruin. — Is there not, 
Kind Heaven ! some secret talisman of hearts, 
Whereby to find a resting-place for love l 
Unhappy maiden ! let thy story teach 
The beautiful and young, that while their path 
Softens with roses, — danger may be there ; 
That Love may watch the bubbles of the stream, 
But never trust his image on the wave. 



SUNRISE, 

FROM MOUNT WASHINGTON. 

The laughing hours have chased away the night, 
Plucking the stars out from her diadem : — 
And now the blue-eyed Morn, with modest grace, 
Looks through her half-drawn curtains in the east, 
Blushing in smiles and glad as infancy. 
And see, the foolish Moon, but now so vain 
Of borrow'd beauty, how she yields her charms, 
And, pale with envy, steals herself away ! 
The clouds have put their gorgeous livery on, 
Attendant on the day — the mountain-tops 
Have lit their beacons, and the vales below 
Send up a welcoming ; — no song of birds, 
Warbling to charm the air with melody, 
Floats on the frosty breeze ; yet Nature hath 
The very soul of music in her looks ! 
The sunshine and the shade of poetry. 

I stand upon thy lofty pinnacle, 
Temple of Nature ! and look down with awe 
On the wide world beneath me, dimly seen ; 
Around me crowd the giant sons of earth, 
Fixed on their old foundations, unsubdued ; 
Firm as when first rebellion bade them rise 
Unrifted to the Thunderer — now they seem 
A family of mountains, clustering round 
Their hoary patriarch, emulously watching 
To meet the partial glances of the day. 
Far in the glowing east the flickering light, 
Mellow'd by distance, with the blue sky blending, 
Questions the eye with ever-varying forms. 

The sun comes up ! away the shadows fling 
From the broad hills — and, hurrying to the west, 
Sport in the sunshine, till they die away. 
The many beauteous mountain-streams leap down, 
Out-welling from the clouds, and sparkling light 
Dances along with their perennial flow. 
And there is beauty in yon river's path, 
The glad Connecticut ! I know her well, 
By the white veil she mantles o'er her charms : 
At times, she loiters by a ridge of hills, 
Sportfully hiding — then again with glee 
Out-rushes from her wild-wood lurking-place. 
Far as the eye can bound, the ocean-waves, 
And hills and rivers, mountains, lakes and woods, 
And all that hold the faculty entranced, 



272 



RUFUS DAWES. 



Bathed in a flood of glory, float in air, 
And sleep in the deep quietude of joy. 

There is an awful stillness in this place, 
A Presence, that forbids to break the spell, 
Till the heart pour its agony in tears. 
But I must drink the vision while it lasts ; 
For even now the curling vapours rise, 
Wreathing their cloudy coronals to grace 
These towering summits — bidding me away ; — 
But often shall my heart turn back again, 
Thou glorious eminence ! and when oppress'd, 
And aching with the coldness of the world, 
Find a sweet resting-place and home with thee. 



SPIRIT OF BEAUTY. 

The Spirit of Beauty unfurls her light, 
And wheels her course in a joyous flight; 
I know her track through the balmy air, 
By the blossoms that cluster and whiten there ; 
She leaves the tops of the mountains green, 
And gems the valley with crystal sheen. 

At morn, I know where she rested at night, 
For the roses are gushing with dewy delight ; 
Then she mounts again, and round her flings 
A shower of light from her crimson wings ; 
Till the spirit is drunk with the music on high, 
That silently fills it with ecstasy. 

At noon she hies to a cool retreat, 

Where bowering elms over waters meet ; 

She dimples the wave where the green leaves dip, 

As it smilingly curls like a maiden's lip, 

When her tremulous bosom would hide, in vain, 

From her lover, the hope that she loves again. 

At eve she hangs o'er the western sky 
Dark clouds for a glorious canopy, 
And round the skirts of their deepen'd fold 
She paints a border of purple and gold, 
Where the lingering sunbeams love to stay, 
When their god in his glory has passed away. 

She hovers around us at twilight hour, 
When her presence is felt with the deepest power ; 
She silvers the landscape, and crowds the stream 
With shadows that flit like a fairy dream ; 
Then wheeling her flight through the gladden'd air, 
The Spirit of Beauty is everywhere. 



LOVE UNCHANGEABLE. 

Yes ! still I love thee : — Time, who sets 

His signet on my brow, 
And dims my sunken eye, forgets 

The heart he could not bow ; — 
Where love, that cannot perish, grows 
For one, alas ! that little knows 

How love may sometimes last ; 
Like sunshine wasting in the skies, 

When clouds are overcast. 

The dew-drop hanging o'er the rose, 
Within its robe of light, 



Can never touch a leaf that blows, 
Though seeming to the sight ; 

And yet it still will linger there, 

Like hopeless love without despair,— 
A snow-drop in the sun ! 

A moment finely exquisite, 
Alas ! but only one. 

I would not have thy married heart 

Think momently of me, — 
Nor would I tear the cords apart, 

That bind me so to thee ; 
No ! while my thoughts seem pure and mild, 
Like dew upon the roses wild, 

I would not have thee know, 
The stream that seems to thee so still, 

Has such a tide below ! 

Enough ! that in delicious dreams 

I see thee and forget — 
Enough, that when the morning beams, 

I feel my eyelids wet ! 
Yet, could I hope, when Time shall fall 
The darkness, for creation's pall, 

To meet thee, — and to love, — 
I would not shrink from aught below, 

Nor ask for more above. 



EXTRACT FROM " GERALDINE." 

I know a spot where poets fain would dwell, 
To gather flowers and food for afterthought, 

As bees draw honey from the rose's cell, 

To hive among the treasures they have wrought ; 

And there a cottage from a sylvan screen 

Sent up its curling smoke amidst the green. 

Around that hermit-home of quietude, 

The elm trees whisper'd with the summer air, 

And nothing ever ventured to intrude, 

But happy birds, that caroll'd wildly there, 

Or honey-laden harvesters, that flew 

Humming away to drink the morning dew. 

Around the door the honeysuckle climbed, 
And Multa-flora spread her countless roses, 

And never minstrel sang nor poet rhymed 
Romantic scene where happiness reposes, 

Sweeter to sense than that enchanting dell, 

Where home-sick memory fondly loves to dwell 

Beneath a mountain's brow the cottage stood, 
Hard by a shelving lake, whose pebbled bed 

Was skirted by the drapery of a wood, 
That hung its festoon foliage over head, 

Where wild deer came at eve, unharm'd, to drink, 

While moonlight threw their shadows from the 
brink. 

The green earth heaved her giant waves around, 
Where through the mountain vista one vast 
height [bound 

Tower'd heavenward without peer, his forehead 
With gorgeous clouds, at times of changeful light. 

While far below, the lake, in bridal rest, 

Slept with his glorious picture on her breast. 



EDMUND D. GRIFFIN. 



3rn, 1804. Died, 1830.] 



EBMUJfD Dorr Griffin was born in the cele- 
brated valley of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, on 
the tenth day of September, 1804. During his 
infancy his parents removed to New York, but on 
account of the delicacy of his constitution, he was 
educated, until he was twelve years old, at various 
schools in the country. He entered Columbia 
College, in New York, in 1819, and until he was 
graduated, four years afterwards, maintained the 
highest rank in the successive classes. During 
this period most of his Latin and English poems 
were composed. He was admitted to deacon's 
orders, in the Episcopal Church, in 1826, and 



after spending two years in the active discharge of 
the duties of his profession, set out on his travels. 
He passed through France, Italy, Switzerland, Eng- 
land, and Scotland, and returned to New York in 
the spring of 1830. He was then appointed an 
associate professor in Columbia College, but re- 
signed the office after a few months, in consequence 
of ill health, and closed a life of successful devo- 
tion to learning, and remarkable moral purity, on 
the first day of September, in the same year. His 
travels in Europe, sermons, and miscellaneous 
writings were published in two large octavo vo- 
lumes, in 1831. 



LINES WRITTEN ON LEAVING ITALY. 
" Deh ! fossi tu men bella, o almen piu forte."— Filicaia. 

Would that thou wert more strong, at least less fair, 

Land of the orange grove and myrtle bower ! 
To hail whose strand, to breathe whose genial air, 

Is bliss to all who feel of bliss the power ; 
To look upon whose mountains in the hour 

When thy sun sinks in glory, and a veil 
Of purple flows around them, would restore 

The sense of beauty when all else might fail. 

Would that thou wert more strong, at least less fair, 

Parent of fruits, alas ! no more of men ! 
Where springs the olive e'en from mountains bare, 

The yellow harvests loads the scarce till'd plain. 
Spontaneous shoots the vine, in rich festoon 

From tree to tree depending, and the flowers 
Wreathe with their chaplets, sweet though fading 
soon, 

E'en fallen columns and decaying towers. 

Would that thou wert more strong, at least less fair, 

Home of the beautiful, but not the brave ! 
Where noble form, bold outline, princely air, 

Distinguish e'en the peasant and the slave : 
Where, like the goddess sprung from ocean's wave, 

Her mortal sisters boast immortal grace, 
Nor spoil those charms which partial Nature gave, 

By art's weak aids or fashion's vain grimace. 

Would that thou wert more strong, at least less fair, 

Thou nurse of every art, save one alone, 
The art of self-defence ! Thy fostering care 

Brings out a nobler life from senseless stone, 
And bids e'en canvass speak ; thy magic tone, 

Infused in music, now constrains the soul 
With tears the power of melody to own, [trol. 

And now with passionate throbs that spurn con- 
Would that thou wert less fair, at least more strong, 

Grave of the mighty dead, the living mean ! 
35 



Can nothing rouse ye both 1 no tyrant's wrong, 
No memory of the brave, of what has been 1 

Yon broken arch once spoke of triumph, then 
That mouldering wall too spoke of brave defence : 

Shades of departed heroes, rise again ! 

Italians, rise, and thrust the oppressors hence ! 

0, Italy ! my country, fare thee well ! 

For art thou not my country, at whose breast 
Were nurtured those whose thoughts within me 
dwell, 

The fathers of my mind ? whose fame impress'd 
E'en on my infant fancy, bade it rest 

With patriot fondness on thy hills and streams, 
E'er yet thou didst receive me as a guest, 

Lovelier than I had seen thee in my dreams 1 

Then fare thee well, my country, loved and lost : 

Too early lost, alas ! when once so dear ; 
I turn in sorrow from thy glorious coast, 

And urge the feet forbid to linger here. 
But must I rove by Arno's current clear, 

And hear the rush of Tiber's yellow flood, 
And wander on the mount, now waste and drear, 

Where Cesar's palace in its glory stood j 

And see again Parthenope's loved bay, 

And Paestum's shrines, and Baiae's classic shore, 
And mount the bark, and listen to the lay 

That floats by night through Venice — never 
Far off I seem to hear the Atlantic roar — [more] 

It washes not thy feet, that envious sea, 
But waits, with outstretch'd arms, to waft me o'er 

To other lands, far, far, alas, from thee. 

Fare — fare thee well once more. I love thee not 

As other things inanimate. Thou art 
The cherish'd mistress of my youth ; forgot 

Thou never canst be while I have a heart. 
Launch'd on those waters, wild with storm and wind, 

I know not, ask not, what may be my lot ; 
For, torn from thee, no fear can touch my mind, 

Brooding in gloom on that one bitter thought. 

273 



£74 



EDMUND D. GRIFFIN. 



DESCRIPTION OF LOVE, BY VENUS. 

Though old in cunning, as in years, 

He is so small, that like a child 
In face and form, the god appears, 

A nd sportive like a boy, and wild ; 
Lightly he moves from place to place, 

In none at rest, in none content ; 
Delighted some new toy to chase — 

On childish purpose ever bent. 
Beware ! to childhood's spirit gay 

Is added more than childhood's power ; 

And you perchance may rue the hour 
That saw you join his seeming play. 

He quick is anger'd, and as quick 
His short-lived passion's over past, 

Like summer lightnings, flashing thick, 
But flying ere a bolt is cast. 

I've seen, myself, as 'twere together, 
Now joy, now grief assume its place, 

Shedding a sort of April weather, 
Sunshine and rain upon his face. 

His curling hair floats on the wind, 
Like Fortune's, long and thick before, 
And rich and bright as golden ore : 

Like hers, his head is bald behind. 

His ruddy face is strangely bright, 

It is the very hue of fire, 
The inward spirit's quenchless light, 

The glow of many a soft desire. 
He hides his eye that keenly flashes, 

But sometimes steals a thrilling glance 
From 'neath his drooping silken lashes, 

And sometimes looks with eye askance ; 
But seldom ventures he to gaze 

With looks direct and open eye ; 

For well he knows — the urchin sly — 
But one such look his guile betrays. 

His tongue, that seems to have left just then 
His mother's breast, discourses sweet, 

And forms his lisping infant strain 
In words scarce utter'd, half-complete ; 

Yet, wafted on a winged sigh, 

And led by Flattery, gentle guide, 

Unseen into the heart they fly, 

Its coldness melt, and tame its pride. 

In smiles that hide intended wo, 
His ruddy lips are always dress'd, 
As flowers conceal the listening crest 

Of the coil'd snake that lurks below. 

In carriage courteous, meek, and mild, 
Humble in speech, and soft in look, 

He seems a wandering orphan child, 
And asks a shelter in some nook 

Or comer left unoccupied : 

But, once admitted as a guest, 

By slow degrees he lays aside 

That lowly port and look distress'd — 

Then insolent assumes his reign, 

Displays his captious, high-bred airs, 
His causeless pets and jealous fears, 

His fickle fancv and unquiet brain. 



EMBLEMS. 

Yon rose, that bows her graceful head to hail 
The welcome visitant that brings the morn, 

And spreads her leaves to gather from the gale 
The coolness on its early pinions borne, 

Listing the music of its whisper'd tale, 
And giving stores of perfume in return — 

Though fair she seem, full many a thorn doth hide ; 

Perhaps a worm pollutes her bosom's pride. 

Yon oak, that proudly throws his arms on high, 
Threshing the air that flies their frequent strokes, 

And lifts his haughty crest towards the sky, 
Daring the thunder that its height provokes, 

And spreads his foliage wide, a shelter nigh, 
From noonday heats to guard the weary flocks— 

Though strong he seem, must dread the bursting 

And e'en the malice of the feeble worm, [storm, 

The moon, that sits so lightly on her throne, 
Gliding majestic on her silent way, 

And sends her silvery beam serenely down, 

'Mong waving boughs and frolic leaves to play, 

To sleep upon the bank with moss o'ergrown, 
Or on the clear waves, clearer far than they — 

Seems purity itself: but if again 

We look, and closely, we perceive a stain. 

Fit emblems all. of those unworthy joys 

On which our passions and our hopes dilate: 

We wound ourselves to seize on Pleasure's toys, 
Nor see their worthlessness until too late ; 

And Power, with all its pomp and all its noise, 
Meets oft a sudden and a hapless fate ; 

And Fame of gentle deeds and daring high, 

Is often stain'd by blots of foulest dye. 

Where then shall man, by his Creator's hand 
Gifted with feelings that must have an aim, 

Aspiring thoughts and hopes, a countless band ; 
Affections glowing with a quenchless flame, 

And passions, too, in dread array that stand, 
To aid his virtue or to stamp his shame : 

Where shall he fix a soul thus form'd and given ? 

Fix it on God, and it shall rise to Heaven. 



TO A LADY. 

Like target for the arrow's aim, 
Like snow beneath the sunny heats, 

Like wax before the glowing flame, 
Like cloud before the wind that fleets, 

I am — 'tis love that made me so, 

And, lady, still thou sayst me no. 

The wound's inflicted by thine eyes, 
The mortal wound to hope and me, 

Which naught, alas, can cicatrize, 
Nor time, nor absence, far from thee. 

Thou art the sun, the fire, the wind, 

That make me such ; ah, then be kind ! 

My thoughts are darts, my soul to smite ; 

Thy charms the sun, to blind my sense, 
My wishes — ne'er did passion light 

A flame more pure or more intense. 
Love all these arms at once employs, 
And wounds, and dazzles, and destroys. 



J. H. BRIGHT. 



[Born, 1S04. Died, 1837.] 



Jonathan Huxttxgtox Bright was born in 
Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. At an early age 
he went to New York, where he resided several 
years, after which he removed to Albany, and sub- 
sequently to Richmond, in Virginia, where he was 
married. In the autumn of 1836 he sailed for 
New Orleans, and soon after his arrival in that 



city was induced to ascend the Mississippi, to take 
part in a mercantile interest at Manchester, where 
he died, very suddenly, in the thirty-third year of 
his age. He was for several years a writer for the 
public journals and literary magazines, under the 
signature of " Viator." His poetry has never been 
published collectively. 



THE VISION OF DEATH. 

The moon was high in the autumn sky, 

The stars waned cold and dim, 
Where hoarsely the mighty Oregon 

Peals his eternal hymn ; 
And the prairie-grass bent its seedy heads 

Far over the river's brim. 

An impulse I might not defy, 

Constraint my footsteps there, 
When through the gloom a red eye burn'd 

With fix'd and steady glare ; 
And a huge, misshapen form of mist 

Loom'd in the midnight air. 

Then out it spake : " My name is Death !" 
Thick grew my blood, and chill — 

A sense of fear weigh'd down my breath, 
And held my pulses still ; 

And a voice from that unnatural shade 
Compell'd me to its will. 

" Dig me a grave ! dig me a grave !" 

The gloomy monster said, 
" And make it deep, and long, and wide, 

And bury me my dead." 
A corpse without sheet or shroud, at my feet, 

And rusted mattock laid. 

With trembling hand the tool I spann'd, 
'Twas wet with blood, and cold, 

And from its slimy handle hung 
The gray and ropy mould ; 

And I sought to detach my stirTen'd grasp, 
But could not loose my hold. 

" Now cautiously turn up the sod ; 

God's image once it bore, 
And time shall be when each small blade 

To life He will restore, 
And the separate particles shall take 

The shape which first they wore." 

Deeply my spade the soft earth pierced, 

It touch'd the festering dead ; 
Tier above tier the corpses lay, 

As leaves in autumn shed ; 
The vulture circled, and flapp'd his wings, 

And scream'd, above my head. 



0, then I sought to rest my brow, 
The spade I held, its prop : 



« Toil on ! toil 



scream'd the ugly fiend, 



" My servants never stop ! 
Toil on ! toil on ! at the judgment-day 
Ye '11 have a glorious crop !" 

Now, wheresoe'er I turn'd my eyes, 

'Twas horrible to see 
How the grave made bare her secret work, 

And disclosed her depths to me ; 
While the ground beneath me heaved and roll'd 

Like the billows of the sea. 

The spectre skinn'd his yellow teeth — 

" Ye like not this, I trow : 
Six thousand years your fellow-man 

Has counted me his foe, 
And ever when he cursed I laugh'd, 

And drew my fatal bow. 

" And generations all untold 

In this dark spot I 've laid — 
The forest ruler and the young 

And tender Indian maid ; 
And moulders with their carcasses 

Behemoth of the glade. 

" Yet here they may no more remain ; 

I fain would have this room : 
And they must seek another rest, 

Of deeper, lonelier gloom ; 
Long ages since I mark'd this spot 

To be the white man's tomb. 

" Already his coming steps I hear, 

From the east's remotest line, 
While over his advancing hosts 

The forward banners shine : 
And where he builds his cities and towns, 

I ever must build mine." 

Anon a pale and silvery mist 

Was girdled round the moon : 
Slowly the dead unclosed their eyes, 

On midnight's solemn noon. 
" Ha !" mutter'd the mocking sprite, " I fear 

We 've waken'd them too soon ! 



" Now marshal all the numerous host 
In one concentred band, 



275 



J. H. BRIGHT. 



And hurry them to the west," said he, 

" Where ocean meets the land : 
They shall regard thy bidding voice, 

And move at thy command." 

Then first I spake — the sullen corpse 

Stood on the gloomy sod, 
Like the dry bones the prophet raised, 

When bidden by his God ; 
A might company, so vast, 

Each on the other trod. 

Tliey stalk'd erect as if alive, 

Yet not to life allied, 
But like the pestilence that walks, 

And wasteth at noontide, 
Corruption animated, or 

The grave personified. 

The earth-worm drew his slimy trail 

Across the bloodless cheek, 
And the carrion bird in hot haste came 

To gorge his thirsty beak ; 
But, scared by the living banquet, fled, 

Another prey to seek. 

While ever as on their way they moved, 

No voice they gave, nor sound, 
And before and behind, and about their sides, 

Their wither'd arms they bound ; 
As the beggar clasps his skinny hands 

His tatter'd garments round. 

On, on we went through the livelong night, 

Death and his troop, and I ; 
We turn'd not aside for forest or stream 

Or mountain towering high, 
B ut straight and swift as the hurricane sweeps 

Athwart the stormy sky. 

Once, once I stopp'd, where something gleam'd, 

With a bright and star-like ray, 
And I stoop'd to take the diamond up 

From the grass in which it lay ; 
'Twas an eye that from its socket fell, 

As some wretch toil'd on his way. 

At length our army reach'd the verge 

Of the far-off western shore ; 
Death drove them into the sea, and said, 

« Ye shall remove no more." 
The ocean hymn'd their solemn dirge, 

And his waters swept them o'er. 

The stars went out, the morning smiled 

With rosy tints of light, 
The bird began his early hymn, 

And plumed his wings for flight : 
And the vision of death was broken with 

The breaking up of night. 



HE WEDDED AGAIN. 

Ere death had quite stricken the bloom from her 
cheek, 
Or worn off the smoothness and gloss of her brow, 
When our quivering lips her dear name could not 
speak, 
And our hearts vainly strove to God's judgment 
to bow; 



He estranged himself from us, and cheerfully then 
Sought out a new object, and wedded again. 

The dust had scarce settled itself on her lyre, 
And its soft,melting tones still held captive the ear, 

While we look'd for her fingers to glide o'er the wire, 
And waited in fancy her sweet voice to hear ; 

He turn'd from her harp and its melody then, 

Sought out a new minstrel and wedded again. 

The turf had not yet by a stranger been trod, 
Nor the pansy a single leaf shed on her grave, 

The cypress had not taken root in the sod, [gave ; 
Nor the stone lost the freshness the sculptor first 

He turn'd from these mournful remembrances then, 

Wove a new bridal chaplet, and wedded again. 

His dwelling to us, O, how lonely and sad ! 

When we thought of the light death had stolen 
away, 
Of the warm hearts which once in its keeping it had, 

And that one was now widow'd and both in decay; 
But its deep desolation had fled even then — 
He sought a new idol, and wedded again. 

But can she be quite blest who presides at his board 1 
Will no troublesome vision her happy home shade, 

Of a future love luring and charming her lord, 
When she with our lost one forgotten is laid 1 

She must know he will worship some other star then, 

Seek out a new love, and be wedded again. 



SONG. 



Should sorrow o'er thy brow 

Its darken'd shadows fling, 
And hopes that cheer thee now, 

Die in their early spring ; 
Should pleasure at its birth 

Fade like the hues of even, 
Turn thou away from earth, — 

There 's rest for thee in heaven ! 

If ever life shall seem 

To thee a toilsome way, 
And gladness cease to beam 

Upon its clouded day ; 
If, like the wearied dove, 

O'er shoreless ocean driven, 
Raise thou thine eye above, — 

There 's rest for thee in heaven ! 

But, ! if always flowers 

Throughout thy pathway bloom, 
And gayly pass the hours, 

Undimn'd by earthly gloom ; 
Still let not every thought 

To this poor world be given, 
Not always be forgot 

Thy better rest in heaven ! 

When sickness pales thy cheek, 

And dims thy lustrous eye, 
And pulses low and weak 

Tell of a time to die — 
Sweet hope shall whisper then, 

" Though thou from earth be riven, 
There's bliss beyond thy ken, — 

There's rest for thee in heaven !" 



GEORGE D. PRENTICE. 



[Born, 1804.J 



Mr. Prentice is a native of Preston, in Con- 
necticut, and was educated at Brown University, 
in Providence, where he was graduated in 1823. 
He edited for several years, at Hartford, "The 
New England Weekly Review," in connection, I 
believe, with John G. Whittier ; and in 1831 



he removed to Louisville, Kentucky, where he has 
since conducted the " Journal," of that city, one 
of the most popular gazettes ever published in this 
country. Nearly all his poems were written while 
he was in the university. They have never been 
published collectively. 



THE CLOSING YEAR. 

'T is midnight's holy hour — and silence now 
Is brooding, like a gentle spirit, o'er 
The still and pulseless world. Hark ! on the winds 
The bell's deep tones are swelling; 'tis the knell 
Of the departed year. No funeral train 
Is sweeping past ; yet, on the stream and wood, 
With melancholy light, the moonbeams rest, 
Like a pale, spotless shroud ; the air is stirr'd, 
As by a mourner's sigh ; and on yon cloud, 
That floats so still and placidly through heaven, 
The spirits of the seasons seem to stand, [form, 
Young Spring, bright Summer, Autumn's solemn 
And Winter with his aged locks, and breathe 
In mournful cadences, that come abroad 
Iiike the far wind-harp's wild and touching wail, 
A melancholy dirge o'er the dead year, 
Gone from the earth forever. 'T is a time 
For memory and for tears. Within the deep, 
Still chambers of the heart, a spectre dim, 
Whose tones are like the wizard voice of Time, 
Heard from the tomb of ages, points its cold 
And solemn finger to the beautiful 
And holy visions that have pass'd away, 
And left no shadow of their loveliness 
On the dead waste of life. That spectre lifts 
The coffin-lid of hope, and joy, and love, 
And, bending mournfully above the pale 
Sweet forms that slumber there, scatters dead flowers 
O'er what has pass'd to nothingness. The year 
Has gone, and, with it, many a glorious throng 
Of happy dreams. Its mark is on each brow, 
Its shadow in each heart. In its swift course, 
It waved its sceptre o'er the beautiful, 
And they are not. It laid its pallid hand 
Upon the strong man, and the haughty form 
Is fallen, and the flashing eye is dim. 
It trod the hall of revelry, where throng'd 
The bright and joyous, and the tearful wail 
Of stricken ones is heard, where erst the song 
And reckless shout resounded. It pass'd o'er 
The battle-plain, where sword and spear and shield 
Flash'd in the light of midday — and the strength 
Of serried hosts is shiver'd, and the grass, 
Green from the soil of carnage, waves above 
The crush'd and mouldering skeleton. It came 
And faded like a wreath of mist at eve ; 
Yet, ere it melted in the viewless air, 
It heralded its millions to their home 



In the dim land of dreams. Remorseless Time — 
Fierce spirit of the glass and scythe — what power 
Can stay him in his silent course, or melt 
His iron heart to pity 1 On, still on 
He presses, and forever. The proud bird, 
The condor of the Andes, that can soar 
Through heaven's unfathomable depths, or brave 
The fury of the northern hurricane, 
And bathe his plumage in the thunder's home, 
Furls his broad wings at nightfall, and sinks down 
To rest upon his mountain-crag, — but Time 
Knows not the weight of sleep or weariness, 
And night's deep darkness has no chain to bind 
His rushing pinion. Revolutions sweep 
O'er earth, like troubled visions o'er the breast 
Of dreaming sorrow ; cities rise and sink, 
Like bubbles on the water ; fiery isles 
Spring, blazing, from the ocean, and go back 
To their mysterious caverns ; mountains rear 
To heaven their bald and blacken'd cliffs, and bow 
Their tall heads to the plain ; new empires rise, 
Gathering the strength of hoary centuries, 
And rush down like the Alpine avalanche, 
Startling the nations ; and the very stars. 
Yon bright and burning blazonry of God, 
Glitter a while in their eternal depths, 
And, like the Pleiad, loveliest of their train. 
Shoot from their glorious spheres, and pass away, 
To darkle in the trackless void : — yet Time — 
Time, the tomb-builder, holds his fierce career, 
Dark, stern, all-pitiless, and pauses not 
Amid the mighty wrecks that strew his path, 
To sit and muse, like other conquerors, 
Upon the fearful ruin he has wrought. 



LINES TO A LADY. 

Lady, I love, at eventide, 

When stars, as now, are on the wave, 
To stray in loneliness, and muse 

Upon the one dear form that gave 
Its sunlight to my boyhood ; oft 
That same sweet look sinks, still and soft, 
Upon my spirit, and appears 
As lovely as in by-gone years. 

Eve's low, faint wind is breathing now, 
With deep and soul-like murmuring, 

Through the dark pines ; and thy sweet words 
Seem borne on its mysterious wing ; 

2 A 277 



278 



GEORGE D. PRENTICE. 



And oft, mid musings sad and lone, 
At night's deep noon, that thrilling tone 
Swells in the wind, low, wild, and clear, 
Like music in the dreaming air. 

When sleep's calm wing is on my brow, 

And dreams of peace my spirit lull, 
Before me, like a misty star, 

That form floats dim and beautiful ; 
And, when the gentle moonbeam smiles 
On the blue streams and dark-green isles, 
In every ray pour'd down the sky, 
That same light form seems stealing by. 

It is a blessed picture, shrined 

In memory's urn ; the wing of years 

Can change it not, for there it glows, 
Undimm'd by " weaknesses and tears ;" 

Deep-hidden in its still recess, 

It beams with love and holiness, 

O'er hours of being, dark and dull, 

Till life seems almost beautiful. 

The vision cannot, fade away ; 

'Tis in the stillness of my heart, 
And o'er its brightness I have mused 

In solitude ; it is a part 
Of my existence ; a dear flower 
Breathed on by Heaven : morn's earliest hour 
That flower bedews, and its blue eye 
At eve still rests upon the sky. 

Lady, like thine, my visions cling 

To the dear shrine of buried years ; 
The past, the past ! it is too bright, 

Too deeply beautiful for tears ; 
We have been bless'd ; though life is made 
A tear, a silence, and a shade, 
And years have left the vacant breast 
To loneliness — we have been bless'd ! 

Those still, those soft, those summer eyes, 

When by our favourite stream we stood, 
And watch'd our mingling shadows there, 

Soft-pictured in the deep-blue flood, 
Seem'd one enchantment. O ! we felt, 
As there, at love's pure shrine, we knelt, 
That life was sweet, and all its hours 
A glorious dream of love and flowers. 

And still 'tis sweet. Our hopes went by 

Like sounds upon the unbroken sea ; 
Yet memory wings the spirit back 

To deep, undying melody ; 
And still, around her early shrine, 
Fresh flowers their dewy chaplets twine, 
Young Love his brightest garland wreathes, 
And Eden's richest incense breathes. 

Our hopes are flown — yet parted hours 
Still in the depths of memory lie, 

Like night-gems in the silent blue 
Of summer's deep and brilliant sky ; 

And Love's bright flashes seem again, 

To fall upon the glowing chain 

Of our existence. Can it be 

That all is but a mockery ] 



Lady, adieu ! to other climes 

I go, from joy, and hope, and thee ; 
A weed on Time's dark waters thrown, 

A wreck on life's wild-heaving sea ; 
I go ; but 0, the past, the past ! 
Its spell is o'er my being cast, — 
And still, to Love's remember'd eves, 
With all but hope, my spirit cleaves. 

Adieu ! adieu ! My farewell words 

Are on my lyre, and their wild flow 
Is faintly dying on the chords, 

Broken and tuneless. Be it so ! 
Thy name — O, may it never swell 
My strain again — yet long 'twill dwell 
Shrined in my heart, unbreathed, unspoken- 
A treasured word — a cherish'd token. 



THE DEAD MARINER. 

Sleep on, sleep on ! above thy corse 

The winds their Sabbath keep ; 
The waves are round thee, and thy breast 

Heaves with the heaving deep. 
O'er thee mild eve her beauty flings, 
And there the white gull lifts her wings, 
And the blue halcyon loves to lave 
Her plumage in the deep blue wave. 

Sleep on ; no willow o'er thee bends 

With melancholy air, 
No violet springs, nor dewy rose 

Its soul of love lays bare ; 
But there the sea-flower, bright and young, 
Is sweetly o'er thy slumbers flung, 
And, like a weeping mourner fair, 
The pale flag hangs its tresses there. 

Sleep on, sleep on ; the glittering depths 

Of ocean's coral caves 
Are thy bright urn — thy requiem 

The music of its waves ; 
The purple gems forever burn 
In fadeless beauty round thy urn, 
And, pure and deep as infant love, 
The blue sea rolls its waves above. 

Sleep on, sleep on ; the fearful wrath 

Of mingling cloud and deep 
May leave its wild and stormy track 

Above thy place of sleep ; 
But, when the wave has sunk to rest, 
As now, 'twill murmur o'er thy breast, 
And the bright victims of the sea 
Perchance will make their home with thee. 

Sleep on ; thy corse is far away, 

But love bewails thee yet ; 
For thee the heart-wrung sigh is breathed, 

And lovely eyes are wet : 
And she, thy young and beauteous bride, 
Her thoughts are hovering by thy side, 
As oft she turns to view, with tears, 
The Eden of departed years. 



GEORGE E 


. PRENTICE. 279 


SABBATH EVENING. 


I think of thee, when, soft and wide, 




The evening spreads her robes of light, 


How calmly sinks the parting sun ! 


And, like a young and timid bride, 


Yet twilight lingers still ; 


Sits blushing in the arms of night. 


And beautiful as dream of Heaven 


And when the moon's sweet crescent springs 


It slumbers on the hill ; 


In light o'er heaven's deep, waveless sea, 


Earth sleeps, with all her glorious things, 


And stars are forth, like blessed things, 


Beneath the Holy Spirit's wings, 


I think of thee — I think of thee. 


And, rendering back the hues above, 




Seems resting in a trance of love. 


I think of thee ; — that eye of flame, 
Those tresses, falling bright and free, 


Round yonder rocks the forest-trees 


That brow, where "Beauty writes her name," 


In shadowy groups recline, 


I think of thee — I think of thee. 


Like saints at evening bow'd in prayer 




Around their holy shrine ; 




And through their leaves the night- winds blow 
So calm and still, their music low 


WRITTEN AT MY MOTHER'S GRAVE. 


Seems the mysterious voice of prayer, 


The trembling dew-drops fall 


Soft echo'd on the evening air. 


Upon the shutting flowers ; like souls at rest 


And yonder western throng of clouds, 


The stars shine gloriously : and all 


Retiring from the sky, 


Save me, are blest. 


So calmly move, so softly glow, 


Mother, I love thy grave ! 


They seem to fancy's eye 


The violet, with its blossoms blue and mild, 


Bright creatures of a better sphere, 


Waves o'er thy head ; when shalLit wave 


Come down at noon to worship here, 


Above thy child] 


And, from their sacrifice of love, 


Returning to their home above. 


'T is a sweet flower, yet must 




Its bright leaves to the coming tempest bow ; 


The blue isles of the golden sea, 


Dear mother, 't is thine emblem ; dust 


The night-arch floating by, 


Is on thy brow. 


The flowers that gaze upon the heavens, 


The bright streams leaping by, 


And I could love to die : 


Are living with religion — deep 


To leave untasted life's dark, bitter streams — 


On earth and sea its glories sleep, 


By thee, as erst in childhood, lie, 


And mingle with the starlight rays, 


And share thy dreams. 


Like the soft light of parted days. 


And I must linger here, 


The spirit of the holy eve 


To stain the plumage of my sinless years, 


Comes through the silent air 


And mourn the hopes to childhood dear 


To feeling's hidden spring, and wakes 


With bitter tears. 


A gush of music there ! 


Ay, I must linger here, 


And the far depths of ether beam 


A lonely branch upon a wither'd tree, 


So passing fair, we almost dream 


Whose last frail leaf, untimely sere, 


That we can rise, and wander through 


Went down with thee ! 


Their open paths of trackless blue. 


Oft, from life's wither'd bower, 


Each soul is fill'd with glorious dreams, 


In still communion with the past, I turn, 


Each pulse is beating wild ; 


And muse on thee, the only flower 


And thought is soaring to the shrine 


In memory's urn. 


Of glory undefiled ! 
And holy aspirations start, 




And, when the evening pale 


Like blessed angels, from the heart, 


Bows, like a mourner, on the dim, blue wave, 


And bind — for earth's dark ties are riven— 


I stray to hear the night-winds wail 


Our spirits to the gates of heaven. 


Around thy grave. 




Where is thy spirit flown 1 
I gaze above — thy look is imaged there ; 


* 


TO A LADY. 


I listen — and thy gentle tone 




Is on the air. 


I thixk of thee when morning springs 


0, come, while here I press 


From sleep, with plumage bathed in dew, 


My brow upon thy grave ; and, in those mild 


And, like a young bird, lifts her wings 


And thrilling tones of tenderness, 


Of gladness on the welkin blue. 


Bless, bless thy child ! 


And when, at noon, the breath of love 


Yes, bless your weeping child ; 


O'er flower and stream is wandering free, 


And o'er thine urn — religion's holiest shrine — 


And sent in music from the grove, 


0, give his spirit, undefiled, 


I think of thee — I think of thee. 


To blend with thine. 



WALTER COLTON. 



[Born, 1804.] 



Mr. CoiTOjf is a native of Rutland, in Vermont. 
After obtaining a degree at Yale College, he was 
three years in the theological seminary at Andover. 
In 1820 he entered the navy as a chaplain, and after 
a short service in the West India squadron, was or- 
dered to that of the Mediterranean, during his con- 
nection with which he travelled through Southern 
E urope and Asia Minor, and visited Paris and Lon- 
don. Among the fruits of his tours are two works 



entitled « Ship and Shore," and " Athens and Con- 
stantinople." He was appointed historiographer to 
the South Sea Exploring Expedition, but the ulti- 
mate reduction of the exploring squadron, and the 
resignation of his associates, induced him to forego 
the advantages of this office, and he was subsequent- 
ly attached several years to the naval stations at 
Philadelphia. He is now (in the autumn of 1845) at 
sea as chaplain to the United States ship Congress. 



THE SAILOR. 

A sailor ever loves to be in motion, 

Roaming about he scarce knows where or why ; 
He looks upon the dim and shadowy ocean 

As home, abhors the land ; and e'en the sky, 
Boundless and beautiful, has naught to please, 
Except some clouds, which promise him a breeze. 

He is a child of mere impulse and passion, 
Loving his friends, and generous to his foes, 

And fickle as the most ephemeral fashion, 
Save in the cut and colour of his clothes, 

And in a set of phrases which, on land, 

The wisest head could never understand. 

He thinks his dialect the very best 
That ever flow'd from any human lip, 

And whether in his prayers, or at a jest, 
Uses the terms for managing a ship ; 

And even in death would order up the helm, 

In hope to clear the " undiscover'd realm." 

He makes a friend where'er he meets a shore, 
One whom he cherishes with some affection; 

But leaving port, he thinks of her no more, 
Unless it be, perchance, in some reflection 

Upon his wicked ways, then, with a sigh, 

Resolves on reformation — ere he die. 

In calms, he gazes at the sleeping sea, 

Or seeks his lines, and sets himself to angling, 

Or takes to politics, and, being free 

Of facts and full of feeling, falls to wrangling : 

Then recollects a distant eye and lip, 

And rues the day on which he saw a ship : 

Then looks up to the sky to watch each cloud, 
As it displays its faint and fleeting form ; 

Then o'er the calm begins to mutter loud, 

And swears he would exchange it for a storm, 

Tornado, any thing — to put a close 

To this most dead, monotonous repose. 

An order given, and he obeys, of course, 

Though 'twere to run his ship upon the rocks — 

Capture a squadron with a boat's-crew force — 
Or batter down the massive granite blocks 

Of some huge fortress with a swivel, pike, 

l'isto\ aught that will throw a ball, or strike. 



He never shrinks, whatever may betide ; 

His weapon may be shiver'd in his hand, 
His last companion shot down at his side, 

Still he maintains his firm and desperate stand — 
Bleeding and battling — with his colours fast 
As nail can bind them to his shatter'd mast. . . . 
I love the sailor — his eventful life — 

His generous spirit — his contempt of danger — 
His firmness in the gale, the wreck, and strife ; 

And though a wild and reckless ocean-ranger, 
God grant he make that port, when life is o'er, 
Where storms are hush'd, and billows break no more. 



MY FIRST LOVE, AND MY LAST. 

Cathara, when the many silent tears 

Of beauty, bending o'er thy bed, 
Bespoke the change familiar to our fears, 

I could not think thy spirit yet had fled — 
So like to life the slumber death had cast 
On thy sweet face, my first love and my last. 
I watch'd to see those lids their light unfold, 

For still thy forehead rose serene and fair, 
As when those raven ringlets richly roll'd 

O'er life, which dwelt in thought and beauty there 
Thy cheek the while was rosy with the theme 
That flush'd along the spirit's mystic dream. 
Thy lips were circled with that silent smile 

Which oft around their dewy freshness woke, 
When some more happy thought or harmless wile 

Upon thy warm and wandering fancy broke : 
For thou wert Nature's child, and took the tone 
Of every pulse, as if it were thine own. 

I watch'd, and still believed that thou wouldst wake, 
When others came to place thee in the shroud : 

I thought to see this seeming slumber break, 
As I have seen a light, transparent cloud 

Disperse, which o'er a star's sweet face had thrown 

A shadow like to that which veil'd thine own. 

But, no: there was no token, look, or breath: 
The tears of those around, the tolling bell 

And hearse told us at last that this was death ! 
I know not if I breathed a last farewell ; 

But since that day my sweetest hours have pass'd 

In thought of thee, my first love and my last. 

280 



WILLIAM 


- 

CROSWELL. 


[Born, 1804.] 


The Reverend William Croswell is a son of 


several years minister of Christ's Church, in that 


the Reverend Doctor Crosweli, of New Haven, 


city. He is now rector of St. Peter's, in the beau- 


and was educated at Yale College, where he was 


tiful village of Auburn, in the western part of the 


graduated in the summer of 1824. He was subse- 


state of New York. His poems are nearly all 


quently, for two years, associated with Doctor 


religious. Bishop Doane, in a note to his edition 


Doane, now Bishop of New Jersey, in the editor- 


of Keble's " Christian Year," remarks that "he 


ship of the " Episcopal Watchman," at Hartford, 


has more unwritten poetry in him" than any man 


after which he removed to Boston, and was for 


he knows. 


THE SYNAGOGUE. 


For yet the tenfold film shall fall, 


"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil 


0, Judah ! from thy sight, 


is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to 


And every eye be purged to read 


the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."— St. Paul. 


Thy testimonies right, 


I saw them in their synagogue, 
As in their ancient day, 


When thou, with all Messiah's signs 
In Christ distinctly seen, 


And never from my memory 
The scene will fade away, 


Shall, by Jehovah's nameless name, 
Invoke the Nazarene. 


For, dazzling on my vision, still 




* 


The latticed galleries shine 


THE CLOUDS. 


With Israel's loveliest daughters, 




In their beauty half-divine ! 


" Cloud land ! Gorgeous land !"— Coleridge. 


It is the holy Sabbath eve, — 


I canstot look above and see 


The solitary light 


Yon high-piled, pillowy mass 


Sheds, mingled with the hues of day, 


Of evening clouds, so swimmingly 


A lustre nothing bright ; 


In gold and purple pass, 


On swarthy brow and piercing glance 


And think not, Lord, how thou wast seen 


It falls with saddening tinge, 


On Israel's desert way, 


And dimly gilds the Pharisee's 


Before them, in thy shadowy screen, 


Phylacteries and fringe. 


Pavilion'd all the day ! 


The two-leaved doors slide slow apart 


Or, of those robes of gorgeous hue 


Before the eastern screen, 


Which the Redeemer wore, 


As rise the Hebrew harmonies, 


When, ravish'd from his followers' view, 


With chanted prayers between, 


Aloft his flight he bore, 


And mid the tissued vails disclosed, 


When lifted, as on mighty wing, 


Of many a gorgeous dye, 


He curtained his ascent, 


Enveloped in their jewell'd scarfs, 


And, wrapt in clouds, went triumphing 


The sacred records lie. 


Above the firmament. 


Robed in his sacerdotal vest, 


Is it a trail of that same pall 


A silvery-headed man 


Of many-colour'd dyes, 


With voice of solemn cadence o'er 


That high above, o'ermantling all, 


The backward letters ran, 


Hangs midway down the skies — 


And often yet methinks I see 


Or borders of those sweeping folds 


The glow and power that sate 


Which shall be all unfurl'd 


Upon his face, as forth he spread 


About the Saviour, when he holds 


The roll immaculate. 


His judgment on the world ] 


And fervently that hour I pray'd, 


For in like manner as he went, — 


That from the mighty scroll 


My soul, hast thou forgot 1 — 


Its light, in burning characters, 


Shall be his terrible descent, 


Might break on every soul, 


When man expecteth not ! 


That on their harden'd hearts the veil 


Strength, Son of man, against that hour, 


Might be no longer dark, 


Be to our spirits given, 


But be forever rent in twain 


When thou shalt come again with power, 


Like that before the ark. 


Upon the clouds of heaven ' 


36 


2 a 2 281 



282 



WILLIAM CEOSWELL. 



THE ORDINAL. 

Alas for me if I forget 

The memory of that day 
Which fills my waking thoughts, nor yet 

E'en sleep can take away ! 
In dreams I still renew the rites 

Whose strong but mystic chain 
The spirit to its God unites, 

And none can part again. 

How oft the bishop's form I see, 

And hear that thrilling tone 
Demanding with authority 

The heart for God alone ; 
Again I kneel as then I knelt, 

While he above me stands, 
And seem to feel, as then I felt, 

The pressure of his hands. 

Again the priests in meet array, 

As my weak spirit fails, 
Beside me bend them down to pray 

Before the chancel-rails ; 
As then, the sacramental host 

Of God's elect are by, 
When many a voice its utterance lost, 

And tears dimm'd many an eye. 

As then they on my vision rose, 

The vaulted aisles I see, 
And desk and cushion'd book repose 

In solemn sanctity, — 
The mitre o'er the marble niche, 

The broken crook and key, 
That from a bishop's tomb shone rich 

With polished tracery; 

The hangings, the baptismal font, 

All, all, save me unchanged, 
The holy table, as was wont, 

With decency arranged ; 
The linen cloth, the plate, the cup, 

Beneath their covering shine, 
Ere priestly hands are lifted up 

To bless the bread and wine. 

The solemn ceremonial past, 

And I am set apart 
To serve the Lord, from first to last, 

With undivided heart ; 
And I have sworn, with pledges dire, 

Which God and man have heard, 
To speak the holy truth entire, 

In action and in word. 

O Thou, who in thy holy place 

Hast set thine orders three, 
Grant me, thy meanest servant, grace 

To win a good degree ; 
That so, replenish'd from above, 

And in my office tried, 
Thou mayst be honoured, and in love 

Thy church be edified ! 



CHRISTMAS EVE. 

The thickly-woven boughs they wreathe 

Through every hallow'd fane 
A soft, reviving odour breathe 

Of summer's gentle reign ; 
And rich the ray of mild green light 

Which, like an emerald's glow, 
Comes struggling through the latticed height 

Upon the crowds below. 

O, let the streams of solemn thought 

Which in those temples rise, 
From deeper sources spring than aught 

Dependent on the skies : 
Then, though the summer's pride departs, 

And winter's withering chill 
Rests on the cheerless woods, our hearts 

Shall be unchanging still. 



THE DEATH OF STEPHEN. 

With awful dread his murderers shook, 

As, radiant and serene, 
The lustre of his dying look 

Was like an angel's seen ; 
Or Moses' face of paly light, 

When down the mount he trod, 
All glowing from the glorious sight 

And presence of his God. 

To us, with all his constancy, 

Be his rapt vision given, 
To look above by faith, and see 

Revealments bright of heaven. 
And power to speak our triumphs out, 

As our last hour draws near, 
While neither clouds of fear nor doubt 

Before our view appear. 



THE CHRISTMAS OFFERING. 

We come not with a costly store, 

Lord, like them of old, 
The masters of the starry lore, 

From Ophir's shore of gold : 
No weepings of the incense tree 

Are with the gifts we bring, 
No odorous myrrh of Araby 

Blends with our offering. 

But still our love would bring its best, 

A spirit keenly tried 
By fierce affliction's fiery test, 

And seven times purified: 
The fragrant graces of the mind, 

The virtues that delight 
To give their perfume out, will find 

Acceptance in thy sight. 



WILLIAM PITT PALMER. 



[Bom, 1805.] 



Mk. Palmer is descended from a Puritan an- 
cestor who came to America in the next ship after 
the May Flower. His father was a youthful sol- 
dier in the Revolution, and one of the latest, if 
not the last, of the survivors of the Jersey prison 
ship. Having acquired a competency as the cap- 
tain of a New York merchantman, he retired from 
the sea early in the present century, to Stock- 
bridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he 
spent the remainder of his days, in that sunshine 
of love and respect which has gilded the declining 
years of so many men of our heroic age. There, 
on the twenty-second of February, 1805, our poet 
was born, and named in honour of the great orator 
whose claims to gratitude are recognised among us 
in a thousand living monuments which bear the 
name of William Pitt. 



In his native county, Mr. Palmer has told me, the 
first and happiest half of his life was spent on the 
farm, in the desultory acquisition of such know- 
ledge as could then be obtained from a New Eng- 
land common school, and a " college" with a single 
professor. The other half has been chiefly passed 
in New York, as a medical student, teacher, writer 
for the gazettes, and, for several years, clerk in a 
public office. 

Mr. Palmer is a man of warm affections, who 
finds a heaven in a quiet home. He is a lover 
of nature, too, and like most inhabitants of the 
pent-up city, whose early days have been passed 
in the country, he delights in recollections of rural 
life. Some of his poems have much tenderness 
and delicacy, and they are generally very complete 
and polished. 



LIGHT. 

From the quicken'd womb of the primal gloom 

The sun roll'd black and bare, 
Till I wove him a vest for his Ethiop breast, 

Of the threads of my golden hair ; 
And when the broad tent of the firmament 

Arose on its airy spars, 
I pencill'd the hue of its matchless blue, 

And spangled it round with stars. 

I painted the flowers of the Eden bowers, 

And their leaves of living green, 
And mine were the dyes in the sinless eyes 

Of Eden's virgin queen ; 
And when the fiend's art, on her trustful heart, 

Had fasten'd its mortal spell, 
In the silvery sphere of the first-born tear 

To the frembling earth I fell. 

When the waves that burst o'er a world accursed 

Their work of wrath hath sped, 
And the Ark's lone few, the tried and true, 

Came forth among the dead ; 
With the wondrous gleams of my braided beams 

I bade their terrors cease ; 
As I wrote on the roll of the storm's dark scroll 

God's covenant of peace. 

Like a pall at rest on a pulseless breast, 

Night's funeral shadow slept, 
Where shepherd swains on the Bethlehem plains 

Their lonely vigils kept ; 
When I flash'd on their sight the heralds bright 

Of heaven's redeeming plan, 
As they chanted the morn of a Saviour born — 

Joy, joy to the outcast man ! 



Equal favour I show to the lofty and low, 

On the just and unjust I descend ; 
E'en the blind, whose vain spheres roll in darkness 
and tears, 

Feel my smile the best smile of a friend : 
Nay, the flower of the waste by my love is embraced, 

As the rose in the garden of kings ; 
As the chrysalis bier of the worm I appear, 

And lo! the gay butterfly's wings ! 

The desolate Morn, like a mourner forlorn, 

Conceals all the pride of her charms, 
Till I bid the bright Hours chase the Night from 
her bowers, 

And lead the young Day to her arms ; 
And when the gay rover seeks Eve for his lover, 

And sinks to her balmy repose, 
I wrap their soft rest by the zephyr-fann'd west, 

In curtains of amber and rose. 

From my sentinel steep, by the night-brooded deep, 

I gaze with unslumbering eye, 
When the cynosure star of the mariner 

Is blotted from the sky ; 
And guided by me through the merciless sea, 

Though sped by the hurricane's wings, 
His compassless bark, lone, weltering, dark, 

To the haven-home safely he brings. 

I waken the flowers in their dew-spangled bowers, 

The birds in their chambers of green, 
And mountain and plain glow with beauty again, 

As they bask in my matinal sheen. 
O, if such the glad worth of my presence to earth, 

Though fitful and fleeting the while, 
What glories must rest on the home of the bless'd, 

Ever bright with the Deity's smile ! 

283 



284 WILLIAM PITT PALMER. 


LINES TO A CHRYSALIS. 


Soul of man in crypt of clay ! 




Bide the day 


Musing? long I asked me this, 


When thy latent wings shall be 


Chrysalis, 


Plumed for immortality, 


Lying helpless in my path, 


And with transport marvellous 


Obvious to mortal scath 


Cleave their dark sarcophagus, 


From a careless passer by, 


O'er Elysian fields to soar 


What thy life may signify 1 


Evermore ! 


Why, from hope and joy apart, 




Thus thou art] 


♦ 


Nature surely did amiss, 




Chrysalis, 


THE HOME VALENTINE. 


When she lavish'd fins and wings 
Nerved with nicest moving-springs, 
On the mote and madripore, 
Wherewithal to swim or soar ; 


Still fond and true, though wedded long. 

The bard, at eve retired, 
Sat smiling o'er the annual song 


And dispensed so niggardly 
Unto thee. 


His home's dear Muse inspired : 
And as he traced her virtues now 




With all love's vernal glow, 


E'en the very worm may kiss, 


A gray hair from his bended brow, 


Chrysalis, 


Like faded leaf from autumn bough, 


Roses on their topmost stems 


Fell to the page below. 


Blazon'd with their dewy gems, 




And may rock him to and fro 


He paused, and with a mournful mien 


As the zephyrs softly blow ; 


The sad memento raised, 


Whilst thou lyest dark and cold 


And long upon its silvery sheen 


On the mould. 


In pensive silence gazed : 




And if a sigh escaped him then, 


Quoth the Chrysalis, Sir Bard, 


It were not strange to say ; 


Not so hard 


For fancy's favourites are but men ; 


Is my rounded destiny 


And who e'er felt the stoic when 


In the great Economy : 


First conscious of decay 1 


Nay, by humble reason view'd, 




There is much for gratitude 


Just then a soft cheek press'd his own 


In the shaping and upshot 


With beauty's fondest tear, 


Of my lot. 


And sweet words breathed in sweeter tone 


Though I seem of all things born 
Most forlorn, 


Thus murmur'd in his ear : 
Ah, sigh not, love to mark the trace 


Most obtuse of soul and sense, 


Of time's unsparing wand ! 


Next of kin to Impotence, 
Nay, to Death himself; yet ne'er 
Priest or prophet, sage or seer, 


It was not manhood's outward grace, 
No charm of faultless form or face, 


That won my heart and hand. 


May sublimer wisdom teach 


Lo ! dearest, mid these matron locks, 


Than I preach. 


Twin-fated with thine own, 


From my pulpit of the sod, 
Like a god, 


A dawn of silvery lustre mocks 


The midnight they have known : 


I proclaim this wondrous truth, 


But time to blighted cheek and tress 


Farthest age is nearest youth, 


May all his snows impart ; 


Nearest glory's natal porch, 


Yet shalt thou feel in my caress 


Where with pale, inverted torch, 


No chill of waning tenderness, 


Death lights downward to the rest 


No winter of the heart ! 


Of the blest. 


Forgive me, dearest Beatrice ! 


Mark yon airy butterfly's 


The grateful bard replied, 


Rainbow-dyes ! 


As nearer and with tenderer kiss 


Yesterday that shape divine 


He pressed her to his side : 


Was as darkly hearsed as mine ; 


Forgive the momentary tear 


But to-morrow I shall be 


To manhood's faded prime ; 


Free and beautiful as she, 


I should have felt, hadst thou been near, 


And sweep forth on wings of light, 


Our hearts indeed have nought to fear 


Like a sprite. 


From all the frosts of time ! 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



[Born, 1806.; 



The author of " Greyslaer," " Wild Scenes in 
the Forest and the Prairie," etc., is a brother of 
the Honourable Ogden Hoffman, and a son of 
the late eminent lawyer of the same name.* He 
is the child of a second marriage. His maternal 
grandfather was John Fenno, of Philadelphia, 
one of the ablest political writers of the old Fede- 
ral party, during the administration of Washing- 
ton. The family, which is a numerous one in 
the state of New York, planted themselves, at an 
early day, in the valley of the Hudson, as appears 
from the Dutch records of Peter Sttjyvesant's 
storied reign. 

Mr. Hoffman was born in New York, in the 
year 1806. He was sent to a Latin grammar- 
school in that city, when six years old, from which, 
at the age of nine, he was transferred to the 
Poughkeepsie academy, a seminary upon the 
Hudson, about eighty miles from New York, which 
at that time enjoyed great reputation. The harsh 
treatment he received here induced him to run 
away, and his father, finding that he had not im- 
proved under a course of severity, did not insist 
upon his return, but placed him under the care of 
an accomplished Scottish gentleman in one of 
the rural villages of New Jersey. During a visit 
home from this place, and when about twelve 
years of age, he met with an injury which in- 
volved the necessity of the immediate amputa- 
tion of the right leg, above the knee. The pain- 
ful circumstances are minutely detailed in the 
New York "Evening Post," of the twenty-fifth 
of October, 1817, from which it appears, that 
while, with other lads, attempting the dangerous 
feat of leaping aboard a steamer as she passed a pier, 
under full way, he was caught between the vessel 
and the wharf. The steamer swept by, and left 
him clinging by his hands to the pier, crushed in 
a manner too frightful for description. This de- 
privation, instead of acting as a disqualification 
for the manly sports of youth, and thus turning 
the subject of it into a retired student, seems rather 
to have given young Hoffman an especial ambi- 
tion to excel in swimming, riding, etc., to the still 
further neglect of perhaps more useful acquire- 
ments. 

When fifteen years old, he entered Columbia 
College, and here, as at preparatory schools, was 
noted rather for success in gymnastic exercises 



* Judge Hoffman was, in early life, one of the most 
distinguished advocates at the American bar. He won 
his first cause in New Jersey at the age of seventeen ; the 
illness of counsel or the indulgence of the court giving 
him the opportunity to speak. At twenty-one he suc- 
ceeded his father as representative, from New York, in 
the state legislature. At twenty-six he filled the office 
of attorney-general; and thenceforth the still youthful 
pleader was often the successful competitor of Hamil- 
ton, Burr, Pinknev, and other professional giants, for 
the highest honours of the legal forum. 



than in those of a more intellectual character. 
His reputation, judging from his low position in 
his class, contrasted with the honours that were 
awarded him by the college-societies at their anni- 
versary exhibitions, was greater with the students 
than with the faculty, though the honorary degree 
of Master of Arts, conferred upon him under pe- 
culiarly gratifying circumstances, after leaving the 
institution in his third or junior year, without 
having graduated, clearly implies that he was still 
a favourite with his alma mater.* 

Immediately after leaving college — being then 
eighteen years old — he commenced the study of the 
law with the Honourable Harmanus Bleecker, 
of Albany, now Charge a 1 ' Affaires of the United 
States at the Hague. When twenty-one, he was 
admitted to the bar, and in the succeeding three 
years he practised in the courts of the city of New 
York. During this period he wrote anonymously 
for the New York American — having made his 
first essay as a writer for the gazettes while in Al- 
bany — and I believe finally became associated with 
Mr. Charles King in the editorship of that 
paper. Certainly he gave up the legal profession, 
for the successful prosecution of which he appears 
to have been unfitted by his love of books, society, 
and the rod and gun. His feelings at this period 
are described in some rhymes, entitled "Forest 
Musings," from which the following stanzas are 
quoted, to show the fine relish for forest-life and 
scenery which has thrown a peculiar charm around 
every production from his pen : — 
The hunt is up — 
The merry woodland shout, 
That rung these echoing glades about 

An hour agone, 
Hath swept beyond the eastern hills, 

Where, pale and lone, 
The moon her mystic circle fills; 
A while across the setting sun's broad disc 
The dusky larch, 

As if to pierce the blue o'erhanging arch, 
Lifts its tall obelisk. 
And now from thicket dark, 

Where, by the mist-wreathed river, 
The fire-fly's spark 
Will fitful quiver, 
And bubbles round the lily's cup 
From lurking trout come coursing up, 
The doe hath led her fawn to drink; 

While, scared by step so near, 
Uprising from the sedgy brink 
The lonely bittern's cry will sink 

Upon the startled ear. 
And thus upon my dreaming youth, 

When boyhood's gambols pleased no more, 
And young Romance, in guise of Truth, 
Usurp'd the heart all theirs before ; 

* At the first semi-centennial anniversary of the in- 
corporation of Columbia College, the honorary degree 
Master of Arts was conferred upon Fitz-Greene Hal- 
leck, William Cullen Bryant, and Charles Fenno 
Hoffman. 

285 



286 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



Thus broke ambition's trumpet-note 

On Visions wild, 
Yet blithesome as this river 
On which the smiling moon-beams float, 
That thus have there for ages smiled, 
And will thus smile forever. 
And now no more the fresh green-wood, 

The forest's fretted aisles 
And leafy domes above them bent, 
And solitude 
So eloquent! 
Mocking the varied skill that's blent 

In art's most gorgeous piles — 
No more can soothe my soul to sleep 
Than they can awe the sounds that sweep 
To hunter's horn and merriment 
Their verdant passes through, 
When fresh the dun-deer leaves his scent 

Upon the morning dew. 
The game's afoot!— and let the chase 

Lead on, whate'er my destiny — 
Though fate her funeral drum may brace 

Full soon for me ! 
And wave death's pageant o'er me — 
Yet now the new and untried world 
Like maiden banner first unfurl'd, 

Is glancing bright before me! 
The quarry soars ! and mine is now the sky, 
Where, " at what bird I please, my hawk shall fly !" 
Yet something whispers through the wood 

A voice like that perchance 
Which taught the haunter of Egema's grove 
To tame the Roman's dominating mood 

And lower, for awhile, his conquering lance 
Before the images of Law and Love — 
Some mystic voice that ever since hath dwelt 

Along with Echo in her dim retreat, 
A voice whose influence all, at times, have felt 
By wood, or glen, or where on silver strand 
The clasping waves of Ocean's belt 
Do clashing meet 
Around the land: 
It whispers me that soon — too soon 
The pulses which now beat so high 
Impatient with the world to cope 
Will, like the hues of autumn sky, 
Be changed and fallen ere life's noon 
Should tame its morning hope. 
It tells me not of heart betray'd 
Of health impair'd, 
Of fruitless toil, 
And ills alike by thousands shared, 
Of which each year some link is made 
To add to " mortal coil :" 
And yet its strange prophetic tone 
So faintly murmurs to my soul 
The fate to be my own, 
That all of these may be 
Reserved for me 
Ere manhood's early years can o'er me roll. 

Yet why, 
While Hope so jocund singeth 
And with her plumes the gray-beard's arrow wingeth, 

Should I 
Think only of the barb itbringeth? 
Though every dream deceive 

That to my youth is dearest, 
Until my heart they leave 
Like forest leaf when searest — 
Yet still, mid forest leives, 

Where now 
Its tissue thus my idle fancy weaves, 
Still with heart new-blossoming 
While leaves, and buds, and wild flowers spring, 

At Nature's shrine I'll bow; 
Nor seek in vain that truth in her 
She keeps for her idolater. 



Since that time Mr. Hoffman has devoted his 
attention almost constantly to literature. "While 
connected with the " American," he published a 
series of brilliant articles in that paper, under the 
signature of a star (*), which attracted much at- 
tention. In 1833, for the benefit of his health, 
he left New York on a travelling tour for the "far 
west," and his letters, written during his absence, 
were also first published in that popular journal. 
They were afterward included in his « Winter in 
the West," of which the first impression appeared 
in New York, in 1834, and the second, soon after, 
in London. This work has passed through many 
editions, and it will continue to be popular so long 
as graphic descriptions of scenery and character, 
and richness and purity of style, are admired. His 
next work, entitled " Wild Scenes in the Forest 
and the Prairie," was first printed in 1837, and, 
like its predecessor, it contains many admirable 
pictures of scenery, inwoven with legends of the 
western country, and descriptive poetry. This 
was followed by a romance, entitled " Greyslaer," 
founded upon the famous criminal trial of Beau- 
champ, for the murder of Colonel Sharpe, the So- 
licitor-General of Kentucky, — the particulars of 
which, softened away in the novel, are minutely 
detailed in the appendix to his « Winter in the 
West." " Greyslaer" was a successful novel — 
two editions having appeared in the author's native 
city, one in Philadelphia, and a fourth in London, 
in the same year. It placed him in the front rank 
of American novelists. He describes in it, with 
remarkable felicity, American forest-life, and sa- 
vage warfare, and gives a truer idea of the border 
contests of the Revolution than any formal his- 
tory of the period that has been published. 

The Knickerbocker magazine was first issued 
under the editorial auspices of Mr. Hoffman. 
He subsequently became the proprietor of the 
American Monthly Magazine, (one of the ablest 
literary periodicals ever published in this country,) 
and during the long term of which he was the 
chief editor of this journal, he also, for one year, 
conducted the New York Mirror, for its proprietor, 
and wrote a series of zealous papers in favour of 
international copyright, for the New Yorker, the 
Corsair, and other journals. 

Mr. Hoffman published in 1843 " The Vigil of 
Faith, a Legend of the Andirondack Mountains, and 
other Poems ;" in 1844, " Borrowed Notes for Home 
Circulation," (the title of which was suggested by 
an article on " The Poets and Poetry of x\merica," 
in " The Foreign Quarterly Review,") and near 
the close of 1845, through the house of Harper and 
Brothers, of New York, the most complete collec- 
tion that has been printed of his poetical writings. 

The poetry of Mr. Hoffman is graceful and 
fanciful. No American is comparable to him as 
a song-writer. Although some of his pieces are 
exquisitely finished, they have all evidently been 
thrown off without labour, in moments of feeling. 
A few of his pieces, in which he has copied the 
style of " the old and antique song," are equal 
to the richest melodies of the time of Herri ck 
and Waller. 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



287 



MOONLIGHT ON THE HUDSON. 

WRITTEN AT WEST POINT. 

I 'm not romantic, but, upon my word, 

There are some moments when one can't help 
feeling 

As if his heart's chords were so strongly stirr'd 
By things around him, that 't is vain concealing 

A little music in his soul still lingers, 

Whene'er its keys are touch'd by Nature's fingers : 

And even here, upon this settee lying, 

With many a sleepy traveller near me snoozing, 

Thoughts warm and wild are through my bosom 
flying, 
Like founts when first into the sunshine oozing : 

For who can look on mountain, sky, and river, 

Like these, and then be cold and calm as ever } 

Bright Dian, who, Camilla-like, dost skim yon 
Azure fields — thou who, once earthward bending, 

Didst loose thy virgin zone to young Endymion 
On dewy Latinos to his arras descending — 

Thou whom the world of old on every shore, 

Type of thy sex, Triformis, did adore : 

Tell me — where'er thy silver bark be steering, 
By bright Italian or soft Persian lands, 

Or o'er those island-studded seas careering, 

Whose pearl-charged waves dissolve on coral 
strands ; 

Tell if thou visitest, thou heavenly rover, 

A lovelier stream than this the wide world over ] 

Doth Achelous or Araxes, flowing 

Twin-born from Pindus, but ne'er-meeting 
brothers — 
Doth Tagus, o'er his golden pavement glowing, 
Or cradle-freighted Ganges, the reproach of 
mothers, 
The storied Rhine, or far-famed Guadalquiver — 
Match they in beauty my own glorious river ] 

What though no cloister gray nor ivied column 
Along these cliffs their sombre ruins rear 1 

What though no frowning tower nor temple solemn 
Of despots tell and superstition here — 

What though that mouldering fort's fast-crumbling 
walls 

Did ne'er enclose a baron's banner'd halls — 

Its sinking arches once gave back as proud 
An echo to the war-blown clarion's peal — 

As gallant hearts its battlements did crowd 
As ever beat beneath a vest of steel, 

When herald's trump on knighthood's haughtiest 
day 

Call'd forth chivalric host to battle-fray : 

For here amid these woods did he keep court, 
Before whose mighty soul the common crowd 

Of heroes, who alone for fame have fought, 
Are like the patriarch's sheaves to Heaven's 
chosen bow'd — 

He who his country's eagle taught to soar, 

And fired those stars which shine o'er every shore. 



And sights and sounds at which the world have 
wonder'd 
Within these wild ravines have had their birth ; 
Young Freedom's cannon from these glens have 
thunder'd, 
And sent their startling echoes o'er the earth ; 
And not a verdant glade nor mountain hoary 
But treasures up within the glorious story. 

And yet not rich in high-soul'd memories only, 
Is every moon-kiss'd headland round me 
gleaming, 

Each cavem'd glen and leafy valley lonely, 

And silver torrent o'er the bald rock streaming : 

But such soft fancies here may breathe around, 

As make Vaucluse and Clarens hallow'd ground. 

Where, tell me where, pale watcher of the night — 
Thou that to love so oft has lent its soul, 

Since the lorn Lesbian languish'd 'neath thy light, 
Or fiery Rorwr.o to his Juliet stole — 

Where dost thou find a fitter place on earth 

To nurse young love in hearts like theirs to birth 1 

0, loiter not upon that fairy shore, 

To watch the lazy barks in distance glide, 

When sunset brightens on their sails no more, 
And stern-lights twinkle in the dusky tide — 

Loiter not there, young heart, at that soft hour, 

What time the bird of night proclaims love's power. 

Even as I gaze upon my memory's track, 
Bright as that coil of light along the deep, 

A scene of early youth comes dream-like back. 
Where two stand gazing from yon tide-wash'd 
steep — 

A sanguine stripling, just tow r ard manhood flushing, 

A girl scarce yet in ripen'd beauty blushing. 

The hour is his — and. while his hopes are soaring, 
Doubts he that maiden will become his bride ] 

Can she resist that gush of wild adoring, 

Fresh from a heart full-volumed as the tide 1 

Tremulous, but radiant is that peerless daughter 

Of loveliness — as is the star-paved water ! 

The moist leaves glimmer as they glimmer'd then — 
Alas ! how oft have they been since renew'd ! 

How oft the whip-poor-will from yonder glen 
Each year has whistled to her callow brood ! 

How oft have lovers by yon star's same beam 

Dream'd here of bliss — and waken'd from their 
dream ! 

But now, bright Peri of the skies, descending, 
Thy pearly car hangs o'er yon mountain's crest, 

And Night, more nearly now each step attending, 
As if to hide thy envied place of rest, 

Closes at last thy very couch beside, 

A matron curtaining a virgin bride. 

Farewell ! Though tears on every leaf are starting : 
While through the shadowy boughs thy glances 
quiver, 

As of the good when heavenward hence departing, 
Shines thy last smile upon the placid river. 

So — could I fling o'er glory's tide one ray — 

Would I too steal from this dark world away. 



288 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



THE FOREST CEMETERY. 

Wild Tawasextha !* in thy brook-laced glen 

The doe no longer lists her lost fawn's bleating, 
As panting there, escaped from hunter's ken, 

She hears the chase o'er distant hills retreating ; 
No more, uprising from the fern around her, 

The Indian archer, from his " still-hunt" lair, 
Wings the death-shaft which hath that moment 
found her 

When Fate seem'd foil'd upon her footsteps there : 

Wild Tawasentha ! on thy cone-strew'd sod, 

O'er which yon Pine his giant arm is bending, 
No more the Mohawk marks its dark crown nod 

Against the sun's broad disk toward night de- 
scending, 
Then crouching down beside the brands that redden 

The column'd trunks which rear thy leafy dome, 
Forgets his toils in hunter's slumbers leaden, 

Or visions of the red man's spirit home : 

But where his calumet by that lone fire, 
At night beneath these cloister'd boughs was 
lighted, 
The Christian orphan will in prayer aspire, 
The Christian parent mourn his proud hope 
blighted ; 
And in thy shade the mother's heart will listen 

The spirit-cry of babe she clasps no more, 
And where thy rills through hemlock-branches 
glisten, 
There many a maid her lover will deplore. 

Here children link'd in love and sport together, 
Who check their mirth as creaks the slow hearse 

by, 

Will totter lonely in life's autumn weather, 
To ponder where life's spring-time blossoms lie ; 

And where the virgin soil was never dinted 
By the rude ploughshare since creation's birth, 

Year after year fresh furrows will be printed 
Upon the sad cheek of the grieving Earth. 

Yon sun returning in unwearied stages, 

Will gild the cenotaph's ascending spire, 
O'er names on history's yet unwritten pages 

That unborn crowds will, worshipping, admire ; 
Names that shall brighten through my country's 
story 

Like meteor hues that fire her autumn woods, 
Encircling high her onward course of glory 

Like the bright bow which spans her mountain- 
floods. 

Here where the flowers have bloom'd and died for 
ages— 
Bloom'd all unseen and perish'd all unsung — 
On youth's green grave, traced out beside the 
sage's, 
Will garlands now by votive hearts be flung ; 
And sculptur'd marble and funereal urn, 
O'er which gray birches to the night air wave, 



* Tawasentha — meaning, in Mohawk, " The place of the 
many dead"— is the finely-appropriate name of the new 
Forest Cemetery on the banks of the Hudson, between 
Albany and Troy. 



Will wmiten through thy glades at every turn, 
And woo the moonbeam to some poet's grave ! 

Thus back to Nature, faithful, do we come, 

When Art hath taught us all her best beguiling ; 
Thus blend their ministry around the tomb 

"VA here, pointing upw T ard, still sits Nature smiling! 
And never, Nature's hallow'd spots adorning, 

Hath Art, with her a sombre garden dress'd, 
Wild Tawasentha ! in this vale of mourning 

With more to consecrate their children's rest. 

And still that stream will hold its winsome way, 

Sparkling as now upon the frosty air, 
When all in turn shall-troop in pale array 

To that dim land for which so few prepare. 
Still will yon oak. which now a sapling waves, 

Each year renew'd, with hardy vigour grow, 
Expanding still to shade the nameless graves 

Of nameless men that haply sleep below. 

Nameless as they — in one dear memory blest, 

How tranquil in these phantom-peopled bowers 
Could I here wait the partner of my rest 

In some green nook that should be only ours ; 
Under old boughs, where moist the livelong sum- 
mer 

The moss is green and springy to the tread. 
When thou, my friend, shouldst be an often comer 

To pierce the thicket, seeking for my bed : 

For thickets heavy all around should screen it 

From careless gazer that might wander near ; 
Nor e'en to him who by some chance had seen it, 

Would I have aught to catch his eye, appear : 
One lonely stem — a trunk those old boughs lifting, 

Should mark the spot ; and, haply, new thrift owe 
To that which upward through its sap was drifting 

From what lay mouldering round its roots below. 

The wood-duck there her glossy-throated brood 

Should unmolested gather to her wings ; 
The schoolboy, awed, as near that mound he stood, 

Should spare the redstart's nest that o'er it swings, 
And thrill when there, to hear the cadenced wind- 
ing 

Of boatman's horn upon the distant river, 
Dell unto dell in long-link'd echoes binding — 

Like far-off requiem, floating on for ever. 

There my freed spirit with the dawn's first beaming 

Would come to revel round the dancing spray ; 
There would it linger with the day's last gleaming, 

To watch thy footsteps thither track their way. 
The quivering leaf should whisper in that hour 

Things that for thee alone would have a sound, 
And parting boughs my spirit-glances shower 

In gleams of light upon the mossy ground. 

There, when long years and all thy journeyings 
over — 

Loosed from this world thyself to join the free, 
Thou too wouldst come to rest beside thy lover 

In that sweet cell beneath our trysting-tree ; 
Where earliest birds above our narrow dwelling 

Should pipe their matins as the morning rose, 
And woodland symphonies majestic swelling, 

In midnight anthem, hallow our repose. 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



289 



THE BOB-O-LINKUM. 

Thou vocal sprite — thou feather'd troubadour! 

In pilgrim weeds through many a clime a ranger, 
Com'st thou to doff thy russet suit once more, 

And play in foppish trim the masquing stranger 1 
Philosophers may teach thy whereabouts and nature, 

But wise, as all of us, perforce, must think 'em, 
The school-boy best hath fix'd thy nomenclature, 

And poets, too, must call thee Bob-O-Linkum. 

Say ! art thou, long mid forest glooms benighted, 

So glad to skim our laughing meadows over — 
With our gay orchards here so much delighted, 

It makes thee musical, thou airy rover ] 
Or are those buoyant notes the pilfer'd treasure 

Of fairy isles, which thou hast learn'd to ravish 
Of all their sweetest minstrelsy at pleasure, 

And, Ariel-like, again on men to lavish 1 

They tell sad stories of thy mad-cap freaks 

Wherever o'er the land thy pathway ranges; 
And even in a brace of wandering weeks, 

The} 7 say, alike thy song and plumage changes ; 
Here both aro- gay ; and when the buds put forth, 

And leafy June is shading rock and river, 
Thou art unmatch'd, blithe warbler of the North, 

While through the balmy air thy clear notes 
quiver. 

Joyous, yet tender — was that gush of song 

Caught from the brooks, where mid its wild flowers 
The silent prairie listens all day long, [smiling 

The only captive to such sweet beguiling ; 
Or didst thou, flitting through the verdurous halls 

And column'd isles of western groves symphoni- 
Learn from the tuneful woods, rare madrigals, [ous, 

To make our flowering pastures here harmonious! 

Caught'st thou thy carol from Otawa maid, [ing, 

Where, through the liquid fields of wild rice plash- 
Brushing the ears from off the burden'd blade, 

Her birch canoe o'er some lone lake is flashing 1 
Or did the reeds of some savannah South, 

Detain thee while thy northern flight pursuing, 
To place those melodies in thy sweet mouth, 

The spice-fed winds had taught them in their 
wooing 1 

Unthrifty prodigal ! — is no thought of ill 

Thy ceaseless roundelay disturbing ever 1 
Or doth each pulse in choiring cadence still 

Throb on in music till at rest for ever 1 
Yet now in wilder'd maze of concord floating, 

'T would seem that glorious hymning to prolong, 
Old Time in hearing thee might fall a-doatmg 

And pause to listen to thy rapturous song ! 



THE REMONSTRANCE. 

You give up the world ! why, as well might the sun, 

When tired of drinking the dew from the flowers, 

While his rays, like young hopes, stealing off one 

by one, 

Die away with the muezzin's last note from the 

towers, 



Declare that he never would gladden again, 

With one rosy smile, the young morn in its birth ; 

But leave weeping Day, with her sorrowful train 
Of hours, to grope o'er a pall-cover'd earth. 

The light of that soul once so brilliant and steady, 

So far can the incense of flattery smother, 
That, at thought of the world of hearts conquer'd 
already, 

Like Macedon's madman, you weep for another 1 
O ! if sated with this, you would seek worlds untried, 

And fresh as was ours, when first we began it, 
Let me know but the sphere where you next will 
abide, 

And that instant, for one, I am off for that planet. 



PRIMEVAL WOODS. 

Yes ! even here, not less than in the crowd, 
Here, where yon vault in formal sweep seems piled 
Upon the pines, monotonously proud, 
Fit dome for fane, within whose hoary veil 
No ribald voice an echo hath defiled — 
Where Silence seems articulate ; up-stealing 
Like a low anthem's heavenward wail : — 
Oppressive on my bosom weighs the feeling 
Of thoughts that language cannot shape aloud; 
For song too solemn, and for prayer too wild, — 
Thoughts, which beneath no human power could 

quail, 
For lack of utterance, in abasement bow'd, — 
The cavern'd waves that struggle for revealing. 
Upon whose idle foam alone God's light hath smiled. 

Ere long thine every stream shall find a tongue, 
Land of the Many Waters ! But the sound 
Of human music, these wild hills among, 
Hath no one save the Indian mother flung 
Its spell of tenderness ! Oh, o'er this ground 
So redolent of Beauty, hath there play'd no breath 
Of human poesy — none beside the word 
Of Love, as, munnur'd these old boughs beneath, 
Some fierce and savage suitor it hath stirr'd 
To gentle issues — none but these been heard 1 
No mind, no soul here kindled but my own 1 
Doth not one hollow trunk about resound 
With the faint echoes of a song long flown, 
By shadows like itself now haply heard alone? 

And Ye, with all this primal growth must go ! 
And loiterers beneath some lowly spreading shade, 
Where pasture-kissing breezes shall, ere then, have 

play'd, 
A century hence, will doubt that there could grow 
From that meek land such Titans of the glade ! 
Yet wherefore primal? when beneath my tread 
Are roots whose thrifty growth, perchance, hath 

arm'd 
The Anak spearman when his trump alarm'd! 
Roots that the Deluge wave hath plunged below ; 
Seeds that the Deluge wind hath scattered ; 
Berries that Eden's warblers may have fed ; 
Safe in the slime of earlier worlds embalm'd : 
Again to quicken, germinate and blow, [charm'd. 
Again to charm the land as erst the land they 
2B 



290 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



RIO BRAVO. 

A MEXICAN LAMENT.— J.V— Roneesvalles. 

Rio Bravo ' Rio Bravo! — saw men ever such a 

sight 
Since the field of Roneesvalles seal'd the fate of 

many a knight ! 
Dark is Palo Alto's story — sad Resaca Palma's 

rout — 
Ah me ! upon those fields so gory how many a 

gallant life went out. 
There our best and bravest lances shiver'd 'gainst 

the Northern steel, 
Left the valiant hearts that couch'd them 'neath 

the Northern charger's heel. 
Rio Bravo! Rio Bravo! brave hearts ne'er moum'd 

such a sight, 
Since the noblest lost their life-blood in the Ron- 
eesvalles fight. 

There Akista, best and bravest — there Raguena, 
tried and true, 

On the fatal field thou lavest, nobly did all men 
could do ; 

Vainly there those heroes rally, Castile on Mon- 
tezuma's shore, 

Vainly there shone Aztec valour brightly as it 
shone of yore. 

Rio Bravo ! Rio Bravo ! saw men ever such a 
sight, 

Since the dews of Roneesvalles wept for paladin 
and knight ] 

Heard ye not the wounded coursers shrieking on 

yon trampled banks, 
As the Northern wing'd artillery thunder'd on our 

shatter'd ranks ] 
On they came — those Northern horsemen — on 

like eagles toward the sun ; 
Follow'd then the Northern bayonet, and the field 

was lost and won. 
Rio Bravo ! Rio Bravo ! minstrel ne'er sung such 

a fight, 
Since the lay of Roneesvalles sang the fame of 

martyr'd knight. 

Rio Bravo ! fatal river ! saw ye not, while red 

with gore, 
One cavalier all headless quiver, a nameless trunk 

upon thy shore 1 
Other champions not less noted sleep beneath thy 

sullen wave : 
Sullen water, thou hast floated armies to an ocean 

grave. 
Rio Bravo ! Rio Bravo ! lady ne'er wept such a 

sight, 
Since the moon of Roneesvalles kiss'd in death 

her own loved knight. 

Weepest thou, lorn Lady Inez, for thy lover mid 

the slain 1 
Brave La Vega's trenchant sabre cleft his slayer 

to the brain — 
Brave La Vega, who, all lonely, by a host of foes 

beset, 
Yielded up his falchion only when his equal there 

he met. 



Oh, for Roland's horn to rally his paladins by that 
sad shore ! 

Rio Bravo, Roneesvalles, ye are names link'd ever- 
more. 

Sullen river ! sullen river ! vultures drink thy gory 
wave, 

But they blur not those loved features, which not 
Love himself could save. 

Rio Bravo, thou wilt name not that lone corse 
upon thy shore, 

But in prayer sad Inez names him — names him 
praying evermore. 

Rio Rravo ! Rio Bravo ! lady ne'er mourn'd such 
a knight, 

Since the fondest hearts were broken by the Ron- 
eesvalles fight. 



LOVE'S MEMORIES. 

To-night ! to-night ! what memories to-night 
Came thronging o'er me as I stood near thee ! 
Thy form of loveliness, thy brow of light, 

Thy voice's thrilling flow — 
All, all were there ; to me — to me as bright 
As when they claim'd my soul's idolatry 
Years, long years ago. 

That gulf of years! Oh, God! hadst thou been mine, 
Would all that's precious have been swallow'd 
there 1 
Youth's meteor hope, and manhood's high design, 

Lost, lost, forever lost — 
Lost with the love that with them all would twine, 
The love that left no harvest but despair — 
Unwon at such a cost. 

Was it ideal, that wild, wild love I bore thee 1 

Or thou thvself — didst thou my soul enthrall? 
Such as thou art to-night did I adore thee, 

Ay, idolize — in vain! 
Such as thou art to-night — could time restore me 
That wealth of loving — shouldst thou have it all, 
To waste perchance again? 

No ! Thou didst break the coffers of my heart, 

And set so lightly by the hoard within, 
That I too learn'd at last the squanderer's art — 

Went idly here and there, 
Filing my soul, and lavishing a part 
On each, less cold than thou, who cared to win 
And seem'd to prize a share. 

No ! Thou didst wither up my flowering youth. 

If blameless, still the bearer of a blight; 
The unconscious agent of the deadliest ruth 

That human heart hath riven ; 
Teaching me scorn of my own spirit's truth ; 
Holding, not me, but that fond worship light 
Which link'd my soul to Heaven. 

No, no ! — -For me the weakest heart before 
One so untouch'd by tenderness as thine ; 
Angels have enter'd through the frail tent door 

That pass the palace now — 
And He who spake the words, " Go, sin no more," 
Mid human passions saw the spark divine, 
But not in such as thou ! 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



Ml 



ROSALIE CLARE. 

Who owns not she 's peerless, who calls her not fair, 
Who questions the beauty of Rosalie Clare 1 
Let him saddle his courser and spur to the field, 
And, though harness'd in proof, he must perish or 

yield ; 
For no gallant can splinter, no charger may dare 
The lance that is couch'd for young Rosalie Clare. 

When goblets are flowing, and wit at the board 
Sparkles high, while the blood of the red grape is 

pour'd, 
And fond wishes for fair ones around offer'd up 
From each lip that is wet with the dew of the cup, 
What name on the brimmer floats oftener there, 
Or is whisper'd more warmly, than Rosalie Clare 1 

They may talk of the land of the olive and vine, 
Of the maids of the Ebro, the Arno, or Rhine ; 
Of the houris that gladden the East with their 
smiles, [isles ; 

Where the sea 's studded over with green summer 
But what flower of far-away clime can compare 
With the blossom of ours — bright Rosalie Clare] 

Who owns not she 's peerless, who calls her not fair] 
Let him meet but the glances of Rosalie Clare ! 
Let him list to her voice, let him gaze on her form, 
And if, seeing and hearing, his soul do not warm, 
Let him go breathe it out in some less happy air 
Than that which is bless'd by sweet RosalieClare. 



THINK OF ME, DEAREST. 

Think of me, dearest, when day is breaking 

Away from the sable chains of night, 
When the sun, his ocean-couch forsaking, 
Like a giant first in his strength awaking, 

Is flinging abroad his limbs of light ; 
As the breeze that first travels with morning forth, 
Giving life to her steps o'er the quickening earth — 
As the dream that has cheated my soul through the 

night, 
Let me in thy thoughts come fresh with the light. 

Think of me, dearest, when day is sinking 

In the soft embrace of twilight gray, 
When the starry eyes of heaven are winking, 
And the weary flowers their tears are drinking, 

As they start like gems on the moon-touch'd spray. 
Let me come warm in th) T thoughts at eve, 
As the glowing track which the sunbeams leave, 
When they, blushing, tremble along the deep, 
While stealing away to their place of sleep. 

Think of me, dearest, when round thee smiling 
Are eyes that melt while they gaze on thee ; 

When words are winning and looks are wiling, 

And those words and looks, of others, beguiling 
Thy fluttering heart from love and me. 

Let me come true in thy thoughts in that hour ; 

Let my trust and my faith — my devotion — have 
power, 

When all that can lure to thy young soul is nearest, 

To summon each truant thought back to me, dearest. 



WE PARTED IN SADNESS. 

We parted in sadness, but spoke not of parting; 

We talk'd not of hopes that we both must resign, 

\ I saw not her eyes, and but one tear-drop starting, 

Fell down on her hand as it trembled in mine : 

Each felt that the past we could never recover, 

Each felt that the future no hope could restore ; 

I She shudder'd at wringing the heart of her lover, 

I dared not to say I must meet her no more. 
I 

' Long years have gone by, and the spring-time smiles 

ever 

As o'er our young loves itfirst smiled in their birth. 

Long years have gone by, yet that parting, O ! never 

Can it be forgotten by either on earth. [ven, 

The note of each wild bird that carols toward hea- 

Must tell her of swift-winged hopes thatweremine, 

And the dew that steals over each blossom at even 

Tells me of the tear-drop that wept their decline. 



THE ORIGIN OF MINT JULEPS. 

And first behold this cordial Julep here, 
That flames and dances in its crystal bounds, 
With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed; 
Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thome 
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena, 
Is of such power to stir up Joy as this, 
To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst. 

Milton — Covins. 

'Tis said that the gods, on Olympus of old, 

(And who the bnght legend profanes with a 
doubt?) 

One night, 'mid their revels, by Bacchus were told 
That his last butt of nectar had somehow run out! 

But. determined to send round the goblet once more. 
They sued to the fairer immortals for aid [o'er, 

In composing a draught, which, till drinking were 
Should cast every wine ever drank in the shade. 

Grave Ceres herself blithely yielded her corn, 
And the spirit that lives in each amber hued grain, 

And which first had its birth from the dews of the 
morn, 
Was taught to steal out in bright dew-drops again. 

Pomona, whose choicest of fruits on the board 
Were scatter'd profusely in every one's reach, 

When called on a tribute to cull from the hoard, 
Express'd the mild juice of the delicate peach. 

The liquids were mingled, while Venus looked on, 

With glances so fraught with sweet magical 

power, 

That the honey of Hybla, e'en when they were gone, 

Has never been missed in the draught from that 

hour. 

Flora then, from her bosom of fragrancy, shook, 
And with roseate fingers press'd down in the bowl, 

All dripping and fresh as it came from the brook. 
The herb whose aroma should flavour the whole. 

The draught was delicious, each god did exclaim, 
Though something yet wanting they all did be- 
But juleps the drink of immortals became, [wail; 
When Jove himself added a handful of hai!. 



292 



CHARLES FENKO HOFFMAN. 



LE FAINEANT. 

' Now arouse thee, Sir Knight, from thine indolent 

ease, 
Fling boldly thy banner abroad in the breeze, 
Strike home for thy lady — strive hard for the prize, 
And thy guerdon shall beam from her love-lighted 

eyes !" 

" I shrink not the trial," that bluff knight replied — 
" But I battle — not I — for an unwilling bride ; 
Where the boldest may venture to do and to dare, 
My pennon shall nutter — my bugle peal there ! 

" I quail not at aught in the struggle of life, 
I'm not all unproved even now in the strife, 
But the wreath that I win, all unaided — alone, 
Bound a faltering brow it shall never be thrown !" 

" Now fie on thy manhood, to deem it a sin 
That she loveth the glory thy falchion might win ; 
Let them doubt of thy prowess and fortune no more ; 
Up ! Sir Knight, for thy lady — and do thy devoir !" 

« She hath shrunk from my side, she hath fail'd in 

her trust, 
Not relied on my blade, but remember'd its rust ; 
It shall brighten once more in the field of its fame, 
But it is not for her I would now win a name." 

The knight rode away, and the lady she sigh'd, 
When he featly as ever his steed would bestride, 
While the mould from the banner he shook to the 

wind 
Seem'd to fall orl the breast he left aching behind. 

But the rust on his glaive and the rust in his heart 
Had corroded too long and too deep to depart, 
And the brand only brighten d in honour once more, 
When the heart ceased to beat on the fray-trampled 
shore. 



TO AN AUTUMN ROSE. 

Tkll her I love her — love her for those eyes 
Now soft with feeling, radiant now with mirth 
Which, like a lake reflecting autumn skies, 
Reveal two heavens here to us on Earth — 
The one in which their soulful beauty lies, 
And that wherein such soult'ulness has birth: 
Go to my lady ere the season flies, 
And the rude winter comes thy bloom to blast — 
Go ! and with all of eloquence thou hast, 
The burning story of my love discover, 
And if the theme should fail, alas! to move her, 
Tell her when youth's gay budding-time is past, 
And summer's gaudy flowering is over, 
Like thee, my love will blossom to the last ! 



SYMPATHY. 

Well ! call it Friendship ! have I ask'd for more, 
Even in those moments, when I gave thee most 1 
'Twas but for thee, I look'd so far before ! 
I saw our bark was hurrying blindly on, 
A guideless thing upon a dangerous coast — 



With thee — with thee, where would I not have gone 1 
But could I see thee drift upon the shore, 
Unknowing drift upon a shore, unknown 1 
Yes, call it Friendship, and let no revealing 
If love be there, e'er make love's wild name heard, 
It will not die, if it be worth concealing ! 
Call it then Friendship — but oh, let that word 
Speak but for me — for me, a deeper feeling 
Than ever yet a lover's bosom stirr'd ! 



A PORTRAIT. 

Not hers the charms which Laura's lover drew, 
Or Titian's pencil on the canvas threw ; 
No soul enkindled beneath southern skies 
Glow'd on her cheek and sparkled in her eyes ; 
No prurient charms set off her slender form 
With swell voluptuous and with contour warm ; 
While each proportion was by Nature told 
In maiden beauty's most bewitching mould. 
High on her peerless brow — a radiant throne 
Unmix'd with aught of earth — pale genius sat alone. 
And yet, at times, within her eye there dwelt 
Softness that would the sternest bosom melt ; 
A depth of tenderness which show'd, when woke, 
That woman there as well as angel spoke. 
Yet well that eye could flash resentment's rays, 
Or, proudly scornful, check the boldest gaze ; 
Chill burning passion with a calm disdain, 
Or with one glance rekindle it again. 
Her mouth — Oh ! never fascination met 
Near woman's lips half so alluring yet : 
For round her mouth there play'd, at times, a smile, 
Such as did man from Paradise beguile ; 
Such, could it light him through this world of pain, 
As he'd not barter Eden to regain. 
What though that smile might beam alike on all ; 
What though that glance on each as kindly fall ; 
What though you knew, while worshipping their 

power. 
Your homage but the pastime of the hour, 
Still they, however guarded were the heart, 
Could every feeling from its fastness start — 
Deceive one still, howe'er deceived before, 
And make him wish thus to be cheated more, 
Till, grown at last in such illusions gray, 
Faith follow'd Hope and stole with Love away. 
Such was Alinda ; such in her combined 
Those charms which round our very nature wind ; 
Which, when together they in one conspire, 
He who admires must love — who sees, admire. 
Variably perilous ; upon the sight 
Now beam'd her beauty in resistless light, 
And subtly now into the heart it stole, 
And, ere it startled, occupied the whole. 
'Twas well for her, that lovely mischief, well 
That she could not the pangs it waken'd tell ; 
That, like the princess in the fairy tale, 
No soft emotions could her soul assail ; 
For Nature, — that Alinda should not feel 
For wounds her eyes might make, but never heal, — 
In mercy, while she did each gift impart 
Of rarest excellence, withheld a heart! 




wm 




JE\ W^m^JRMIL^, 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



INDIAN SUMMER, 1828. 

Light as love's smiles, the silvery mist at morn 
Floats in loose flakes along the limpid river ; 
The blue bird's notes upon the soft breeze borne, 
As high in air he carols, faintly quiver ; 
The weeping birch, like banners idly waving, 
Bends to the stream, its spicy branches laving ; 
Beaded with dew, the witch-elm's tassels shiver ; 
The timid rabbit from the furze is peeping, 
And from the springy spray the squirrel's gayly 
leaping. 

I love thee, Autumn, for thy scenery ere 
The blasts of winter chase the varied dyes 
That richly deck the slow-declining year ; 
I love the splendour of thy sunset skies, 
The gorgeous hues that tinge each failing leaf, 
Lovely as beauty's cheek, as woman's love too, 
I love the note of each wild bird that flies, [brief; 
As on the wind he pours his parting lay, 
And wings his loitering flight to summer climes 
away. 

0, Nature ! still I fondly turn to thee, 
With feelings fresh as e'er my childhood's were ; — 
Though wild and passion-toss'd my youth may be, 
Toward thee I still the same devotion bear ; 
To thee — to thee — though health and hope no more 
Life's wasted verdure may to me restore — 
I still can, child-like, come as when in prayer 
I bow'd my head upon a mother's knee, 
And deem'd the world, like her, all truth and purity. 



TOWN REPININGS. 

River ! 0, river ! thou rovest free, 

From the mountain height to the fresh blue sea 

Free thyself, but with silver chain, 

Linking each charm of land and main, 

From the splinter'd crag thou leap'st below, 

Through leafy glades at will to flow — 

Lingering now, by the steep's moss'd edge — 

Loitering now mid the dallying sedge : 

And pausing ever, to call thy waves 

From grassy meadows and fern-clad caves — 

And then, with a prouder tide to break 

From wooded valley, to breezy lake : 

Yet all of these scenes, though fair they be, 

River ! O, river ! are bann'd to me. 

River ! O, river ! upon thy tide 
Full many a freighted bark doth glide ; 
Would that thou thus couldst bear away 
The thoughts that burthen my weary day ! 
Or that I, from all save them made free, 
Though laden still, might rove with thee ! 
True that thy waves brief lifetime find, 
And live at the will of the wanton wind — 
True that thou seekest the ocean's flow, 
To be lost therein for evermoe. 
Yet the slave who worships at Glory's shrine, 
But toils for a bubble as frail as thine : 
But loses his freedom here, to be 
Forgotten as soon as in death set free. 



TO A LADY BLUSHING. 

The lilies faintly to the roses yield, 

As on thy lovely cheek they struggling vie, 

(Who would not strive upon so sweet a field 
To win the mastery'?) 

And thoughts are in thy speaking eyes reveaFd, 

Pure as the fount the prophet's rod unseal'd. 

I could not wish that in thy bosom aught 

Should e'er one moment's transient pain awaken, 

Yet can't regret that thou — forgive the thought--?- 
As flowers when shaken 

Will yield their sweetest fragrance to the wind, 

Should, ruffled thus, betray thy heavenly mind. 



THE FAREWELL. 

The conflict is over, the struggle is past, 

I have look'd — I have loved — I have worshipp'd 

my last, 
And now back to the world, and let Fate do her 

worst 
On the heart that for thee such devotion hath nursed : 
To thee its best feelings were trusted away, 
And life hath hereafter not one to betray. 

Yet not in resentment thy love I resign ; 
I blame not — upbraid not — one motive of thine ; 
I ask not what change has come over thy heart, 
I reck not what chances have doom'd us to part ; 
I but know thou hast told me to love thee no more, 
And I still must obey where I once did adore. 

Farewell, then, thou loved one — ! loved but too 

well, 
Too deeply, too blindly, for language to tell — 
Farewell ! thou hast trampled love's faith in the dust, 
Thou hast torn from my bosom its hope and its trust ! 
Yet, if thy life's current with bliss it would swell, 
I would pour out my own in this last fond farewell ! 



I WILL LOVE HER NO MORE. 

I will love her no more — 'tis a waste of the heart, 
This lavish of feeling — a prodigal's part : 
Who, heedless the treasure a life could not earn, 
Squanders forth where he vainly may look for return. 

I will love her no more ; it is folly to give 
Our best years to one, when for many we live. 
And he who the world will thus barter for one, 
I ween by such traffic must soon be undone. 

I will love her no more ; it is heathenish thus 
To bow to an idol which bends not to us ; 
Which heeds not, which hears not, which recks 

not for aught 
That the worship of years to its altar hath brought. 

I will love her no more ; for no love is without 
Its limit in measure, and mine hath run out; 
She engrosseth it all, and, till some she restore, 
Than this moment I love hei, how can I love more? 
2 b2 



294 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



THEY ARE MOCKERY ALL. 

They are mockery all — those skies, those skies- 

Their untroubled depths of blue — 
They are mockery all — these eyes, these eyes, 

Which seem so warm and true, 
Each tranquil star in the one that lies, 
Each meteor glance that at random flies 

The other's lashes through ; 
They are mockery all, these flowers of spring, 

Which her airs so softly woo — 
And the love to which we woidd madly cling, 

Ay ! it is mockery too ; 
The winds are false which the perfume stir, 

And the looks deceive to which we sue, 
And love but leads to the sepulchre, 

Which the flowers spring to strew. 



MELODY. 

Whex the flowers of Friendship or Love have de- 

cay'd, 
In the heart that has trusted and once been betray'd, 
No sunshine of kindness their bloom can restore ; 
For the verdure of feeling will quicken no more ! 

Hope cheated too often when life's in its spring, 
From the bosom that nursed it for ever takes wing! 
And Memory comes, as its promises fade, 
To brood o'er the havoc that Passion has made. 

As 'tis said that the swallow the tenement leaves 
Where ruin endangers her nest in the eaves, 
While the desolate owl takes her place on the wall, 
And builds in the mansion that nods to its fall. 



MORNING HYMN. 

« Let there be eight !" The Eternal spoke, 

And from the abyss where darkness rode 
The earliest dawn of nature broke, 

And light around creation flow'd. 
The glad earth smiled to see the day, 

The first-born day, come blushing in ; 
The young day smiled to shed its ray 

Upon a world untouch'd by sin. 

" Let there be light !" O'er heaven and earth, 

The God who first the day-beam pour'd, 
Uttvr'd again his fiat forth, 

And shed the gospel's light abroad, 
And, like the dawn, its cheering rays 

On rich and poor were meant to fall, 
Inspiring their Redeemer's praise, 

In lowly cot and lordly hall. 

Then come, when in the orient first 

Flushes the signal-light for prayer ; 
Come with the earliest beams that burst 

From Gon's bright throne of glory there. 
Come kneel to Him who through the night 

Hath watch'd above thy sleeping soul, 
To Him whose mercies, like his light, 

<\re shed abroad from pole to pole. 



THE WESTERN HUNTER TO HIS 
MISTRESS. 

Wend, love, with me, to the deep woods, wend, 

Where far in the forest the wild flowers keep, 
Where no watching eye shall over us bend, 

Save the blossoms that into thy bower peep. 
Thou shalt gather from buds of the oriole's hue, 

Whose flaming wings round our pathway flit, 
From the saffron orchis and lupin blue, 

And those like the foam on my courser's bit. 

One steed and one saddle us both shall bear, 

One hand of each on the bridle meet ; 
And beneath the wrist that entwines me there, 

An answering pulse from my heart shall beat. 
I will sing thee many a joyous lay, 

As we chase the deer by the blue lake-side, 
While the winds that over the prairie play 

Shall fan the cheek of my woodland bride. 

Our home shall be by the cool, bright streams, 

Where the beaver chooses her safe retreat, 
And our hearth shall smile like the sun's warm 
gleams [meet. 

Through the branches around our lodge that 
Then wend with me, to the deep woods wend, 

Where far in the forest the wild flowers keep, 
Where no watching eye shall over us bend, 

Save the blossoms that into thy bower peep. 



THY NAME. 

It comes to me when healths go round, 

And o'er the wine their garlands wreathing 

The flowers of wit, with music wound, 
Are freshly from the goblet breathing ; 

From sparkling song and sally gay 

It comes to steal my heart away, 

And fill my soul, mid festal glee, 

With sad, sweet, silent thoughts of thee. 

It comes to me upon the mart, 

Where care in jostling crowds is rife ; 
Where Avarice goads the sordid heart, 

Or cold Ambition prompts the strife ; 
It comes to whisper, if I 'm there, 
'T is but with thee each prize to share, 
For Fame were not success to me, 
Nor riches wealth unshared with thee. 

It comes to me when smiles are bright 
On gentle lips that murmur round me, 

And kindling glances flash delight 

In eyes whose spell would once have bound me. 

It comes — but comes to bring alone 

Remembrance of some look or tone, 

Dearer than aught I hear or see, 

Because 'twas born or breathed by thee, 

It comes to me where cloister'd boughs 

Their shadows cast upon the sod ; 
A while in Nature's fane my vows 

Are lifted from her shrine to God ; 
It comes to tell that all of worth 
I dream in heaven or know on earth, 
However bright or dear it be, 
Is blended with my thought of thee. 



CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 



295 



THE MYRTLE AND STEEL. 

One bumper yet, gallants, at parting, 

One toast ere we arm for the fight ; 
Fill round, each to her he loves dearest — 

'T is the last he may pledge her, to-night. 
Think of those who of old at the banquet 

Did their weapons in garlands conceal, 
The patriot heroes who hallowed 

The entwining of myrtle and steel ! 

Then hey for the myrtle and steel, 

Then ho for the myrtle and steel, 
Let every true blade that e'er loved a fair maid, 

Fill round to the myrtle and steel ! 

'T is in moments like this, when each bosom 

With its highest-toned feeling is warm, 
Like the music that's said from the ocean 

To rise ere the gathering storm, 
That her image around us should hover, 

Whose name, though our lips ne'er reveal, 
We may breathe mid the foam of a bumper, 

As we drink to the myrtle and steel. 

Then hey for the myrtle and steel, 

Then ho for the myrtle and steel, 
Let every true blade that e'er loved a fair maid, 

Fill round to the myrtle and steel ! 

Now mount, for our bugle is ringing 

To marshal the host for the fray, 
Where proudly our banner is flinging 

Its folds o'er the battle-array ; 
Yet gallants — one moment — remember, 

When your sabres the death-blow would deal, 
That Mercy wears her shape who's cherish'd 

By lads of the myrtle and steel. 

Then hey for the myrtle and steel, 

Then ho for the myrtle and steel, 
Let every true blade that e'er loved a fair maid, 

Fill round to the myrtle and steel ! 



EPITAPH UPON A DOG. 

An. ear that caught my slightest tone, 

In kindness or in anger spoken ; 
An eye that ever watch'd my own, 

In vigils death alone has broken ; 
Its changeless, ceaseless, and unbought 

Affection to the last revealing ; 
Beaming almost with human thought, 

And more — far more than human feeling ! 

Can such in endless sleep be chill'd, 

And mortal pride disdain to sorrow, 
Because the pulse that here was still' d 

May wake to no immortal morrow'? 
Can faith, devotedness, and love, 

That seem to humbler creatures given 
To tell us what we owe above, — 

The types of what is due to Heaven, — 

Can these be with the things that were, 
Things cherish'd — but no more returning, 

And leave behind no trace of care, 

No shade that speaks a moment's mourning? 



Alas ! my friend, of all of worth 

That years have stolen or years yet leave me, 
I 've never known so much on earth, 

But that the loss of thine must grieve me. 



ANACREONTIC. 

Biame not the bowl — the fruitful bowl, 

Whence wit, and mirth, and music spring, 
And amber drops elysian roll, 

To bathe young Love's delighted wing. 
What like the grape Osiris gave 

Makes rigid age so lithe of limb 1 
Illumines memory's tearful wave, 

And teaches drowning hope to swim? 
Did ocean from his radiant arms 

To earth another Ven us give, 
He ne'er could match the mellow charms 

That in the breathing beaker live. 

Like burning thoughts which lovers hoard, 

In characters that mock the sight, 
Till some kind liquid, o'er them pour'd, 

Brings all their hidden warmth to light — 
Are feelings bright, which, in the cup, 

Though graven deep, appear but dim, 
Till, fill'd with glowing Bacchus up, 

They sparkle on the foaming brim. 
Each drop upon the first you pour 

Brings some new tender thought to life, 
And, as you fill it more and more, 

The last with fervid soul is rife. 

The island fount, that kept of old 

Its fabled path beneath the sea, 
And fresh, as first from earth it roll'd, 

From earth again rose joyously : 
Bore not beneath the bitter brine 

Each flower upon its limpid tide, 
More faithfully than in the wine 

Our hearts toward each other glide. 
Then drain the cup, and let thy soul 

Learn, as the draught delicious flies, 
Like pearls in the Egyptian's bowl, 

Truth beaming at the bottom lies. 



A HUNTER'S MATIN. 

Up, comrades, up ! the morn 's awake 

Upon the mountain side, 
The curlew's wing hath swept the lake, 
And the deer has left the tangled brake, 

To drink from the limpid tide. 
Up, comrades, up ! the mead-lark's note 
And the plover's cry o'er the prairie float ; 
The squirrel, he springs from his covert now, 
To prank it away on the chestnut bough, 
Where the oriole's pendant nest, high up, 

Is rock'd on the swaying trees, 
While the humbird sips from the harebell's cup, 

As it bends to the morning breeze. 
Up, comrades, up ! our shallops grate 

Upon the pebbly strand, 
And our stalwart hounds impatient wait 

To spring from the huntsman's hand. 



296 CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 


SPARKLING AND BRIGHT. 


ASK NOT WHY I SHOULD LOVE HER. 


Sparkling and bright in liquid light 


Ask me not why I should love her : 


Does the wine our goblets gleam in, 


Look upon those soul-full eyes ! 


With hue as red as the rosy bed 


Look while mirth or feeling move her, 


Which a bee would choose to dream in. 


And see there how sweetly rise 


Then fill to-night with hearts as light, 


Thoughts gay and gentle from a breast, 


To loves as gay and fleeting 


Which is of innocence the nest — 


As bubbles that swim on the beaker's brim, 


Which, though each joy were from it shred, 


And break on the lips while meeting. 


By truth would still be tenanted ! 


! if Mirth might arrest the flight 


See, from those sweet windows peeping, 


Of Time through Life's dominions, 


Emotions tender, bright, and pure, 


We here a while would now beguile 


And wonder not the faith I'm keeping 


The gray beard of his pinions, 


Every trial can endure ! 


To drink to-night with hearts as light, 


Wonder not that looks so winning 


To loves as gay and fleeting 


Still for me new ties are spinning ; 


As bubbles that swim on the beaker's brim, 


Wonder not that heart so true 


And break on the lips while meeting. 


Keeps mine from ever changing too. 


B it since delight can't tempt the wight, 
Nor fond regret delay him, 






Nor Love himself can hold the elf, 


SHE LOVES, BUT 'TIS NOT ME. 


Nor sober Friendship stay him, 





We'll drink to-night with hearts as light, 


She loves, but 'tis not me she loves: 


To loves as gay and fleeting 


Not me on whom she ponders, 


As bubbles that swim on the beaker's brim, 


When, in some dream of tenderness, 


And break on the lips while meeting. 


Her truant fancy wanders. 




The forms that flit her visions through 


• 


Are like the shapes of old, 


SEEK NOT TO UNDERSTAND HER. 


Where tales of prince and paladin 





On tapestry are told. 


Why seek her heart to understand, 


Man may not hope her heart to win, 


If but enough thou knowest 


Be his of common mould. 


To prove that all thy love, like sand, 




Upon the wind thou throwest? 


But I — though spurs are won no more 


The ill thou makest out at last 


Where herald's trump is pealing, 


Doth but reflect the bitter past, 


Nor thrones carved out for lady fair 


While all the good thou learnest yet, 


Where steel-clad ranks are wheeling — 


But makes her harder to forget. 


I loose the falcon of my hopes 




Upon as proud a flight 


What matters all the nobleness 


As those who hawk'd at high renown, 


Which in her breast resideth, 


In song-ennobled fight. 


And what the warmth and tenderness 


If daring, then, true love may crown, 


Her mien of coldness hideth, 


My love she must requite. 


If but ungenerous thoughts prevail 




When thou her bosom wouldst assail, 




While tenderness and warmth doth ne'er, 


♦ 


By any chance, toward thee appear. 


THY" SMILES. 


Sum up each token thou hast won 


'T is hard to share her smiles with many ! 


Of kindred feeling there — 


And while she is so dear to me, 


How few for Hope, to build upon, 


To fear that I, far less than any, 


How many for Despair ! 


Call out her spirit's witchery ! 


And if e'er word or look declareth 


To find my inmost heart when near her 


Love or aversion, which she beareth, 


Trembling at every glance and tone, 


While of the first, no proof thou hast, 


And feel the while each charm grow dearer 


How many are there of the last ! 


That will not beam for me alone. 


Then strive no more to understand 


How can she thus, sweet spendthrift, squander 


Her heart, of whom thou knowest 


The treasures one alone can prize ! 


Enough to prove thy love like sand 


How can her eyes to all thus wander, 


Upon the wind thou throwest : 


When I but live in those sweet eyes ! 


The ill thou makest out at last 


Those syren tones so lightly spoken 


Doth but reflect the bitter past, 


Cause many a heart I know to thrill ; 


While all the good thou learnest yet 


But mine, and only mine, till broken, 


But makes her harder to forget. 


In every pulse must answer still. 






CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN. 297 




And now again from their gay track 
I call, as I despondent sit, 


LOVE AND POLITICS. 


A BIRTH-DAY MEDITATION. 


Once more these truant fancies back, 





Which round my brain so idly flit ; 


Another year ! alas, how swift, 


And some I treasure, some I blush 


Alixda, do these years flit by, 


To own — and these I try to crush — 


Like shadows thrown by clouds that drift 


And some, too wild for reason's reign, 


In flakes along a wintry sky. 


I loose in idle rhyme again. 


Another year ! another leaf 


' And even thus my moments fly, 


Is turn'd within life's volume brief, 


And even thus my hours decay, 


And yet not one bright page appears 


And even thus my years slip by, 


Of mine within that book of years. 


My life itself is wiled away ; 


There are some moments when I feel 
As if it should not yet be so ; 


But distant still the mounting hope, 
The burning wish with men to cope 
In aught that minds of iron mould 


As if the years that from me steal 


May do or dare for fame or gold. 


Had not a right alike to go, 


And lose themselves in Time's dark sea, 


Another year ! another year, 


Unbuoy'd up by aught from me ; 


Alixda, it shall not be so ; 


Aught that the future yet might claim 


Both love and lays forswear I here, 


To rescue from their wreck a name. 


As I've forsworn thee long ago. 




That name, which thou wouldst never share, 


But it was love that taught me rhyme, 


Proudly shall Fame emblazon where 


And it was thou that taught me love ; 


On pumps and corners posters stick it, 


And if I in this idle chime 


The highest on the Jackson ticket. 


Of words a useless sluggard prove, 
It was thine eyes the habit nurs'd, 






And in their light I learn'd it first. 


WHAT IS SOLITUDE? 


It is thine eyes which, day by day, 





Consume my time and heart away. 


Not in the shadowy wood, 




Not in the crag-hung glen, 


And often bitter thoughts arise 


Not where the echoes brood 


Of what I 've lost in loving thee, 


In caves untrod by men ; 


And in my breast my spirit dies, 


Not by the bleak sea-shore, 


The gloomy cloud around to see, 


Where loitering surges break, 


Of baffled hopes and ruined powers 


Not on the mountain hoar, 


Of mind, and miserable hours — 


Not by the breezeless lake, 


Of self-upbraiding, and despair — 


Not on the desert plain, 


Of heart, too strong and fierce to bear. 


Where man hath never stood, 




Whether on isle or main — 


" Why, what a peasant slave am I," 


Not there is solitude ! 


To bow my mind and bend my knee 


Birds are in woodland bowers, 


To woman in idolatry, 


Voices in lonely dells, 
Streams to the listening hours 


Who takes no thought of mine or me. 


0, God ! that I could breathe my life 


Talk in earth's secret cells ; 


On battle-plain in charging strife — 


Over the gray-ribb'd sand 


In one mad impulse pour my soul 


Breathe ocean's frothing lips, 
Over the still lake's strand 


Far beyond passion's base control. 


Thus do my jarring thoughts revolve 
Their gather'd causes of offence, 

Until I in my heart resolve 

To dash thine angel image thence ; 

When some bright look, some accent kind, 


The flower toward it dips ; 
Pluming the mountain's crest, 

Life tosses in its pines ; 
Coursing the desert's breast, 

Life in the steed's mane shines. 


Comes freshly in my heated mind, 


Leave — if thou wouldst be lonely — 


And scares, like newly-flushing day, 


Leave Nature for the crowd ; 


These brooding thoughts like owls away. 


Seek there for one — one only — 




With kindred mind endow'd ! 


And then for hours and hours I muse 


There — as with Nature erst 


On things that might, yet will not be, 


Closely thou wouldst commune 


Till, one by one, my feelings lose 


The deep soul-music, nursed 


Their passionate intensity, 


In either heart, attune ! 


And steal away in visions soft, 


Heart-wearied, thou wilt own. 


Which on wild wing those feelings waft 


Vainly that phantom woo'd, 


Far. far beyond the drear domain 


That thou at last hast known 


Of Reason and her freezing reign. 

38 1 


What is true solitude ! 



J. 0. ROCKWELL. 



[Bora, 1S07. Died, 1831.] 



James Otis Rockwell was born in Lebanon, 
an agricultural town in Connecticut, in 1807. At 
an early age he was apprenticed to a printer, in 
Utica, and in his sixteenth year he began to write 
verses for the newspapers. Two years afterward 
he went to New York, and subsequently to Boston, 
in each of which cities he laboured as a journey- 
man compositor. He had now acquired considera- 
ble reputation by his poetical writings, and was 
engaged as associate editor of the " Statesman," 
an old and influential journal published in Boston, 
with which, I believe, he continued until 1829, 
when he became the conductor of the Providence 
" Patriot," with which he was connected at the 
time of his death. 

He was poor, and in his youth he had been left 
nearly to his own direction. He chose to learn 
the business of printing, because he thought it 
would afford him opportunities to improve his 
mind ; and his education was acquired by diligent 
study during the leisure hours of his apprentice- 
ship. When he removed to Providence, it became 
necessary for him to take an active part in the dis- 
cussion of political questions. He felt but little 
interest in public affairs, and shrank instinctively 
from the strife of partisanship ; but it seemed the 
only avenue to competence and reputation, and he 
embarked in it with apparent ardour. Journalism, 
in the hands of able and honourable men, is the 
noblest of callings ; in the hands of the ignorant 
and mercenary, it is among the meanest. There 
are at all times connected with the press, persons 
of the baser sort, who derive their support and 
chief enjoyment from ministering to the worst pas- 
sions; and by some of this class Rockwell's pri- 
vate character was assailed, and he was taunted 
with his obscure parentage, defective education, 
and former vocation, as if to have elevated his po- 
sition in society, by perseverance and the force of 
mind, were a ground of accusation. He had too 
little energy in his nature to regard such assaults 
with the indifference they merited ; and complained 
in some of his letters that they "robbed him of rest 
and of all pleasure." With constantly increasing 
reputation, however, he continued his editorial la- 
bours until the summer of 1831, when, at the early 
age of twenty-four years, he was suddenly called 
to a better world. He felt unwell, one morning, 
and, in a brief paragraph, apologized for the appa- 
rent neglect of his gazette. The next number 
of it wore the signs of mourning for his death. 
A friend of Rockwell's,* in a notice of him 
published in the "Southern Literary Messenger," 
mentions as the immediate cause of his death, that 
he "was troubled at the thought of some obliga- 

* Reverend Chakles W. Everest, of Meriden, Con- 
necticut. 



; tion which, from not receiving money then due to 
J him, he was unable to meet, and shrank from the 
prospect of a debtor's prison." That it was in 
some way a result of his extreme sensitiveness, 
was generally believed among his friends at the 
time. Whittiek, who was then editor of the 
"New England Weekly Review," soon after w T rote 
the following lines to his memory : 

"The turf is smooth above him ! and this rain 
Will moisten the rent roots, and summon back 
The perishing life of its green-bladed grass, 
And the crush'd flower will lift its head again 
Smilingly unto heaven, as if it kept 
No vigil with the dead. Well — it is meet 
That the green grass should tremble, and the flowers 
Blow wild about his resting place. His mind 
Was in itself a flower but half-disclosed — 
A bud of blessed promise which the storm 
Visited rudely, and the passer by 
Smote down in wantonness. But we may trust 
That it hath found a dwelling, where the sun 
Of a more holy clime will visit it, 
And the pure dews of mercy will descend, 
Through Heaven's own atmosphere, upon its head. 

"His form is now before me, with no trace 
Of death in its fine lineaments, and there 
Is a faint crimson on his youthful cheek, 
And his free lip is softening with the smile 
Which in his eye is kindling. I can feel 
The parting pressure of his hand, and hear 
His last 'God bless you!' Strange— that he is thero 
Distinct before me like a breathing thing, 
Even when I know that he is with (he dead, 
And that the damp earth hides him. I would not 
Think of him otherwise— his image lives 
Within my memory as he seem'd befoie 
The curse of blighted feeling, and the toil 
And fever of an uncongenial strife, had left 
Their traces on his aspect. Peace to him ! 
He wrestled nobly with the weariness 
And trials of our being— smiling on, 
While poison mingled with his springs of life, 
And wearing a calm brow, while on his heart 
Anguish was resting like a hand of fire — 
Until at last the agony of thought 
Grew insupportable, and madness came 
Darkly upon him,— and the sufferer died ! 

" Nor died he unlamented ! To his grave 
The beautiful and gifted shall go up, 
And muse upon the sleeper. And young lips 
Shall murmur in the broken tones of grief— 
His own sweet melodies — and if the ear 
Of the freed spirit heedeth aught beneath 
The brightness of its new inheritance, 
It may be joyful to the parted one 
To feel that earth remembers him in love '." 
The specimens of Rockwell's poetry which 
have fallen under my notice show him to have 
possessed considerable fancy and deep fooling 
His imagery is not always well chosen, and his ver- 
sification is sometimes defective; but his thoughts 
are often original, and the general effect of his 
pieces is striking. His later poems are his best, 
and probably he would have produced works of 
much merit had he lived to a maturer age. 

298 



J. 0. ROCKWELL. 



290 



THE SUM OF LIFE. 

Searcher of gold, whose days and nights 
All waste away in anxious care, 

Estranged from all of life's delights, 
Unlearn'd in all that is most fair — 

Who sailest not with easy glide, 

But delvest in the depths of tide, 
And strugglest in the foam ; 

! come and view this land of graves, 

Death's northern sea of frozen waves, 
And mark thee out thy home. 

Lover of woman, whose sad heart 

Wastes like a fountain in the sun, 
Clings most, where most its pain does start, 

Dies by the light it lives upon ; 
Come to the land of graves ; for here 
Are beauty's smile, and beauty's tear, 

Gather'd in holy trust ; 
Here slumber forms as fair as those 
Whose cheeks, now living, shame the rose, 
Their glory turn'd to dust. 

Lover of fame, whose foolish thought 
Steals onward o'er the wave of time, 

Tell me, what goodness hath it brought, 
Atoning for that restless crime 1 

The spirit-mansion desolate, 

And open to the storms of fate, 
The absent soul in fear ; 

Bring home thy thoughts and come with me, 

And see where all thy pride must be : 
Searcher of fame, look here ! 

And, warrior, thou with snowy plume, 

That goest to the bugle's call, 
Come and look down ; this lonely tomb 

Shall hold thee and thy glories all : 
The haughty brow, the manly frame, 
The daring deeds, the sounding fame, 

Are trophies but for death ! 
And millions who have toil'd like thee, 
Are stay'd, and here they sleep ; and see, 
Does glory lend them breath 1 



TO ANN. 

Thou wert as a lake that lieth 

In a bright and sunny way ; 
I was as a bird that flieth 

O'er it on a pleasant day ; 
When I look'd upon thy features 

Presence then some feeling lent ; 
But thou knowest, most false of creatures, 

With thy form thy image went. 

With a kiss my vow was greeted, 

As I knelt before thy shrine ; 
But I saw that kiss repeated 

On another lip than mine ; 
And a solemn vow was spoken 

That thy heart should not be changed ; 
But that binding vow was broken, 

And thy spirit was estranged. 



I could blame thee for awaking 

Thoughts the world will but deride ; 
Calling out, and then forsaking 

Flowers the winter wind will chide ■ 
Guiling to the midway ocean 

Barks that tremble by the shore ; 
But I hush the sad emotion, 

And will punish thee no more. 



THE LOST AT SEA. 

Wife, who in thy deep devotion 

Puttest up a prayer for one 
Sailing on the stormy ocean, 

Hope no more — his course is done. 
Dream not, when upon thy pillow, 

That he slumbers by thy side ; 
For his corse beneath the billow 

Heaveth with the restless tide. 

Children, who, as sweet flowers growing, 

Laugh amid the sorrowing rains, 
Know ye many clouds are throwing 

Shadows on your sire's remains 1 
Where the hoarse, gray surge is rolling 

With a mountain's motion on, 
Dream ye that its voice is tolling 

For your father lost and gone 1 

When the sun look'd on the water, 

As a hero on his grave, 
Tinging with the hue of slaughter 

Every blue and leaping wave, 
Under the majestic ocean, 

Where the giant current roll'd, 
Slept thy sire, without emotion, 

Sweetly by a beam of gold ; 

And the silent sunbeams slanted, 

Wavering through the crystal deep, 
Till their wonted splendours haunted 

Those shut eyelids in their sleep. 
Sands, like crumbled silver gleaming, 

Sparkled through his raven hair ; 
But the sleep that knows no dreaming 

Bound him in its silence there. 

So we left him ; and to tell thee 

Of our sorrow and thine own, 
Of the wo that then befell thee, 

Come we weary and alone. 
That thine eye is quickly shaded, 

That thy heart-blood wildly flows, 
That thy cheek's clear hue is faded, 

Are the fruits of these new woes. 

Children, whose meek eyes, inquiring, 

Linger on your mother's face — 
Know ye that she is expiring, 

That ye are an orphan race 1 
Gon be with you on the morrow, 

Father, mother, — both no more ; 
One within a grave of sorrow, 

One upon the ocean's floor ! 



300 J. 0. ROCKWELL. 


THE DEATH-BED OF BEAUTY. 


THE PRISONER FOR DEBT. 


She sleeps in beauty, like the dying rose 


When the summer sun was in the west, 


By the warm skies and winds of June forsaken; 


Its crimson radiance fell, 


Or like the sun, when dimm'd with clouds it goes 


Some on the blue and changeful sea, 


To its clear ocean-bed, by light winds shaken : 


And some in the prisoner's cell. 


Or like the moon, when through its robes of snow 


And then his eye with a smile would beam, 


It smiles with angel meekness — or like sorrow 


And the blood would leave his brain, 


When it is soothed by resignation's glow, 


And the verdure of his soul return, 


Or like herself, — she will be dead to-morrow. 


Like sere grass after rain ! 


How still she sleeps ! The young and sinless girl ! 


But when the tempest wreathed and spread 


And the faint breath upon her red lips trembles ! 


A mantle o'er the sun, 


Waving, almost in death, the raven curl 


He gather'd back his woes again, 


That floats around her ; and she most resembles 


And brooded thereupon ; 


The fall of night upon the ocean foam, 


And thus he lived, till Time one day 


Wherefrom the sun-light hath not yet departed ; 


Led Death to break his chain : 


And where the winds are faint. She stealeth home, 


And then the prisoner went away, 


Unsullied girl ! an angel broken-hearted ! 


And he was free again ! 


0, bitter world ! that hadst so cold an eye 




To look upon so fair a type of heaven ; 


TO A WAVE. 


She could not dwell beneath a winter sky, 


And her heart-strings were frozen here and riven, 


List ! thou child of wind and sea, 


And now she lies in ruins — look and weep ! 


Tell me of the far-off' deep, 


How lightly leans her cheek upon the pillow ! 


Where the tempest's breath is free, 


And how the bloom of her fair face doth keep 


And the waters never sleep ! 
Thou perchance the storm hast aided, 


Changed, like a stricken dolphin on the billow. 




In its work of stern despair, 




Or perchance thy hand hath braided, 


TO THE ICE-MOUNTAIN. 


In deep caves, the mermaid's hair. 


Grave of waters gone to rest ! 


Wave ! now on the golden sands, 


Jewel, dazzling all the main ! 


Silent as thou art, and broken, 


Father of the silver crest ! 


Bear'st thou not from distant strands 


Wandering on the trackless plain, 


To my heart some pleasant token ] 


Sleeping mid the wavy roar, 


Tales of mountains of the south, 


Sailing mid the angry storm, 


Spangles of the ore of silver ; 


Ploughing ocean's oozy floor, 


Which, with playful singing mouth, 


Piling to the clouds thy form ! 


Thou hast leap'd on high to pilfer 1 


Wandering monument of rain, 


Mournful wave ! I deem'd thy song 


Prison'd by the sullen north ! 


Was telling of a floating prison, 


But to melt thy hated chain, 


Which, when tempests swept along, 


Is it that thou comest forth 1 


And the mighty winds were risen, 


Wend thee to the sunny south, 


Founder'd in the ocean's grasp. 


To the glassy summer sea, 


While the brave and fair were dying, 


And the breathings of her mouth 


Wave ! didst mark a white hand clasp 


Shall unchain and gladden thee ! 


In thy folds, as thou wert flying 1 


Roamer in the hidden path, 


Hast thou seen the hallow'd rock 


'Neath the green and clouded wave ! 


Where the pride of kings reposes, 


Trampling in thy reckless wrath, 


Crown'd with many a misty lock, 


On the lost, but cherish'd brave ; 


Wreathed with sapphire, green, and roses] 


Parting love's death-link'd embrace — 


Or with joyous, playful leap, 


Crushing beauty's skeleton — 


Hast thou been a tribute flinging, 


Tell us what the hidden race 


Up that bold and jutty steep, 


With our mourned lost have done ! 


Pearls upon the south wind stringing'? 


Floating isle, which in the sun 


Faded Wave ! a joy to thee, 


Art an icy coronal ; 


Now thy flight and toil are over ! 


And beneath the viewless dun, 


0, may my departure be 


Throw'st o'er barks a wavy pall ; 


Calm as thine, thou ocean-rover ! 


Shining death upon the sea ! 


When this soul's last pain or mirth 


Wend thee to the southern main ; 


On the shore of time is driven, 


Warm skies wait to welcome thee ! 


Be its lot like thine on earth, 


Mingle with the wave again ! 


To be lost away in heaven ! 



N. P. WILLIS. 



[Born, 1807.] 



Nathaniel P. Willis was born at Portland, 
in Maine, on the twentieth day of January, 1807. 
During his childhood his parents removed to Bos- 
ton; and at the Latin school in that city, and at 
the Philips Academy in Andover, he pursued his 
studies until he entered Yale College, in 1823. 
While he resided at New Haven, as a student, he 
won a high reputation, for so young an author, by 
a series of " Scripture Sketches," and a few other 
brief poems ; and it is supposed that the warm and 
too indiscriminate praises bestowed upon these pro- 
ductions, influenced unfavourably his subsequent 
progress in the poetic art. He was graduated in 
1827, and in the following year he published a 
" Poem delivered before the Society of United 
Brothers of Brown University," which, as well as 
his " Sketches," issued soon after he left college, 
was very favourably noticed in the best periodicals 
of the time. He also edited " The Token," a well- 
known annuary, for 1828; and about the same 
period published, in several volumes, "The Le- 
gendary," and established "The American Month- 
ly Magazine." To this periodical several young 
writers, who afterward became distinguished, were 
contributors ; but the articles by its editor, consti- 
tuting a large portion of each number, gave to 
the work its character, and were of all its contents 
the most popular. In 1830 it was united to the 
"New York Mirror," of which Mr. Willis be- 
came one of the conductors ; and he soon after 
sailed for Europe, to be absent several years. 

He travelled over Great Britain, and the most 
interesting portions of the continent, mixing largely 
in society, and visiting every thing worthy of his 
regard as a man of letters, or as an American ; and 
his "First Impressions" were given in his letters to 
the " Mirror," in which he described, with remark- 
able spirit and fidelity, and in a style peculiarly 
graceful and elegant, scenery and incidents, and 
social life among the polite classes in Europe. His 
letters were collected and republished in London, 
under the title of " Pencillings by the Way," and 
violently attacked in several of the leading periodi- 
cals, ostensibly on account of their too great free- 
dom of personal detail. Captain Mabrtat, who 
was at the time editing a monthly magazine, wrote 
an article, characteristically gross and malignant, 
which led to a hostile meeting at Chatham, and Mr. 
Lockhart, in the "Quarterly Review," published 
a "criticism" alike illiberal and unfair. Mr. 
Willis perhaps erred in giving to the public 
dinner-table conversations, and some of his de- 
scriptions of manners ; but Captain Marryat 
himself is not undeserving of censure on account 
of the " personalities" in his writings ; and for 
other reasons he could not have been the most 
suitable person in England to avenge the wrong 
it was alleged Mr. Willis had offered to soci- 
etv. That the author of " Peter's Letters to 



I his Kinsfolk," a work which is filled with far 
more reprehensible personal allusions than are 
to be found in the " Pencillings," should have 
ventured to attack the work on this ground, may 
excite surprise among those who have not ob- 
served that the " Quarterly Review" is spoken of 
with little reverence in the letters of the American 
traveller. 

In 1835 Mr. Willis was married in England. 
He soon after published his " Inklings of Adven- 
ture," a collection of tales and sketches originally 
written for a London magazine, under the signature 
of "Philip Slingsby;" and in 1837 he returned 
to the United States, and retired to his beautiful 
estate on the Susquehanna, named "Glenmary," 
in compliment to one of the most admirable wives 
that ever gladdened a poet's solitude. In the early 
part of 1839, he became one of the editors of " The 
Corsair," a literary gazette, and in the autumn of 
that year went again to London, where, in the 
following winter, he published his " Loiterings of 
Travel," in three volumes, and "Two Ways of 
Dying for a Husband," comprising the plays "Bi- 
anca Visconti," and "Tortesa the Usurer." In 
1840 appeared the illustrated edition of his poems, 
and his " Letters from Under a Bridge," and he 
retired a second time to his seat in western New 
York, where he now resides. Besides the works 
already mentioned, he is the author of "Ameri- 
can Scenery," and of "Ireland," — two works illus- 
trated in a splendid manner by Bartlett, — and 
of numerous papers in the reviews, magazines, 
and other periodicals. 

The prose and poetry of Mi Willis are alike 
distinguished for exquisite finish and melody. His 
language is pure, varied, and rich ; his imagina- 
tion brilliant, and his wit of the finest quality. 
Many of his descriptions of natural scenery are 
written pictures ; and no other author has repre- 
sented with equal vivacity and truth the manners 
of the age. His dramatic poems have been the 
most successful works of their kind produced in 
America. They exhibit a deep acquaintance with 
the common sympathies and passions, and are as 
remarkable as his other writings for affluence of 
language and imagery, and descriptive power. 

His leading characteristics are essentially differ- 
ent from those of his contemporaries. Dana and 
Bryant are the teachers of a high, religious phi- 
losophy; Halleck and Holies excel in humoui 
and delicate satire ; Longfellow has a fine ima- 
gination and is unequalled as an artist; but Wil- 
lis is more than any other the poet of society — 
familiar with the secret springs of action in social 
life, — and moved himself by the same influences 
which guide his fellows. His genius is various : 
" Parrhasius," " Spring," " Hagar in the Wilder- 
ness," "The Annoyer," and other pieces, present 
strong contrasts ; and they are alike excellent. 
2C 301 



302 



N. P. WILLIS. 



MELANIE. 



I stood on yonder rocky brow,* 

And marvell'd at the Sybil's fane, 
When I was not what I am now. 

My life was then untouch'd of pain; 
And, as the breeze that stirr'd my hair, 

My spirit freshen'd in the sky, 
And all things that were true and fair 

Lay closely to my loving eye, 
With nothing shadowy between — 
I was a boy of seventeen. 
Yon wondrous temple crests the rock, 

As light upon its giddy base, 
As stirless with the torrent's shock, 

As pure in its proportion'd grace, 
And seems a thing of air, as then, 
Afloat above this fairy glen ; 

But though mine eye will kindle still 
In looking on the shapes of art, 

The link is lost that sent the thrill, 
Like lightning, instant to my heart. 
And thus may break, before we die, 
The electric chain 'twixt soul and eye ! 

Ten years — like yon bright valley, sown 

Alternately with weeds and flowers- 
Had swiftly, if not gayly, flown, 

And still I loved the rosy hours ; 
And if there lurk'd within my breast 

Some nerve that had been overstrung 
And quiver'd in n^hours of rest, 

Like bells by their own echo rung, 
I was with Hope a masker yet, 

And well could hide the look of sadness, 
And, if my heart would not forget, 

I knew, at least, the trick of gladness, 
And when another sang the strain, 
I mingled in the old refrain. 

'Twere idle to remember now, 

Had I the heart, my thwarted schemes. 
I bear beneath this alter 'd brow 

The ashes of a thousand dreams : 
Some wrought of wild Ambition's fingers, 

Some colour'd of Love's pencil well, 
But none of which a shadow lingers, 

And none whose story I could telL 
Enough, that when I climb'd again 

To Tivoli's romantic steep, 
Life had no joy, and scarce a pain, 

Whose wells I had not tasted deep ; 
And from my lips the thirst had pass'd 
For every fount save one— the sweetest — and the 
last. 
The last — the last ! My friends were dead, 

Or false ; my mother in her grave ; 
Above my father's honour'd head 

The sea had lock'd its hiding wave ; 
Ambition had but foil'd my grasp, 
And Love had perish'd in my clasp ; 



* The story is told during a walk around the Casca- 
felles of Tivoli. 



And still, I say, I did not slack 
My love of life, and hope of pleasure, 

But gather' d my affections back ; 
And, as the miser hugs his treasure, 

When plague and ruin bid him flee, 
I closer clung to mine — my loved, lost Melanie ! 

The last of the De Brevertst race, 

My sister claim'd no kinsman's care ; 
And, looking from each other's face, 

The eye stole upward unaware — 
For there was naught whereon to lean 
Each other's heart and heaven between — 

Yet that was world enough for me, 
And, for a brief, but blessed while, 

There seem'd no care for Mela.nie, 
If she could see her brother smile ; 

But life, with her, was at the flow, 
And every wave went sparkling higher, 

While mine was ebbing, fast and low, 
From the same shore of vain desire, 

And knew I, with prophetic heart, 
That we were wearing aye insensibly apart. 



We came to Italy. I felt 

A yearning for its sunny sky ; 
My very spirit seem'd to melt 

As swept its first warm breezes by. 
From lip and cheek a chilling mist, 

From life and soul a frozen rime 
By every breath seem'd softly kiss'd: 

God's blessing on its radiant clime ! 
It was an endless joy to me 

To see my sister's new delight ; 
From Venice, in its golden sea, 

To Paestum, in its purple light, 
By sweet Val d'Arno's tinted hills, 

In Vallombrosa's convent gloom, 
Mid Terni's vale of singing rills, 

By deathless lairs in solemn Rome, 
In gay Palermo's "Golden Shell," 
At Arethusa's hidden well, 

We loiter'd like the impassion'd sun, 
That slept so lovingly on all, 

And made a home of every one — 
Ruin, and fane, and waterfall — 

And crown'd the dying day with glory, 
If we had seen, since morn, but one old haunt of 
story. 

We came, with spring, to Tivoli. 

My sister loved its laughing air 
And merry waters, though, for me, 
My heart was in another key ; 

And sometimes I could scarcely bear 
The mirth of their eternal play, 

And, like a child that longs for home, 
When weary of its holiday, 

I sigh'd for melancholy Rome. 
Perhaps — the fancy haunts me still — 
'T was but a boding sense of ill. 

It was a morn, of such a day 

As might have dawn'd on Eden first, 

Early in the Italian May. 

Vine-leaf and flower had newly burst, 



N. P. WILLIS. 



303 



And. on the burden of the air, 

The breath of buds came faint and rare ; 

And, far in the transparent sky, 
The small, earth-keeping birds were seen, 

Soaring deliriously high ; 
And through the clefts of newer green 

Yon waters dash'd their living pearls ; 
And, with a gayer smile and bow, 

Troop'd on the merry village-girls ; 
And, from the Contadina's brow, 

The low-slouch'd hat was backward thrown, 

With air that scarcely seem'd his own; 
And Melanie, with lips apart, 

And clasped hands upon my arm, 
Flung open her impassion'd heart, 

And bless'd life's mere and breathing charm, 
And sang old songs, and gather'd flowers, 
And passionately bless'd once more life's thrilling 
hours. 

In happiness and idleness 

We wander'd down yon sunny vale, — 
O, mocking eyes ! a golden tress 

Floats back upon this summer gale ! 
A foot is tripping on the grass ! 

A laugh rings merry in mine ear ! 
I see a bounding shadow pass ! — 

0, God ! my sister once was here ! 
Come with me, friend; — we rested yon; 

There grew a flower she pluck'd and wore ; 
She sat upon this mossy stone ! 

That broken fountain, running o'er 
With the same ring, like silver bells ; 

She listen'd to its babbling flow, 
And said, "Perhaps the gossip tells 

Some fountain nymph's love-story now !" 
And, as her laugh rang clear and wild, 
A youth — a painter — pass'd and smiled. 

He gave the greeting of the morn 

With voice that linger'd in mine ear. 
I knew him sad and gentle born 

By those two words, so calm and clear. 
His frame was slight, his forehead high, 

And swept by threads of raven hair ; 
The fire of thought was in his eye, 

And he was pale and marble fair ; 
And Grecian chisel never caught 
The soul in those slight features wrought. 

I watch'd his graceful step of pride, 
Till hidden by yon leaning tree, 

And loved him e'er the echo died : 
And so, alas ! did Melanie ! 

We sat and watch'd the fount a while 
In silence, but our thoughts were one ; 

And then arose, and, with a smile 
Of sympathy, we saunter'd on ; 

And she by sudden fits was gay, 

And then her laughter died away ; 
And, in this changefulness of mood, 

Forgotten now those May-day spells, 
We turn'd where Varro's villa stood, . 

And, gazing on the Cascatelles, 

(Whose hurrying waters, wild and white, 
Seem'd madden'd as they burst to light,) 



I chanced to turn my eyes away, 

And, lo ! upon a bank alone, 
The youthful painter, sleeping, lay ! 

His pencils on the grass were thrown, 
And by his side a sketch was flung, 

And near him as I lightly crept, 

To see the picture as he slept, 
Upon his feet he lightly sprung ; 

And, gazing with a wild surprise 
Upon the face of Melaxie, 

He said — and dropp'd his earnest eyes — 
"Forgive me ! but I dream'd of thee !" 

His sketch, the while, was in my hand, 
And, for the lines I look'd to trace — 

A torrent by a palace spann'd, 

Half-classic and half-fairy-land — 
I only found — my sister's face ! 

hi. 

Our life was changed. Another love 

In its lone woof began to twine ; 
But, ah ! the golden thread was wove 

Between my sister's heart and mine ! 
She who had lived for me before — 

She who had smiled for me alone — 
Would live and smile for me no more ! 

The echo to my heart was gone ! 
It seem'd to me the very skies 
Had shone through those averted eyes ; 

The air had breathed of balm — the flower 
Of radiant beauty seem'd to be 

But as she loved them, hour by hour, 
And murmur'd of that love to me ! 
O, though it be so heavenly high 

The selfishness of earth above, 
That, of the watchers in the sky, 

He sleeps who guards a brother's love — 
Though to a sister's present weal — 

The deep devotion far transcends 
The utmost that the soul can feel 

For even its own higher ends — 
Though next to Gon, and more than heaven 
For his own sake, he loves her, even — 

'T is difficult to see another, 
A passing stranger of a day, 

Who never hath been friend or brother, 
Pluck with a look her heart away, — 

To see the fair, unsullied brow, 
Ne'er kiss'd before without a prayer, 

Upon a stranger's bosom now, 
Who for the boon took little care, 

Who is enrich'd, he knows nol why ; 
Who suddenly hath found a treasure 

Golconda were too poor to buy ; 
And he, perhaps, too cold to measure, 
(Albeit, in her forgetful dream, 
The unconscious idol happier seem,) 

'T is difficult at once to crush 
The rebel mourner in the breast, 

To press the heart to earth, and hush 
Its bitter jealousy to rest, — 

And difficult — the eye gets dim — 

The lip wants power to smile on him ! 

I thank sweet Mart Mother now, 

Who gave me strength those pangs to hide, 



304 N. P. WILLIS. 




And touch'd mine eyes and lit my brow 


And soft, from Caracalla's Baths, 




With sunshine that my heart belied. 


The herdsman's song comes down the breeze, 




I never spoke of wealth or race, 


While climb his goats the giddy paths 




To one who ask'd so much of me, — 


To grass-grown architrave and frieze ; 




I look'd but in my sister's face, 


And gracefully Albano's hill 




And mused if she would happier be ; 


Curves into the horizon's line, 




And, hour by hour, and day by day, 


And sweetly sings that classic rill, 




I loved the gentle painter more, 


And fairly stands that nameless shrine ; 




And in the same soft measure wore 


And here, 0, many a sultry noon 




My selfish jealousy away ; 


And starry eve, that happy June, 




And I began to watch his mood, 


Came Angelo and Mela^ie, 




And feel, with her, love's trembling care, 


And earth for us was all in tune — 




And bade God bless him as he woo'd 


For while Love talk'd with them, Hope walk'd 




That loving girl, so fond and fair, 


apart with me ! 




And on my mind would sometimes press 






A fear that she might love him less. 


v. 

I shrink from the embitter' d close 




But Melawie — I little dream'd 


Of my own melancholy tale. 




What spells the stirring heart may move — 


'T is long since I have waked my woes — 




Ptcoialion's statue never seem'd 


And nerve and voice together fail ! 




More changed with life, than she with love. 


The throb beats faster at my brow, 




The pearl-tint of the early dawn 


My brain feels warm with starting tears, 




Flush'd into day-spring's rosy hue ; 


And I shall weep — but heed not thou ! 




The meek, moss-folded bud of morn 


'Twill soothe awhile the ache of years. 




Flung open to the light and dew; 


The heart transfix'd — worn out with grief — 




The first and half-seen star of even 


Will turn the arrow for relief. 




Wax'd clear amid the deepening heaven — 


The painter was a child of shame ! 




Similitudes perchance may be ; 


It stirr'd my pride to know it first, 




But these are changes oftener seen, 


For I had question'd but his name, 




And do not image half to me 


And thought, alas ! I knew the worst, 




My sister's change of face and mien. 


Believing him unknown and poor. 




'T was written in her very air, 


His blood, indeed, was not obscure ; 




That love had pass'd and enter'd there. 


A high-born Conti was his mother, 
But, though he knew one parent's face, 




IV. 


He never had beheld the other, 




A calm and lovely paradise 


Nor knew his country or his race. 




Is Italy, for minds at ease. 


The Roman hid his daughter's shame 




The sadness of its sunny skies 


Within St. Mona's convent wall, 




Weighs not upon the lives of these. 


And gave the boy a painter's name — 




The ruin'd aisle, the crumbling fane, 


And little else to live withal ! 




The broken column, vast and prone — 


And, with a noble's high desires 




It may be joy, it may be pain, 


Forever mounting in his heart, 




Amid such wrecks to walk alone ; 


The boy consumed with hidden fires, 




The saddest man will sadder be, 


But wrought in silence at his art; 




The gentlest lover gentler there, 


And sometimes at St. Mona's shrine, 




As if, whate'er the spirit's key, 


Worn thin with penance harsh and long, 




It strengthen'd in that solemn air. 


He saw his mother's form divine, 




The heart soon grows to mournful things ; 


And loved her for their mutual wrong. 




And Italy has not a breeze 


I said my pride was stirr'd — but no ! 




But comes on melancholy wings ; 


The voice that told its bitter tale 




And even her majestic trees 


Was touch'd so mournfully with wo, 




Stand ghost-like in the Cesar's home, 


And, as he ceased, all deathly pale, 




As if their conscious roots were set 


He loosed the hand of Mklanie, 




In the old graves of giant Rome, 


And gazed so gaspingly on me — 




And drew their sap all kingly yet ! 


The demon in my bosom died ! 




And every stone your' feet beneath 


"Not thine," I said, "another's guilt; 




Is broken from some mighty thought, 


I break no hearts for silly pride ; 




And sculptures m the dust still breathe 


So, kiss yon weeper if thou wilt !" 




The fire with which their lines were wrought, 


VI. 




And sunder'd arch, and plunder'd tomb 


St. Mona's morning mass was done ; 




Still thunder back the echo, " Rome !" 


The shrine-lamps struggled with the day ; 




Yet gayly o'er Egeria's fount 


And, rising slowly, one by one, 




The ivy flings its emerald veil. 


Stole the last worshippers away. 




And flowers grow fair on Numa's mount, 


The organist play'd out the hymn, 




And light-sprung arches span the dale, 


The incense, to St. Mart swung, 





N. P. WILLIS. 



305 



Had mounted to the cherubim, 

Or to the pillars thinly clung ; 
And boyish chorister replaced 

The missal that was read no more, 
And closed, with half-irreverent haste, 

Confessional and chancel-door ; 
And as, through aisle and oriel pane, 

The sun wore round his slanting beam, 
The dying martyr stirr'd again, 

And warriors battled in its gleam ; 
And costly tomb and sculptured knight 
Show'd warm and wondrous in the light. 

I have not said that Melakie 
Was radiantly fair — 

This earth again may never see 
A loveliness so rare ! 

She glided up St. Mona's aisle 
That morning as a bride, 

And, full as was my heart the while, 
I bless'd her in my pride ! 
The fountain may not fail the less 

Whose sands are golden ore, 
And a sister for her loveliness 

May not be loved the more ; 
But as, the fount's full heart beneath, 

Those golden sparkles shine, 
My sister's beauty seem'd to breathe 

Its brightness over mine ! 
St. Mona has a chapel dim 

Within the altar's fretted pale, 
Where faintly comes the swelling hymn, 

And dies, half-lost, the anthem's wail. 
And here, in twilight meet for prayer, 

A single lamp hangs o'er the shrine, 
And Raphael's Mart, soft and fair, 

Looks down with sweetness half-divine, 
And here St. Mona's nuns alway 
Through latticed bars are seen to pray. 

Ave and sacrament were o'er, 

And Axgelo and Melanie 
Still knelt the holy shrine before ; 

But prayer, that morn, was not for me ! 
My heart was lock'd ! The lip might stir, 

The frame might agonize — and yet, 

God ! I could not pray for her / 
A seal upon my soul was set — 

My brow was hot — my brain opprest — 
And fiends seem'd muttering round, "Your bridal 
is unblest !" 
With forehead to the lattice laid, 

And thin, white fingers straining through, 
A nun the while had softly pray'd. 

0, e'en in prayer that voice I knew! 
Each faltering word, each mournful tone, 

Each pleading cadence, half-suppress'd — 
Such music had its like alone 

On lips that stole it at her breast ! 
And ere the orison was done 

1 loved the mother as the son ! 

And now, the marriage-vow to hear, 

The nun unveil'd her brow ; 
When, sudden, to my startled ear, 
There crept a whisper, hoarse, like fear, 

"De Brevern! is it thou/" 



The priest let fall the golden ring, 

The bridegroom stood aghast ; 
While, like some wierd and frantic thing, 

The nun was muttering fast ; 
And as, in dread, I nearer drew, 
She thrust her arms the lattice through, 
And held me to her straining view ; 

But suddenly begun 
To steal upon her brain a light, 
That stagger'd soul, and sense, and sight, 
And, with a mouth all ashy white, 

She shriek'd, " It is his son / 
The bridegroom is thy blood — thy brother! 
Rodolph de Brevern wrong' 'd his mother/" 

And, as that doom of love was heard, 
My sister sunk, and died, without a sign or word ! 

******* 
I shed no tear for her. She died 

With her last sunshine in her eyes. 
Earth held for her no joy beside 

The hope just shatter'd, -and she lies 
In a green nook of yonder dell ; 

And near her, in a newer bed, 
Her lover — brother — sleeps as well ! 

Peace to the broken-hearted dead ! 



THE CONFESSIONAL. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

On ocean many a weary night, 
When heaved the long and sullen sea, 

With only waves and stars in sight. 
We stole along by isles of balm, 

We furl'd before the coming gale, 
We slept amid the breathless calm, 

We flew beneath the straining sail, — 
But thou wert lost for years to me, 
And day and night I thought of thee ! 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In France, amid the gay saloon, 
Where eyes as dark as eyes may be 

Are many as the leaves in June : 
Where life is love, and e'en the air 

Is pregnant with impassion'd thought, 
And song, and dance, and music are 

With one warm meaning only fraught, 
My half-snared heart broke lightly free, 
And, with a blush, I thought of thee ! 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In Florence, where the fiery hearts 
Of Italy are breathed away 

In wonders of the deathless arts ; 
Where strays the Contadina, down 

Val d' Arno, with song of old ; 
Where clime and women seldom frown, 

And life runs over sands of gold ; 
I stray'd to lonely Fiesole, 
On many an eve, and thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 
In Rome, when, on the Palatine, 

Night left the Cesar's palace free 
To Time's forgetful foot and mine ; 
2c2 



306 



N. P. WILLIS. 



Or, on the Coliseum's wall, 

When moonlight touch'd the ivied stone, 
Reclining, with a thought of all 

That o'er this scene hath come and gone, 
The shades of Rome would start and flee 
Unconsciously — I thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In Vallombrosa's holy shade, 
Where nobles born the friars be, 

By life's rude changes humbler made. 
Here Milton - framed his Paradise ; 

I slept within his very cell ; 
And, as I closed my weary eyes, 

I thought the cowl would fit me well ; 
The cloisters breathed, it seem'd to me, 
Of heart' s-ease — but I thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In Venice, on a night in June ; 
When, through the city of the sea, 

Like dust of silver, slept the moon. 
Slow turn'd his oar the gondolier, 

And, as the black barks glided by, 
The water, to my leaning ear, 

Bore back the lover's passing sigh ; 
It was no place alone to be, 
I thought of thee — I thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In the Ionian isles, when straying 
With wise Ultsses by the sea, 

Old Homer's songs around me playing; 
Or, watching the bewitch'd caique, 

That o'er the star-lit waters flew, 
I listen'd to the helmsman Greek, 

Who sung the song that Sappho knew: 
The poet's spell, the bark, the sea, 
All vanish'd as I thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In Greece, when rose the Parthenon 
Majestic o'er the Egean sea, 

And heroes with it, one by one ; 
When, in the grove of Academe, 

Where Lais and Leonticm stray'd 
Discussing Plato's mystic theme, 

I lay at noontide in the shade — 
The Egean wind, the whispering tree 
Had voices — and I thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

In Asia, on the Dardanelles, 
Where, swiftly as the waters flee, 

Each wave some sweet old story tells; 
And, seated by the marble tank 

Which sleeps by Ilium's ruins old, 
(The fount where peerless Helen drank, 

And Venus laved her locks of gold,) 
I thrill'd such classic haunts to see, 
Yet even here I thought of thee. 

I thought of thee — I thought of thee 

Where glide the Bosphor's lovely waters, 

All palace-lined from sea to sea: 

And ever on its shores the daughters 

Of the delicious east are seen, 

Printing the brink with slipper'd feet, 



And, 0, the snowy folds between, 

What eyes of heaven your glances meet ! 
Peris of light no fairer be, 
Yet, in Stamboul, I thought of thee. 

I 've thought of thee — I 've thought of thee, 

Through change that teaches to forget ; 
Thy face looks up from every sea, 

In every star thine eyes are set. 
Though roving beneath orient skies, 

Whose golden beauty breathes of rest, 
I envy every bird that flies 

Into the far and clouded west ; 
I think of thee — I think of thee ! 
0, dearest ! hast thou thought of me ! 



LINES ON LEAVING EUROPE. 

Bright flag at yonder tapering mast, 
Fling out your field of azure blue ; 

Let star and stripe be westward cast, 
And point as Freedom's eagle flew ! 

Strain home ! O lithe and quivering spars ! 

Point home, my country's flag of stars ! 

The wind blows fair, the vessel feels 

The pressure of the rising breeze, 
And, swiftest of a thousand keels, 

She leaps to the careering seas ! 
O, fair, fair cloud of snowy sail, 

In whose white breast I seem to lie, 
How oft, when blew this eastern gale, 

I 've seen your semblance in the sky, 
And long'd, with breaking heart, to flee 
On such white pinions o'er the sea ! 

Adieu, lands of fame and eld ! 

I turn to watch our foamy track, 
And thoughts with which I first beheld 

Yon clouded line, come hurrying back; 
My lips are dry with vague desire, 

My cheek once more is hot with joy ; 
My pulse, my brain, my soul on fire ! 

0, what has changed that traveller-boy ! 
As leaves the ship this dying foam, [home ! 
His visions fade behind — his weary heart speeds 

Adieu, soft and southern shore, 

Where dwelt the stars long miss'd in heaven ; 
Those forms of beauty, seen no more, 

Yet once to Art's rapt vision given ! 
0, still the enamour'd sun delays, 

And pries through fount and crumbling fane, 
To win to his adoring gaze 

Those children of the sky again ! 
Irradiate beauty, such as never 

That light on other earth hath shone, 
Hath made this land her home forever; 

And, could I live for this alone, 
Were not my birthright brighter far 

Than such voluptuous slave's can be; 
Held not the west one glorious star, 

New-born and blazing for the free, 
Soar'd not to heaven our eagle yet, 
Rome, with her helot sons, should teach me to forget! 



N. P. WILLIS. 



50; 



Adieu, 0, fatherland ! I see 

Your white cliffs on the horizon's rim, 
And, though to freer skies I flee, 

My heart swells, and my eyes are dim ! 
As knows the dove the task you give her, 

When loosed upon a foreign shore ; 
As spreads the rain-drop in the river 

In which it may have flow'd before — 
To England, over vale and mountain, 

My fancy flew from climes more fair, 
My blood, that knew its parent fountain, 

Ran warm and fast in England's air. 

My mother ! in thy prayer to-night 

There come new words and warmer tears ! 
On long, long darkness breaks the light, 

Comes home the loved, the lost for years ! 
Sleep safe, wave-worn mariner, 

Fear not, to-night, or storm or sea ! 
The ear of Heaven bends low to her ! 

He comes to shore who sails with me ! 
The wind-toss'd spider needs no token 

How stands the tree when lightnings blaze: 
And. by a thread from heaven unbroken, 

I know my mother lives and prays ! 

Dear mother ! when our lips can speak, 

When first our tears will let us see, 
When I can gaze upon thy cheek, 

And thou, with thy dear eyes, on me — 
'T will be a pastime little sad 

To trace what weight Time's heavy fingers 
Upon each other's forms have had ; 

For all may flee, so feeling lingers ! 
But there's a change, beloved mother, 

To stir far deeper thoughts of thine ; 
I come — but with me comes another, 

To share the heart once only mine ! 
Thou, on whose thoughts, when sad and lonely, 

One star arose in memory's heaven ; 
Thou, who hast watch'd one treasure only, 

Water'd one flower with tears at even: 
Room in thy heart ! The hearth she left 

Is darken'd to make light to ours ! 
There are bright flowers of care bereft, 

And hearts that languish more than flowers ; 
She was their light, their very air — [prayer! 
Room, mother, in thy heart ! place for her in thy 



SPRING. 

The Spring is here, the delicate-footed May, 
With its slight fingers full of leaves and flowers; 

And with it comes a thirst to be away, 

Wasting in wood-paths its voluptuous hours ; 

A feeling that is like a sense of wings, 

Restless to soar above these perishing things. 

We pass out from the city's feverish hum, 
To find refreshment in the silent woods ; 

And nature, that is beautiful and dutub, 
Like a cool sleep upon the pulses broods ; 

Yet, even there, a restless thought will steal, 

To teach the indolent heart it still must feel. 



Strange, that the audible stillness of the noon, 
The waters tripping with their silver feet, 

The turning to the light of leaves in June, 
And the light whisper as their edges meet : 

Strange, that they fill not, with their tranquil tone, 

The spirit, walking in their midst alone. 

There 's no contentment in a world like this, 
Save in forgetting the immortal dream ; 

We may not gaze upon the stars of bliss, 

That through the cloud-rifts radiantly stream ; 

Bird-like, the prison'd soul will lift its eye 

And pine till it is hooded from the sky. 



TO ERMENGARDE. 

I k> t ow not if the sunshine waste, 

The world is dark since thou art gone ! 
The hours are, O ! so leaden-paced ! 

The birds sing, and the stars float on, 
But sing not well, and look not fair; 
A weight is in the summer air, 

And sadness in the sight of flowers ; 
And if I go where others smile, 

Their love but makes me think of ours, 
And Heaven gets my heart the while. 
Like one upon a desert isle, 

I languish of the dreary hours ; 
I never thought a life could be 
So flung upon one hope, as mine, dear love, on thee! 

I sit and watch the summer sky : 

There comes a cloud through heaven alone; 
A thousand stars are shining nigh, 

It feels no light, but darkles on ! 
Yet now it nears the lovelier moon, 

And, flashing through its fringe of snow, 
There steals a rosier dye, and soon 

Its bosom is one fiery glow ! 
The queen of life within it lies, 

Yet mark how lovers meet to part : 
The cloud already onward flies, 

And shadows sink into its heart ; 
And (dost thou see them where thou art ?) 

Fade fast, fade all those glorious dyes ! 
Its light, like mine, is seen no more, 
And, like my own, its heart seems darker than 
before. 

Where press, this hour, those fairy feet? 

Where look, this hour, those eyes of blue? 
What music in thine ear is sweet ? 

What odour breathes thy lattice through? 
What word is on thy lip ? What tone, 
What look, replying to thine own 1 
Thy steps along the Danube stray, 

Alas, it seeks an orient sea ! 
Thou wouldst not seem so far away, 

Flow'd but its waters back to me ! 
I bless the slowly-coming moon, 

Because its eye look'd late in thine ; 
I envy the west wind of June, 

Whose wings will bear it up the Rhine ; 
The flower I press upon my brow 
Were sweeter if its like perfumed thy chamber now! 



;os 



N. P. WILLIS. 



HAGAR IN THE WILDERNESS. 

The morning broke. Light stole upon the clouds 
With a strange beauty. Earth received again 
Its garment of a thousand dyes ; and leaves, 
And delicate blossoms, and the painted flowers, 
And every thing that bendeth to the dew, 
And stirreth with the daylight, lifted up 
Its beauty to the breath of that sweet morn. 

All things are dark to sorrow; and the light, 
And loveliness, and fragrant air, were sad 
To the dejected Hagar. The moist earth 
Was pouring odours from its spicy pores, 
And the young birds were singing, as if life 
Were a new thing to them ; but, ! it came 
Upon her heart like discord, and she felt 
How cruelly it tries a broken heart, 
To see a mirth in any thing it loves. 
She stood at Abraham's tent Her lips were press'd 
Till the blood started ; and the wandering veins 
Of her transparent forehead were swell'd out, 
As if her pride would burst them. Her dark eye 
Was clear and tearless, and the light of heaven, 
Which made its language legible, shot back 
From her long lashes, as it had been flame. 
Her noble boy stood by her, with his hand 
(Jlasp'd in her own, and his round, delicate feet, 
Scarce train'd to balance on the tented floor, 
SandalFd for journeying. He had look'd up 
Into his mother's face, until he caught 
The spirit there, and his young heart was swelling 
Beneath his dimpled bosom, and his form 
Straighten'd up proudly in his tiny wrath, 
As if his light proportions would have swell'd, 
Had they but match'd his spirit, to the man. 

Why bends the patriarch as he cometh now 
Upon his staff so wearily? His beard 
Is low upon his breast, and on his high brow, 
So written with the converse of his God, 
Beareth the swollen vein of agony. 
His lip is quivering, and his wonted step 
Of vigour is not there ; and, though the morn 
Is parsing fair and beautiful, he breathes 
Its freshness as it were a pestilence. 
O, man may boar with suffering: his heart 
Is a strong thing, and godlike in the grasp 
Of pain, that wrings mortality; but tear 
One chord affection clings to, part one tie 
That binds him to a woman's delicate love, 
And his great spirit yieldeth like a reed. 

He gave to her the water and the bread, 
But spoke no word, and trusted not himself 
To look upon her face, but laid his hand 
In silent blessing on the fair-hair'd boy, 
And left her to her lot of' loneliness. 

Should Hag ar weep? May slighted woman turn, 
And, as a vine the oak hath shaken off, 
Bend lightly to her leaning trust again? 
O. no ! by all her loveliness, by all 
That makes life poetry and beauty, no ! 
Make her a slave ; steal from her rosy cheek 
By needless jealousies ; let the last star 
Leave her a watcher by your couch of pain; 
Wrong her by petulance, suspicion, all 
That makes her cup a bitterness, — yet give 



One evidence of love, and earth has not 

An emblem of devotedness like hers. 

But, ! estrange her once — it boots not how — 

By wrong or silence, any thing that tells 

A change has come upon your tenderness — 

And there is not a high thing out of heaven 

Her pride o'ermastereth not. 

She went her way with a strong step and slow 
Her press'd lip arch'd, and her clear eye undimm'd, 
As it had been a diamond, and her form 
Borne proudly up, as if her heart breathed through. 
Her child kept on in silence, though she press'd 
His hand till it was pain'd : for he had caught, 
As I have said, her spirit, and the seed 
Of a stern nation had been breathed upon. 

The morning pass'd, and Asia's sun rode up 
In the clear heaven, and every beam was heat. 
The cattle* of the hills were in the shade, 
And the bright plumage of the Orient lay 
On beating bosoms in her spicy trees. 
It was an hour of rest; but Hagar found 
No shelter in the wilderness, and on 
She kept her weary way, until the boy 
Hung down his head, and open'd his parch'd lips 
For water ; but she could not give it him. 
She laid him down beneath the sultry sky, — 
For it was better than the close, hot breath 
Of the thick pines, — and tried to comfort him ; 
But he was sore athirst, and his blue eyes 
Were dim and bloodshot, and he could not know 
Why Gon denied him water in the wild. 
She sat a little longer, and he grew 
Ghastly and faint, as if he would have died. 
It was too much for her. She lifted him, 
And bore him further on, and laid his head 
Beneath the shadow of a desert shrub ; 
And, shrouding up her face, she went away, 
And sat to watch, where he could see her not, 
Till he should die; and, watching him, she mourn'd : 

" Gon stay thee in thine agony, my boy ! 
I cannot see thee die ; I cannot brook 

Upon thy brow to look, 
And see death settle on my cradle-joy. 
How have I drunk the light of thy blue eye ! 

And could I see thee die ? 

" I did not dream of this when thou wert straying, 
Like an unbound gazelle, among the flowers ; 

Or wearing rosy hours, 
By the rich gush of water-sources playing, 
Then sinking weary to thy smiling sleep, 

So beautiful and deep. 

" O, no ! and when I watch'd by thee the while, 
And saw thy bright lip curling in thy dream, 

And thought of the dark stream 
In my own land of Egypt, the far Nile, 
How pray'd I that my father's land might be 

An heritage for thee ! 

"And now the grave for its cold breast hath won thee, 
And thy white, delicate limbs the earth will press ; 

And, ! my last caress 
Must feel thee cold, for a chill hand is on thee. 
How can I leave my boy, so pillow'd there 

Upon his clustering hair!" 



N. P. WILLIS. 



o09 



She stood beside the well her God had given 
To gush in that deep wilderness, and bathed 
The forehead of her child until he laugh'd 
In his reviving happiness, and lisp'd 
His infant thought of gladness at the sight 
Of the cool plashing of his mother's hand. 



THOUGHTS 

WHILE MAKING A GRAVE FOR A FIRST CHILD, BORN DEAD. 

Room, gentle flowers! my child would pass to heaven! 
Ye look'd not for her yet with your soft eyes, 
O, watchful ushers at Death's narrow door ! 
But, lo ! while you delay to let her forth, 
Angels, beyond, stay for her ! One long kiss 
From lips all pale with agony, and tears, 
Wrung after anguish had dried up with fire 
The eyes that wept them, were the cup of life 
Held as a welcome to her. Weep, O, mother ! 
But not that from this cup of bitterness 
A cherub of the sky has turn'd away. 

One look upon her face ere she depart ! 
My daughter ! it is soon to let thee go ! 
My daughter ! with thy birth has gush'd a spring 
I knew not of: filling my heart with tears, 
And turning with strange tenderness to thee ! 
A love — 0, God, it seems so — which must flow 
Far as thou fleest, and 'twixt Heaven and me, 
Henceforward, be a sweet and yearning chain, 
Drawing me after thee ! And so farewell ! 
'T is a harsh world in which affection knows 
No place to treasure up its loved and lost 
But the lone grave ! Thou, who so late was sleeping 
Warm in the close fold of a mother's heart, 
Scarce from her breast a single pulse receiving, 
But it was sent thee with some tender thought — 
How can I leave thee here ! Alas, for man ! 
The herb in its humility may fall, 
And waste into the bright and genial air, 
While we, by hands that minister'd in life 
Nothing but love to us, are thrust away, 
The earth thrown in upon our just cold bosoms, 
And the warm sunshine trodden out forever ! 

Yet have I chosen for thy grave, my child, 
A bank where I have lain in summer hours. 
And thought how little it would seem like death 
To sleep amid such loveliness. The brook 
Tripping with laughter down the rocky steps 
That lead us to thy bed, would still trip on, 
Breaking the dread hush of the mourners gone; 
The birds are never silent that build here, 
Trying to sing down the more vocal waters ; 
The slope is beautiful with moss and flowers ; 
And, far below, seen under arching leaves, 
Glitters the warm sun on the village spire, 
Pointing the living after thee. And this 
Seems like a comfort, and, replacing now 
The flowers that have made room for thee, I go 
To whisper the same peace to her who lies 
Robb'd of her child, and lonely. 'T is the work 
Of many a dark hour, and of many a prayer, 
To bring the heart back from an infant gone ! 
Hope must give o'er, and busy fancy blot 
Its images from all the silent rooms, 



And every sight and sound familiar to her 

Undo its sweetest link ; and so, at last, 

The fountain that, once loosed, must flow forever, 

Will hide and waste in silence. When the smile 

Steals to her pallid lip again, and spring 

Wakens its buds above thee, we will come, 

And, standing by thy music-haunted grave, 

Look on each other cheerfully, and say, 

A child that we have loved is gone to heaven, 

And by this gate of flowers she pass'd away ! 



THE BELFRY PIGEON. 

On the cross-beam under the Old South bell 
The nest of a pigeon is builded well. 
In summer and winter that bird is there, 
Out and in with the morning air ; 
I love to see him track the street, 
With his wary eye and active feet ; 
And I often watch him as he springs, 
Circling the steeple with easy wings, 
Till across the dial his shade has pass'd, 
And the belfry edge is gain'd at last. 
'T is a bird I love, with its brooding note, 
And the trembling throb in its mottled throat ; 
There 's a human look in its swelling breast, 
And the gentle curve of its lowly crest; 
And I often stop with the fear I feel, 
He runs so close to the rapid wheel. 

Whatever is rung on that noisy bell — 
Chime of the hour, or funeral knell — 
The dove in the belfry must hear it well. 
When the tongue swings out to the midnight moon, 
When the sexton cheerly rings for noon, 
When the clock strikes clear at morning light, 
When the child is waked with " nine at night," 
When the chimes play soft in the Sabbath air, 
Filling the spirit with tones of prayer, — 
Whatever tale in the bell is heard, 
He broods on his folded feet unstirr'd, 
Or, rising half in his rounded nest, 
He takes the time to smoothe his breast, 
Then drops again, with filmed eyes, 
And sleeps as the last vibration dies. 

Sweet bird ! I would that I could be 
A hermit in the crowd like thee ! 
With wings to fly to wood and glen ! 
Thy lot, like mine, is cast with men ; 
And daily, with unwilling feet, 
I tread, like thee, the crowded street ; 
But, unlike me, when day is o'er, 
Thou canst dismiss the world, and soar, 
Or, at a half-felt wish for rest, 
Canst smoothe thy feathers on thy breast, 
And drop, forgetful, to thy nest. 

I would that, in such wings of gold, 
I could my weary heart upfold ; 
I would I could look down unmoved, 
(Unloving as I am unloved,) 
And, while the world throngs on beneath, 
Smoothe down my cares and calmly breathe ; 
And never sad with others' sadness, 
And never glad with others' gladness, 
Listen, unstirr'd, to knell or chime, 
And, lapp'd in quiet, bide my time. 



310 



N. P. WILLIS. 



APRIL. 

"A violet by a mossy stone, 
Half-hidden from the eye, 
Fair as a star, when only one 
Is shining in the sky." 

Wordsworth. 

I have found violets. April hath come on, 
And the cool winds feel softer, and the rain 
Falls in the beaded drops of summer-time. 
You may hear buds at morning, and at eve 
The tame dove lingers till the twilight falls, 
Cooing upon the eaves, and drawing in 
His beautiful, bright neck; and, from the hills, 
A murmur like the hoarseness of the sea, 
Tells the release of waters, and the earth 
Sends up a pleasant smell, and the dry leaves 
Are lifted by the grass ; and so I know 
That Nature, with her delicate ear, hath heard 
The dropping of the velvet foot of Spring. 
Take of my violets ! I found them where 
The liquid south stole o'er them, on a bank 
That lean'd to running water. There's to me 
A daintiness about these early flowers, 
That touches me like poetry. They blow 
With such a simple loveliness among 
The common herbs of pasture, and breathe out 
Their lives so unobtrusively, like hearts 
Whose beatings are too gentle for the world. 
I love to go in the capricious days 
Of April and hunt violets, when the rain 
Is in the blue cups trembling, and they nod 
So gracefully to the kisses of the wind. 
It may be deem'd too idle, but the young 
Read nature like the manuscript of Heaven, 
And call the flowers its poetry. Go out ! 
Ye spirits of habitual unrest, 
And read it, when the "fever of the world" 
Hath made your hearts impatient, and, if life 
Hath yet one spring unpoison'd, it will be 
Like a beguiling music to its flow, 
And you will no more wonder that I love 
To hunt for violets in the April-time. 



THE ANNOYER. 

Love knoweth every form of air, 

And every shape of earth, 
And comes, unbidden, everywhere, 

Like thought's mysterious birth. 
The moonlit sea and the sunset sky 

Are written with Love's words, 
And you hear his voice unceasingly, 

Like song, in the time of birds. 

He pieps into the warrior's heart 

From the tip of a stooping plume, 
And the serried spears, and the many men, 

May not deny him room. 
He'll come to his tent in the weary night, 

And be busy in his dream, 
And he'll float to his eye in morning light, 

Like a fav on a silver beam. 



He hears the sound of the hunter's gun, 

And rides on the echo back, 
And sighs in his ear like a stirring leaf, 

And flits in his woodland track. 
The shade of the wood, and the sheen of the river, 

The cloud, and the open sky, — 
He will haunt them all with his subtle quiver, 

Like the light of your very eye. 

The fisher hangs over the leaning boat, 

And ponders the silver sea, 
For Love is under the surface hid, 

And a spell of thought has he ; 
He heaves the wave like a bosom sweet, 

And speaks in the ripple low, 
Till the bait is gone from the crafty line, 

And the hook hangs bare below. 

He blurs the print of the scholar's book, 

And intrudes in the maiden's prayer, 
And profanes the cell of the holy man 

In the shape of a lady fair. 
In the darkest night, and the bright daylight, 

In earth, and sea, and sky, 
In every home of human thought 

Will Love be lurking nigh. 



TO A FACE BELOVED. 

The music of the waken'd lyre 

Dies not upon the quivering strings, 
Nor burns alone the minstrel's fire 

Upon the lip that trembling sings ; 
Nor shines the moon in heaven unseen, 

Nor shuts the flower its fragrant cells, 
Nor sleeps the fountain's wealth, I ween, 

Forever in its sparry wells ; 
The spells of the enchanter lie [ e y e « 

Not on his own lone heart, his own rapt ear and 

I look upon a face as fair 

As ever made a lip of heaven 
Falter amid its music-prayer ! 

The first-lit star of summer even 
Springs not so softly on the eye, 

Nor grows, with watching, half so bright, 
Nor, mid its sisters of the sky, 

So seems of heaven the dearest light ; 
Men murmur where that face is seen — 
My youth's angelic dream was of that look and mien. 

Yet, though we deem the stars are blest, 

And envy, in our grief, the flower 
That bears but sweetness in its breast, 

And fear'd the enchanter for his power, 
And love the minstrel for his spell 
He winds out of his lyre so well ; 
The stars are almoners of light, 

The lyrist of melodious air, 
The fountain of its waters bright, 

And every thing most sweet and fair 
Of that by which it charms the ear, 
The eye of him that passes near ; 
A lamp is lit in woman's eye 
That souls, else lost on earth, remember angels by. 



EDWARD SANFORD. 



[Born, 1807.] 



Edward Saxford, a son of the late Chancellor 
Saxford, is a native of the city of New York. 
He was graduated at the Union College in 1824, 
and in the following year became a law student 
in the office of Bexjaxix F. Butler, afterward 
Attorne}*-General of the United States. He sub- 
sequently practised several years in the courts of 



New York, but finally abandoned his profession 
to conduct the « Standard," an able democratic 
journal, with which he was connected during the 
political contest which resulted in the election of 
Mr. Va>- Burex to the Presidency, after which he 
was for a time one of the editors of " The Globe," 
at Washington. He now resides in New York. 



ADDRESS TO BLACK HAWK. 

There 's beauty on thy brow, old chief! the high 

And manly beauty of the Roman mould, 
And the keen flashing of thy full, dark eye 

Speaks of a heart that years have not made cold; 
Of passions scathed not by the blight of time ; 

Ambition, that survives the battle-rout. 
The man within thee scorns to play the mime 

To gaping crowds, that compass thee about. 
Thou walkest, with thy warriors by thy side, 
Wrapp'd in fierce hate, and high, unconquer'd pride. 

Chief of a hundred warriors ! dost thou yet — 

Yanquish'dand captive — dost thou deem that here 
The glowing day-star of thy glory set — 

Dull night has closed upon thy bright career 1 
Old forest-lion, caught and caged at last, 

Dost pant to roam again thy native wild ? 
To gloat upon the lifeblood flowing fast 

Of thy crush'd victims ; and to slay the child, 
To dabble in the gore of wives and mothers, [thers ? 
And kill, old Turk! thy harmless, pale-faced bro- 

For it was cruel, Beack Hawk, thus to flutter 

The dove-cotes of the peaceful pioneers, 
To let thy tribe commit such fierce and utter 

Slaughter among the folks of the frontiers. 
Though thine be old, hereditary hate, 

Begot in wrongs, and nursed in blood, until 
It had become a madness, 'tis too late [will 

To crush the hordes who have the power and 
To rob thee of thy hunting-grounds and fountains, 
And drive thee backward to the Rocky Mountains. 

Spite of thy looks of cold indifference, [wonder; 

There's much thou'st seen that must excite thy 
Wakes not upon thy quick and startled sense 

The cannon's harsh and pealing voice of thunder ? 
Our big canoes, with white and widespread wings, 

That sweep the waters as birds sweep the sky; 
Our steamboats, with their iron lungs, like things 

Of breathing life, that dash and hurry by ? 
Or, if thou scorn'st the wonders of the ocean, 
What think'st thou of our railroad locomotion ? 

Thou'st seen our museums, beheld the dummies 
That grin in darkness in their coffin cases ; 

What think'st thou of the art of making mummies, 
So that the worms shrink from their dry embraces? 



Thou'st seen the mimic tyrants of the stage 
Strutting, in paint and feathers, for an hour ; 

Thou'st heard the bellowing of their tragic rage, 
Seen their eyes glisten ; and their dark brows lower. 

Anon, thou 'st seen them, when their wrath cool'd 
down, 

Pass in a moment from a king — to clown. 

Thou seest these things unmoved ! sayst so, old 
fellow ? 
Then tell us, have the white man's glowing 
daughters 
Set thy cold blood in motion? Has't been mellow 

By a sly cup or so of our fire-waters ? 
They are thy people's deadliest poison. They 
First make them cowards, and then white men's 
slaves ; 
And sloth, and penury, and passion's prey, 

And lives of misery, and early graves. 
For, by their power, believe me, not a day goes 
But kills some Foxes, Sacs, and Winnebagoes. 

Say, does thy wandering heart stray far away, 

To the deep bosom of thy forest-home ? 
The hill-side, where thy young pappooses play, 

And ask, amid their sports, when thou wilt come ? 
Come not the wailings of thy gentle squaws 

For their lost warrior loud upon thine ear, 
Piercing athwart the thunder of huzzas, 

That, yell'd at every corner, meet thee here ? 
The wife who made that shell-deck'd wampum belt, 
Thy rugged heart must think of her — and melt. 

Chafes not th\ T heart, as chafes the panting breast 

Of the caged bird against his prison-bars, 
That thou, the crowned warrior of the West, 

The victor of a hundred forest-wars, 
Shouldst in thy age become a raree-show, 

Led, like a walking bear, about the town, 
A new-caught monster, who is all the go, 

And stared at, gratis, by the gaping clown ? 
Boils not thy blood, while thus thou'rt led about, 
The sport and mockery of the rabble rout ? 

Whence came thy cold philosophy? whence came, 
Thou tearless, stern, and uncomplaining one, 

The power that taught thee thus to veil the flame 
Of thy fierce passions ? Thou despisest fun, 

311 



312 



EDWARD SANFORD. 



And thy proud spirit scorns the white men's glee, 
Save thy fierce sport, when at the funeral-pile 

Of a bound warrior in his agony, 

Who meets thy horrid laugh with dying smile. 

Thy face, in length, reminds one of a Quaker's ; 

Thy dances, too, are solemn as a Shaker's. 

Proud scion of a noble stem ! thy tree 

Is blanch'd, and bare, and sear'd, and leafless 
[ '11 not insult its fallen majesty, [now. 

Nor drive,with careless hand, the ruthless plough 
Over its roots. Torn from its parent mould, 

Rich, warm, and deep, its fresh, free, balmy air, 
No second verdure quickens in our cold, 

New, barren earth ; no life sustains it there, 
But, even though prostrate, 'tis a noble thing, 
Though crownless, powerless, "every inch a king." 

Give us thy hand, old nobleman of nature, 

Proud ruler of the forest aristocracy ; 
The best of blood glows in thy every feature, 

And thy curl'd lip speaks scorn for our democracy. 
Thou wear'st thy titles on that godlike brow ; 

Let him who doubts them meet thine eagle-eye, 
He '11 quail beneath its glance, and disavow 

All question of thy noble family ; 
For thou mayst here become, with strict propriety, 
A leader in our city good society. 



TO A MUSQUITO. 

His voice was ever soft, gentle, and low. — King Lear. 

Thou sweet musician, that around my bed 

Dost nightly come and wind thy little horn, 
By what unseen and secret influence led, 

Feed'st thou my ear with music till 'tis morn'? 
The wind-harp's tones are not more soft than thine, 

The hum of falling waters not more sweet: 
I own, indeed, I own thy song divine, [meet, 

And when next year's warm summer nights we 
(Till then, farewell !) I promise thee to be 
A patient listener to thy minstrelsy. 

Thou tiny minstrel, who bid thee discourse 

Such eloquent music? was't thy tuneful sire 1 ? 
Some old musician ? or didst take a course 

Of lessons from some master of the lyre ? 
Who bid thee twang so sweetly thy small trump ? 

Did Norton form thy notes so clear and full ? 
Art a phrenologist, and is the bump 

Of song developed in thy little skull? 
A t Ni p, lo's hast thou been when crowds stood mute, 
Drinking the birdlike tones of Cuddy's flute? 

Tell me the burden of thy ceaseless song. 

Is it thy evening hymn of grateful prayer, 
Or lay of love, thou pipest through the long, 

Still night ? With song dost drive away d ull care? 
Art thou a vieux garcon, a gay deceiver, 

A wandering blade, roaming in search of sweets, 
Pledging thy faith to every fond believer, 

Who thy advance with halfway shyness meets ? 
Or art o' the softer sex, and sing'st in glee, 
"In maiden meditation, fancy free?" 



Thou little siren, when the nymphs of yore 

Charm'd with their songs till men forgot to dine, 
And starved, though music-fed, upon their shore, 

Their voices breathed no softer lays than thine. 
They sang but to entice, and thou dost sing 

As if to lull our senses to repose, 
That thou mayst use, unharm'd, thy little sting, 

The very moment we begin to doze ; 
Thou worse than siren, thirsty, fierce blood-sipper, 
Thou living vampire, and thou gallinipper ! 

Nature is full of music, sweetly sings 

The bard, (and thou dost sing most sweetly too,) 
Through the wide circuit of created things, 

Thou art the living proof the bard sings true. 
Nature is full of thee ; on every shore, 

'Neath the hot sky of Congo's dusky child, 
From warm Peru to icy Labrador, 

The world's free citizen, thou roamest wild. 
Wherever " mountains rise or oceans roll," 
Thy voice is heard, from " Indus to the Pole." 

The incarnation of Queen Mab art thou, 

" The fairies' midwife ;" — thou dost nightly sip, 
With amorous proboscis bending low, 

The honey-dew from many a lady's lip — 
(Though that they " straight on kisses dream," I 
doubt — ) 

On smiling faces, and on eyes that weep, 
Thou lightest, and oft with " sympathetic snout" 

« Ticklest men's noses as they lie asleep ; 
And sometimes dwellest, if I rightly scan, 
" On the forefinger of an alderman." 

Yet thou canst glory in a noble birth. 

As rose the sea-born Venus from the wave, 
So didst thou rise to life ; the teeming earth, 

The living water and the fresh air gave 
A portion of their elements to create 

Thy little form, though beauty dwells not there. 
So lean and gaunt, that economic fate 

Meant thee to feed on music or on air. 
Our vein's pure juices were not made for thee, 
Thou living, singing, stinging atomy. 

The hues of dying sunset are most fair, 

And twilight's tints just fading into night, 
Most dusky soft, and so thy soft notes are 

By far the sweetest when thou takest thy flight. 
The swan's last note is sweetest, so is thine; 

Sweet are the wind-harp's tones at distance heard ; 
'Tis sweet at distance, at the day's decline, 

To hear the opening song of evening's bird. 
But notes of harp or bird at distance float 
Less sweetly on the ear than thy last note. 

The autumn-winds are wailing: 'tis thy dirge; 

Its leaves are sear, prophetic of thy doom. 
Soon the cold rain will whelm thee, as the surge 

Whelms the toss'd mariner in its watery tomb : 
Then soar, and sing thy little life away ! 

Albeit thy voice is somewhat husky now. 
'Tis well to end in music life's last day, 

Of one so gleeful and so blithe as thou : 
For thou wilt soon live through its joyous hours, 
And pass away with autumn's dying flowers. 



THOMAS WARD. 



[Bora, 1807.1 



Doctor Ward was born at Newark, in New 
Jersey, on the eighth of June, 1807. His father, 
General Thomas Ward, is one of the oldest, 
wealthiest, and most respectable citizens of that 
town ; and has held various offices of public trust 
in his native state, and represented his district in 
the national Congress. 

Doctor Ward received his classical education 
at the academies in Bloomfield and Newark, and 
the college at Princeton. He chose the profession 
of physic, and, after the usual preparation, obtained 
his degree of Doctor of Medicine in the spring of 
1829, at the Rutgers Medical College, in New 
York. In the autumn of the same year he went 
to Paris, to avail himself of the facilities afforded 
in that capital for the prosecution of every branch 
of medical inquiry ; and, after two years' absence, 
during which he accomplished the usual tour 
through Italy, Switzerland, Holland, and Great 
Britain, he returned to New York, and commenced 
the practice of medicine in that city. In the course 



of two or three years, however, he gradually with- 
drew from business, his circumstances permitting 
him to exchange devotion to his profession for 
the more congenial pursuits of literature and gene- 
ral knowledge. He is married, and still resides in 
New York; spending his summers, however, in 
his native city, and among the more romantic and 
beautiful scenes of New Jersey. His first literary 
efforts were brief satirical pieces, in verse and 
prose, published in a country gazette, in 1825 and 
1826. It was not until after his return from Eu- 
rope, when he adopted the signature of "Fxaccus," 
and began to write for the "New York American," 
that he attracted much attention. His principal 
work, "Passaic, a Group of Poems touching that 
River," appeared in 1841. It contains some fine 
descriptive passages, and its versification is gene- 
rally correct and musical. "The Monomania of 
Money-getting," a satire, and many of his minor 
pieces, are more distinguished for vigour and spright- 
liness, than for mere poetical qualities. 



MUSINGS ON RIVERS. 

Beautiful rivers ! that adown the vale 
With graceful passage journey to the deep, 
Let me along your grassy marge recline 
At ease, and musing, meditate the strange 
Bright history of your life ; yes, from your birth, 
Has beauty's shadow chased your every step ; 
The blue sea was your mother, and the sun 
Your glorious sire : clouds your voluptuous cradle, 
Roof 'd with o'erarching rainbows ; and your fall 
To earth was cheer'd with shout of happy birds, 
With brighten'd faces of reviving flowers 
And meadows, while the sympathising west 
Took holiday, and donn'd her richest robes. 
From deep, mysterious wanderings your springs 
Break bubbling into beauty ; where they lie 
In infant helplessness a while, but soon 
Gathering in tiny brooks, they gambol down 
The steep sides of the mountain, laughing, shouting, 
Teasing the wild flowers, and at every turn 
Meeting new playmates still to swell their ranks ; 
Which, with the rich increase resistless grown, 
Shed foam and thunder, that the echoing wood 
Rings with the boisterous glee; while o'er their heads, 
Catching their spirit blithe, young rainbows sport, 
The frolic children of the wanton sun. 

Nor is your swelling prime, or green old age, 
Though calm, unlovely; still, where'er ye move, 
Your train is beauty; trees stand grouping by 
To mark your graceful progress : giddy flowers, 
And vain, as beauties wont, stoop o'er the verge 
To greet their faces in your flattering glass ; 
The thirsty herd are following at your side ; 
And water-birds, in clustering fleets, convoy 



Your sea-bound tides ; and jaded man, released 

From worldly thraldom, here his dwelling plants, 

Here pauses in your pleasant neighbourhood, 

Sure of repose along your tranquil shores. 

And when your end approaches, and ye blend 

With the eternal ocean, ye shall fade 

As placidly as when an infant dies ; 

And the death-angel shall your powers withdraw 

Gently as twilight takes the parting day, 

And, with a soft and gradual decline 

That cheats the senses, lets it down to night. 

Bountiful rivers ! not upon the earth 
Is record traced of Gon's exuberant grace 
So deeply graven as the channels worn 
By ever-flowing streams: arteries of earth, 
That, widely branching, circulate its blood: 
Whose ever-throbbing pulses are the tides. 
The whole vast enginery of Nature, all 
The roused and labouring elements combine 
In their production ; for the mighty end 
Is growth, is life to every living thing. 
The sun himself is charter'd for the work: 
His arm uplifts the main, and at his smile 
The fluttering vapours take their flight for heaven, 
Shaking the briny sea-dregs from their wings; 
Here, wrought by unseen fingers, soon is wove 
The cloudy tissue, till a mighty fleet, 
Freighted with treasures bound for distant shores, 
Floats waiting for the breeze ; loosed on the sky 
Rush the strong tempests, that, with sweeping 
Impel the vast flotilla to its port ; [breath, 

Where, overhanging wide the arid plain, 
Drops the rich mercy down; and oft, when summer 
Withers the harvest, and the lazy clouds 
Drag idly at the bidding of the breeze, 

2D 313 



314 



THOMAS WARD. 



New riders spur them, and enraged they rush, 
Bestrode by thunders, that, with hideous shouts 
And crackling thongs of fire, urge them along. 

As falls the blessing, how the satiate earth 
And all her race shed grateful smiles ! — not here 
The bounty ceases : when the drenching streams 
Have, inly sinking, quench'd the greedy thirst 
Of plants, of woods, some kind, invisible hand 
In bright, perennial springs draws up again 
For needy man and beast ; and, as the brooks 
Grow strong, apprenticed to the use of man, 
The ponderous wheel they turn, the web to weave, 
The stubborn metal forge ; and, when advanced 
To sober age at last, ye seek the sea, 
Bearing the wealth of commerce on your backs, 
Ye seem the unpaid carriers of the sky 
Vouchsafed to earth for burden ; and your host 
Of shining branches, linking land to land, 
Seem bands of friendship — silver chains of love, 
To bind the world in brotherhood and peace. 

Back to the primal chaos fancy sweeps 
To trace your dim beginning; when dull earth 
Lay sunken low, one level, plashy marsh, 
Girdled with mists ; while saurian reptiles, strange, 
Measureless monsters, through the cloggy plain 
Paddled and flounder'd ; and the Almighty voice, 
Like silver trumpet, from their hidden dens 
Summon'd the central and resistless fires, 
That with a groan from pole to pole upheave 
The mountain-masses, and, with dreadful rent, 
Fracture the rocky crust ; then Andes rose, 
And Alps their granite pyramids shot up, 
Barren of soil ; but gathering vapours round 
Their stony scalps, condensed to drops, from drops 
To brooks, from brooks to rivers, which set out 
Over that rugged and untravell'd land, 
The first exploring pilgrims, to the sea. 
Tedious their route, precipitous and vague, 
Seeking with humbleness the lowliest paths: 
Oft shut in valleys deep, forlorn they turn 
And find no vent; till, gather'd into lakes, 
Topping the basin's brimming lip, they plunge 
Headlong, and hurry to the level main, 
Rejoicing: misty ages did they run, 
And, with unceasing friction, all the while 
Fritter'd to granular atoms the dense rock, 
And ground it into soil — then dropp'd (0 ! sure 
Fromheaven) the precious seed: first mosses, lichens 
Seized on the sterile flint, and from their dust 
Sprang herbs and flowers : last from the deepening 

mould 
Uprose to heaven in pride the princely tree, 
And earth was fitted for her coming lord. 



TO THE MAGNOLIA. 

When roaming o'er the marshy field, 

Through tangled brake and treacherous slough, 

We start, that spot so foul should yield, 
Chaste blossom ! such a balm as thou. 

Such lavish fragrance there we meet, 

That all the dismal waste is sweet. 



So, in the dreary path of life, 

Through clogging toil and thorny care, 
Love rears his blossom o'er the strife, 

Like thine, to cheer the wanderer there : 
Which pours such incense round the spot, 
His pains, his cares, are all forgot. 



TO AN INFANT IN HEAVEN. 

Thou bright and star-like spirit ! 

That, in my visions wild, 
I see mid heaven's seraphic host — 

! canst thou be my child ? 

My grief is quench'd in wonder, 
And pride arrests my sighs ; 

A branch from this unworthy stock 
Now blossoms in the skies. 

Our hopes of thee were lofty, 
But have we cause to grieve 1 

! could our fondest, proudest wish 
A nobler fate conceive 1 

The little weeper, tearless, 

The sinner, snatch'd from sin ; 

The babe, to more than manhood grown, 
Ere childhood did begin. 

jvnd I, thy earthly teacher, 

Would blush thy powers to see ; 

Thou art to me a parent now, 
And I, a child to thee ! 

Thy brain, so uninstructed 

While in this lowly state, 
Now threads the mazy track of spheres, 

Or reads the book of fate. 

Thine eyes, so curb'd in vision, 
Now range the realms of space — 

Look down upon the rolling stars, 
Look up to God's own face. 

Thy little hand, so helpless, 

That scarce its toys could hold, 

Now clasps its mate in holy prayer, 
Or twangs a hai-p of gold. 

Thy feeble feet, unsteady, 

That totter'd as they trod, 
With angels walk the heavenly paths, 

Or stand before their God. 

Nor is thy tongue less skilful, 

Before the throne divine 
'T is pleading for a mother's weal, 

As once she pray'd for thine. 

What bliss is born of sorrow ! 

'T is never sent in vain — 
The heavenly surgeon maims to save, 

He gives no useless pain. 

Our God, to call us homeward, 

His only Son sent down : 
And now, still more to tempt our hearts, 

Has taken up our own. 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 



[Born, 1807.] 



Mr. Longfellow was born in the city of Port- 
land, in Maine, on the twenty-seventh of Febru- 
ary, 1807. When fourteen years of age he en- 
tered Bowdoin College, where he was graduated in 
1825. He soon after commenced the study of the 
law, but being appointed Professor of Modern Lan- 
guages in the college in which he was educated, 
he in 1826 sailed for Europe to prepare himself for 
the duties of his office, and passed three years and a 
half visiting or residing in France, Spain, Italy, Ger- 
many, Holland and England. When he returned 
he entered upon the labours of instruction, and in 
1831 was married. The professorship of Modern 
Languages and Literatures in Harvard College 
was made vacant, in 1835, by the resignation of 
Mr. Ticknor. Mr. Longfellow, being elected 
his successor, resigned his place in Brunswick, and 
went a second time to Europe to make himself 
more thoroughly acquainted with the subjects of 
his studies in the northern nations. He passed the 
summer in Denmark and Sweden ; the autumn and 
winter in Germany — losing in that period his wife, 
who died suddenly at Heidelberg — and the follow, 
ing spring and summer in the Tyrol and Switzer- 
land. He returned to the United States in Octo- 
ber, 1836, and immediately entered upon his duties 
at Cambridge, where he has resided ever since, 
except during a visit to Europe for the restoration 
of his health, in 1843. 

The earliest of Longfellow's metrical compo- 
sitions were written for " The United States Lit- 
erary Gazette," printed in Boston, while he was 
an under-graduate ; and from that period he has 
been known as a poet, and his effusions, improving 
as each year added to his scholarship and taste, 
have been extensively read and admired. During 
his subsequent residence in Brunswick he wrote 
several of the most elegant and judicious papers 
that have appeared in the « iTorth American Re- 
view ;" made a translation of Coplas de Manrique ; 
and published " Outre Mer, or a Pilgrimage beyond 
the Sea," a collection of agreeable tales and sketches, 
chiefly written during his first residence abroad. In 
1839 appeared his "Hyperion," a romance, which 
contains passages of remarkable beauty, but has 
little dramatic or narrative interest. 

The first collection of his poems was published 
in 1839, under the title of" Voices of the Night." 
His « Ballads and other Poems" followed in 1841 ; 
"The Spanish Student, a Play," in 1843; "Poems 
on Slavery," in 1844, and a complete edition of his 
poetical writings, excepting some early effusions 
and the lyrical pieces on slavery, in a large octavo 
volume, illustrated with engravings by J. Cheney, 
from original pictures by Hungtington, in 1845. 

Longfellow's most considerable poem is the 
" Children of the Lord's Supper," translated from the 
Swedish ofEsAiAS Tegner, a venerable bishop of 



the Lutheran church, and the most illustrious poet 
of northern Europe. The genius of Tegner had 
already been made known in this country by a 
learned and elaborate criticism, illustrated by trans- 
lated passages of great beauty, from his "Frithiof's 
Saga," contributed by Longfellow to the " North 
American Review," soon after he returned from his 
second visit to Europe. The " Children of the 
Lord's Supper" is little less celebrated than the 
author's great epic, and the English version is a 
singularly exact reproduction of it, in form and 
spirit. No translations from the continental lan- 
guages into the English surpass those of Long- 
fellow, and it is questionable whether some of 
his versions from the Spanish, German and Swe- 
dish, have been equalled. The rendition of the 
" Children of the Lord's Supper" was among the 
most difficult tasks to be undertaken, as spondaic 
words, necessary in the construction of hexameters, 
and common in the Greek, Latin and Swedish, are 
so rare in the English language. " The Skeleton 
in Armour" is the longest and most unique of his 
original poems. The Copenhagen antiquaries attri- 
bute the erection of a round tower at Newport, in 
Rhode Island, to the Scandinavians of the twelfth 
century. A few years ago a skeleton in complete 
armour was exhumed in the vicinity of the tower. 
These facts are the groundwork of the story. 

Soon after the appearance of the first edition of 
this work, I suggested to the late Mr. Caret, the 
publisher, widely known for his taste in art and 
literature, that a series of such volumes, embracing 
surveys and specimens of the poetry and prose of 
different countries, would be valuable and popu- 
lar; and anions the results of various conversa- 
tions on the subject, was a request to Mr. Long- 
fellow to prepare "The Poets and Poetry of 
Europe." He acceded, and in the summer of 1845 
finished and gave to the press the most compre- 
hensive, complete, and accurate review of the poetry 
of the continental nations that has ever appeared 
in any language. 

Of all our poets Longfellow best deserves the 
title of artist. He has studied the principles of verbal 
melody, and rendered himself master of the mys- 
terious affinities which exist between sound and 
sense, word and thought, feeling and expression. 
This tact in the use of language is probably the 
chief cause of his success. There is an aptitude, 
a gracefulness, and vivid beauty, in many of his 
stanzas, which at once impress the memory and 
win the ear and heart. There is in the tone of 
his poetry little passion, but much quiet earnestness. 
It is not so much the power of the instrument, as 
the skill with which it is managed, that excites our 
sympathy. His acquaintance with foreign litera- 
ture has been of great advantage, by rendering 
him familiar with all the delicate capacities of Ian 

315 



316 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 



guage, from the grand symphonic roll of Northern 
tongue to the "soft, bastard Latin" of the South. 
His ideas and metaphors are often very striking and 
poetical; but there is no affluence of imagery, or 
wonderful glow of emotion, such as take us captive 
in Byron or Shelley : the claim of Longfellow 
consists rather in the wise and tasteful use of his 
materials than in their richness or originality. He 
has done much for the Art of Poetry in this country 



by his example, and in this respect may claim the 
praise which all good critics of English Poetry have 
bestowed on Giiay and Colltns. The spirit of 
Longfellow's muse is altogether unexceptionable 
in a moral point of view. He illustrates the gentler 
themes of song, and pleads for justice, humanity, 
and particularly the beautiful, with a poet's deep 
conviction of their eternal claims upon the instinc- 
tive recognition of the man. 



NUREMBERG. 

In the valley of the Pegnitz, where across broad 

meadow-lands 
Rise the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg, 

the ancient, stands. 

Quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town 

of art and song, 
Memories haunt thy pointed gables, like the rooks 

that round them throng ; 

Memories of the Middle Ages, when the emperors, 
rough and bold, 

Had their dwelling in thy castle, time-defying, cen- 
turies old ; 

And thy brave and thrifty burghers boasted, in their 

uncouth rhyme, 
That their great imperial city stretch'd its hand 

through every clime. 

In the court-yard of the castle, bound with many 

an iron band, 
Stands the mighty linden planted by Queen Cuni- 

gunde's hand; 

On the square the oriel window, where in old 
heroic days 

Sat the poet Melchior singing Kaiser Maximi- 
lian's praise. 

Everywhere I see around me rise the wondrous 

world of Art, — 
Fountains wrought with richest sculpture standing 

in the common mart ; 

And above cathedral doorways saints and bishops 

carved in stone, 
By a former age commission'd as apostles to our own. 

In the church of sainted Sebald sleeps enshrined 

his holy dust, 
And in bronze the Twelve Apostles guard from age 

to age their trust ; 

In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix 

of sculpture rare, 
Like the foamy sheaf of fountains, rising through 

the painted air. 

Here, when art w r as still religion, with a simple, 
reverent heart, 

Lived and labour'd Albrecht Dcrer, the Evan- 
gelist of Art ; 

Hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with 
busy hand, 

Like an emigrant he wander'd, seeking for the Bet- 
ter Land. 



Emigravit is the inscription on the tombstone where 

he lies ; 
Dead he is not, — but departed, — for the artist never 

dies. 

Fairer seems the ancient city, and the sunshine 

seems more fair, 
That he once has trod its pavement, that he once 

has breathed its air ! 

Through these streets so broad and stately, these 

obscure and dismal lanes, 
Walked of yore the Mastersingers, chanting rude 

poetic strains. 

From remote and sunless suburbs, came they to the 

friendly guild, 
Building nests in Fame's great temple, as in spouts 

the swallows build. 

As the weaver plied the shuttle, wove he too the 

mystic rhyme, 
And the smith his iron measures hammer'd to the 

anvil's chime ; 

Thanking God, whose boundless wisdom makes the 

flowers of poesy bloom 
In the forge's dust and cinders, in the tissues of the 

loom. 

Here Hans Sachs, the cobbler-poet, laureate of the 

gentle craft, 
Wisest of the Twelve Wise Masters, in huge folios 

sang and laugh'd. 

But his house is now an ale-house, with a nicely 

sanded floor, 
And a garland in the window, and his face above 

the door ; 

Painted by some humble artist, as in Adam Pusch- 

man's song, 
As the old man gray and dove-like, with his great 

beard white and long. 
And at night the swart mechanic comes to drown 

his cark and care, 
Quaffing ale from pewter tankards, in the master's 

antique chair. 

Vanish'd is the ancient splendour, and before my 

dreamy eye 
Wave these mingling shapes and figures, like a 

faded tapestry. 

Not thy Councils, not thy Kaisers, win for thee the 

world's regard ; 
But thy painter, Albrecht Durer, and Hans 

Sachs, thy cobbler-bard. 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 



31: 



Thus, Nuremberg, a wanderer from a region far 

away, 
As he paced thy streets and court-yards, sang in 

thought his careless lay : 

Gathering from the pavement's crevice, as a floweret 

of the soil, 
The nobility of labour, — the long pedigree of toil. 



THE ARSENAL AT SPRINGFIELD. 

This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling, 
Like a huge organ, rise the burnish'd arms; 

But from their silent pipes no anthem pealing, 
Startles the villages with strange alarms. 

Ah ! what a sound will rise, how wild and dreary, 
When the death-angel touches those swift keys ! 

What loud lament and dismal Miserere 
Will mingle with their awful symphonies ! 

I hear even now the infinite fierce chorus, 
The cries of agony, the endless groan, 

Which, through the ages that have gone before us, 
In long reverberations reach our own. 

On helm and harness rings the Saxon hammer, 
Through Cimbric forest roars the Norsemen's 

And loud, amid the universal clamor, [ s °ng, 

O'er distant deserts sounds the Tartar gong. 

I hear the Florentine, who from his palace 
Wheels out his battle bell with dreadful din, 

And Aztec priests upon their teocallis 

Beat the wild war-drums made of serpent's skin ; 

The tumult of each sacked and burning village ; 

The shout that every prayer for mercy drowns ; 
The soldiers revels in the midst of pillage ; 

The wail of famine in beleaguered towns ; 

The bursting shell, the gateway wrench'd asunder, 
The rattling musketry, the clashing blade ; 

And ever and anon, in tones of thunder, 
The diapason of the cannonade. 

Is it, man, with such discordant noises, 
With such accursed instruments as these, 

Thou drownest Nature's sweet and kindly voices, 
And j arrest the celestial harmonies ] 

Were half the power, that fills the world with terror, 
Were half the wealth, bestow'd on camps and 
courts, 

Given to redeem the human mind from error, 
There were no need of arsenals nor forts : 

The warrior's name would be a name abhorred ! 

And every nation, that should lift again 
Its hand against a brother, on its forehead 

Would wear for evermore the curse of Cain ! 

Down the dark future, through long generations, 
The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease ; 

And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, 
I hear once more the voice of Christ say " Peace !" 

Peace ! and no longer from its brazen portals 
The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies! 

But beautiful as songs of the immortals, 
The holy melodies of love arise. 



THE SKELETON IN ARMOUR. 

"Speak! speak! thou fearful guest! 
Who, with thy hollow breast 
Still in rude armour drest, 

Comest to daunt me ! 
Wrapt not in Eastern balms, 
But with thy fleshless palms 
Stretch'd, as if asking alms, 
Why dost thou haunt me 1" 

Then, from those cavernous eyes 
Pale flashes seemed to rise, 
As when the Northern skies 

Gleam in December ; 
And, like the water's flow 
Under December's snow, 
Came a dull voice of wo 

From the heart's chamber. 

« I was a Viking old! 
My deeds, though manifold, 
No Skald in song has told, 

No Saga taught thee ! 

Take heed, that in thy verse 

Thou dost the tale rehearse, 

Else dread a dead man's curse! 

For this I sought thee. 

" Far in the Northern Land, 
By the wild Baltic's strand, 
I, with my childish hand, 

Tamed the ger-falcon ; 
And, with my skates fast-bound, 
Skimm'd the half-frozen Sound, 
That the poor whimpering hound 

Trembled to walk on. 

« Oft to his frozen lair 
Track'd I the grizzly bear, 
While from my path the hare 

Fled like a shadow ; 
Oft through the forest dark 
Followed the were-wolf 's bark, 
Until the soaring lark 
Sang from the meadow. 

« But when I older grew, 
Joining a corsair's crew, 
O'er the dark sea I flew 
With the marauders. 
Wild was the life we led ; 
Many the souls that sped, 
Many the hearts that bled, 
By our stern orders. 

" Many a wassail-bout 
Wore the long winter out • 
Often our midnight shout 

Set the cocks crowing, 
As we the Berserk's tale 
Measured in cups of ale, 
Draining the oaken pail, 

Fill'd to o'erflowing. 

" Once as I told in glee 
Tales of the stormy sea, 
Soft eyes did gaze on me, 
Burning yet tender; 



318 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 


And as the white stars shine 


Seeking some rocky haunt, 


On the dark Norway pine, 


With his prey laden, 


On that dark heart of mine 


So toward the open main, 


Fell their soft splendour. 


Beating to sea again, 


" I woo'd the blue-eyed maid, 
Yielding, yet half afraid, 


Through the wild hurricane, 


Bore I the maiden. 


And in the forest's shade 


" Three weeks we westward bore, 


Our vows were plighted. 


And when the storm was o'er, 


Under its loosen'd vest 


Cloud-like we saw the shore 


Flutter d her little breast, 


Stretching to lee-ward ; 
There for my lady's bower 


Like birds within their nest 


By the hawk frighted. 


Built I the lofty tower, 


" Bright in her father's hall 


Which, to this very hour, 


Shields gleam'd upon the wall, 


Stands looking sea-ward. 


Loud sang the minstrels all, 


" There lived we many years ; 


Chanting his glory ; 


Time dried the maiden's tears ; 


When of old Hildebrand 


She had forgot her fears, 


I ask'd his daughter's hand, 


She was a mother ; 


Mute did the minstrel stand 


Death closed her mild blue eyes. 


To hear my story. 


Under that tower she lies : 


" While the brown ale he quaff 'd 


Ne'er shall the sun arise 


Loud then the champion laugh'd, 


On such another ! 


And as the wind-gusts waft 


" Still grew my bosom then, 


The sea-foam brightly, 


Still as a stagnant fen ! 


So the loud laugh of scorn, 


Hateful to me were men, 


Out of those lips unshorn, 


The sun-light hateful ! 


From the deep drinking-horn 


In the vast forest here, 


Blew the foam lightly. 


Clad in my warlike gear, 


" She was a Prince's child, 


Fell I upon my spear, 


I but a Viking wild, 


0, death was grateful ! 


And though she blush'd and smiled, 


" Thus, seam'd with many scars 


I was discarded ! 


Bursting these prison bars, 


Should not the dove so white 


Up to its native stars 


Follow the sea-mew's flight, 


My soul ascended! 


Why did they leave that night 


There from the flowing bowl 


Her nest unguarded 1 


Deep drinks the warrior's soul, 


" Scarce had I put to sea, 
Bearing the maid with me, — 
Fairest of all was she 


Skoal! to the Northland ! skoal!"* 


— Thus the tale ended. 


* In Scandinavia this is the customary salutation 


Among the Norsemen! — 


when drinking a health. The orthography of the word 


When on the white sea-strand, 


is slightly changed, to preserve the correct pronunciation. 


Waving his armed hand, 


Note.— This poem was suggested hy the Round 


Saw we old Hildebrand, 


Tower at Newport, now claimed by the Danes, as a 
work of their ancestors. Mr. Longfellow remarks, 


With twenty horsemen. 


On this ancient structure, there are no ornaments re- 


" Then launch'd they to the blast, 


maining which might possibly have served to guide us 


Bent like a reed each mast, 
Yet we were gaining fast, 


in assigning the probable date of its erection. That 
no vestige whatever is found of the pointed arch, nor 


any approximation to it, is indicative of an earlier rather 


When the wind fail'd us ; 


than of a later period. From such characteristics as 


And with a sudden flaw 


remain, however, we can scarcely form any other in- 


Came round the gusty Skaw, 
So that our foe we saw 


ference than one, in which I am persuaded that all, who 


are familiar with Old-Northern architecture, will concur, 


Laugh as he hail'd us. 


THAT THIS BUILDING WAS ERECTED AT A PERIOD DECIDEDLY 


NOT LATER THAN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. This re- 


" And as to catch the' gale 
Round veer'd the flapping sail, 


mark applies, of course, to the original building only, 


and not to the alterations that it subsequently received ; 


for there are several such alterations in the upper part 


Death ! was the helmsman's hail, 


of the building, which cannot be mistaken, and which 


Death without quarter ! 


were most likely occasioned by its being adapted in 


Mid-ships with iron keel 


modern times to various uses, for example as the sub 


Struck we her ribs of steel ; 


structure of a wind-mill, and latterly, as a hay magazine. 


Down her black hulk did reel 


To the same times may be referred the windows, the 
fire-place, and the apertures made above the columns. 


Through the black water. 


That this building could not have been erected for a 


" As with his wings aslant, 


wind-mill, is what an architect will easily discern. — Pro- 
fessor Rafn, in the Mtmoires de la Soctiti Royale dcs 


Sails the fierce cormorant, 

i s 


Jlntiquaircs du Word, for 1838-1839. 



HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 319 


A PSALM OF LIFE. 


star of strength ! I see thee stand 


WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOCNG MAN SAID TO THE 
PSALMIST. 


And smile upon my pain ; 
Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand, 




And I am strong again. 


Teil me not, in mournful numbers, 


Within my breast there is no light, 
But the cold light of stars: 


Life is but an empty dream ! 


For the soul is dead that slumbers, 


I give the first watch of the night 
To the red planet Mars. 


And things are not what they seem. 


Life is real ! Life is earnest ! 


The star of the unconquer'd will, 
He rises in my breast, 


And the grave is not its goal; 


Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 


Serene, and resolute, and still, 


Was not spoken of the soul. 


And calm, and self-possess'd. 


Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 


And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art, 


Is our destined end or way ; 


That readest this brief psalm, 
As one by one thy hopes depart, 
Be resolute and calm. 


But to act, that each to-morrow 
Find us farther than to-day. 


Art is long, and Time is fleeting, 


fear not in a world like this, 


And our hearts, though stout and brave, 


And thou shalt know ere long, 


Still, like muffled drums, are beating 


Know how sublime a thing it is 
To suffer and be strong. 


Funeral marches to the grave. 


In the world's broad field of battle, 




In the bivouac of Life, 


. 


Be not like dumb, driven cattle ! 




Be a hero in the strife ! 


ENDYMION. 


Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant ! 


The rising moon has hid the stars, 


Let the dead Past bury its dead ! 


Her level rays, like golden bars, 


Act, — act in the living Present ! 


Lie on the landscape green, 


Heart within, and God o'erhead ! 


With shadows brown between. 


Lives of great men all remind us 


And silver white the river gleams, 


We can make our lives sublime, 


As if Diaka, in her dreams, 


And, departing, leave behind us 


Had dropt her silver bow 


Footprints on the sands of time ; 


Upon the meadows low. 


Footprints, that perhaps another, 


On such a tranquil night as this, 


Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 


She woke Exdtmiox with a kiss, 


A forlorn and shipwreck'd brother, 


When, sleeping in the grove, 


Seeing, shall take heart again. 


He dream'd not of her love. 


Let us, then, be up and doing, 


Like Diax's kiss, unask'd, unsought, 


With a heart for any fate ; 


Love gives itself, but is not bought ; 


Still achieving, still pursuing, 


Nor voice, nor sound betrays 


Learn to labour and to wait. 


Its deep, impassion'd gaze. 




It comes — the beautiful, the free, 
The crown of all humanity — 




THE LIGHT OF STARS. 


In silence and alone 





To seek the elected one. 


The night is come, but not too soon ; 


It lifts the bows, whose shadows deep 


And sinking silently, 


Are Life's oblivion, the soul's sleep, 


All silently, the little moon 


And kisses the closed eyes 


Drops down behind the sky. 


Of him, who slumbering lies. 


There is no light in earth or heaven, 


0, weary hearts ! 0, slumbering eyes ! 


But the cold light of stars; 


0, drooping souls, whose destinies 


And the first watch of night is given 


Are fraught with fear and pain, 


To the red planet Mars. 


Ye shall be loved again ! 


Is it the tender star of love 1 


No one is so accursed by fate, 


The star of love and dreams 1 


No one so utterly desolate, 


no ! from that blue tent above 


But some heart, though unknown, 


A hero's armour gleams. 


Responds unto its own. 


And earnest thoughts within me rise, 


Responds — as if, with unseen wings, 


When I behold afar, 


A breath from heaven had touch'd its strings • 


Suspended in the evening skies, 


And whispers, in its song, 


The shield of that red star. 


" Where hast thou stay'd so long ?" 







320 



HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 



FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS. 

Whes the hours of day are number'd, 

And the voices of the Night 
Wake the better soul that slumber'd 

To a holy, calm delight ; 
Ere the evening lamps are lighted, 

And, like phantoms grim and tall, 
Shadows from the fitful fire-light 

Dance upon the parlour-wall ; 
Then the forms of the departed 

Enter at the open door ; 
The beloved ones, the true-hearted, 

Come to visit me once more ; 
He, the young and strong, who cherish'd 

Noble longings for the strife, — 
By the road-side fell and perish'd, 

Weary with the march of life ! 

They, the holy ones and weakly, 
Who the cross of suffering bore, — 

Folded their pale hands so meekly, — 
Spake with us on earth no more ! 

And with them the Being Beauteous, 
Who unto my youth was given, 

More than all things else to love me, 
And is now a saint in heaven. 

With a slow and noiseless footstep, 
Comes that messenger divine, 

Takes the vacant chair beside me, 
Lays her gentle hand in mine. 

And she sits and gazes at me, 
With those deep and tender eyes, 

Like the stars, so still and saintlike, 
Looking downward from the skies. 

Utter'd not, yet comprehended, 
Is the spirit's voiceless prayer, 

Soft rebukes, in blessings ended, 
Breathing from her lips of air. 

0, though oft depress'd and lonely, 

All my fears are laid aside, 
If I but remember only 

Such as these have lived and died ! 



THE BELEAGURED CITY. 

I have read in some old marvellous tale 

Some legend strange and vague, 
That a midnight host of spectres pale 

Beleagured the walls of Prague. 
Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, 

With the wan moon overhead, 
There stood, as in an awful dream, 

The army of the dead. 
White as a sea-fog, landward bound, 

The spectral camp was seen, 
And, with a sorrowful, deep sound, 

The river flow'd between. 

No other voice nor sound was there, 
No drum, nor sentry's pace ; 

The mist-like banners clasp'd the air, 
As clouds with clouds embrace. 



But, when the old cathedral bell 
Proclaim'd the morning prayer, 

The white pavilions rose and fell 
On the alarmed air. 

Down the broad valley fast and far 

The troubled army fled ; 
Up rose the glorious morning star, 

The ghastly host was dead. 

I have read in the marvellous heart of man, 
That strange and mystic scroll, 

That an army of phantoms vast and wan 
Beleaguer the human soul. 

Encamp'd beside Life's rushing stream, 

In Fancy's misty light, 
Gigantic shapes and shadows gleam 

Portentous through the night. 

Upon its midnight battle-ground 

The spectral camp s seen, 
And with a sorrowful, deep sound, 

Flows the River of Life between. 

No other voice, nor sound is there, 

In the army of the grave ; 
No other challenge breaks the air, 

But the rushing of Life's wave. 

And, when the solemn and deep church-bell 

Entreats the soul to pray, 
The midnight phantoms feel the spell, 

The shadows sweep away. 

Down the broad Yale of Tears afar 

The spectral camp is fled ; 
Faith shineth as a morning star, 

Our ghastly fears are dead. 



IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY. 

The sun is bright, the air is clear, 
The darting swallows soar and sing, 

And from the stately elms I hear 
The blue-bird prophesying Spring. 

So blue yon winding river flows, 
It seems an outlet from the sky, 

Where, waiting till the west wind blows, 
The freighted clouds at anchor lie. 

All things are new — the buds, the leaves, 
That gild the elm-tree's nodding crest, 

And even the nest beneath the eaves — 
There are no birds in last year's nest. 

All things rejoice in youth and love, 
The fulness of their first delight, 

And learn from the soft heavens above 
The melting tenderness of night. 

Maiden ! that read'st this simple rhyme, 
Enjoy thy youth — it will not stay ; 

Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime, 
For, ! it is not always May ! 

Enjoy the spring of Love and Youth, 
To some good angel leave the rest, 

For Time will teach thee soon the truth — 
There are no birds in last year's nest. 



HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 321 


MIDNIGHT MASS FOR THE DYING 
YEAR. 


For there shall come a mightier blast, 
There shall be a darker day ; 


And the stars, from heaven down-cast, 




Like red leaves be swept away ! 


Yes, the year is growing old, 


Kyrie Eleyson ! 


And his eye is pale and blear'd ! 


Christe Eleyson ! 


Death, with frosty hand and cold, 




Plucks the old man by the beard, 
Sorely, — sorely ! 






The leaves are falling, falling, 


THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 


Solemnly and slow ; 




Caw ! caw ! the rooks are calling, 


Uxder a spreading chestnut tree 


It is a sound of wo, 


The village smithy stands ; 


A sound of wo ! 


The smith, a mighty man is he, 




With large and sinewy hands ; 


Through woods and mountain-passes 


And the muscles of his brawny arms 


The winds, like anthems, roll ; 


Are strong as iron bands. 


They are chanting solemn masses, 




Singing ; Pray for this poor soul, 


His hair is crisp, and black, and long ; 


Pray, — pray ! 


His face is like the tan ; 




His brow is wet with honest sweat ; 


The hooded clouds, like friars, 


He earns whate'er he can, 


Tell their beads in drops of rain, 


And looks the whole world in the face, 


And patter their doleful prayers ; — 


For he owes not any man. 


But their prayers are all in vain, 


All in vain ! 


Week in, week out, from morn till night, 


There he stands, in the foul weather, 


You can hear his bellows blow ; 


The foolish, fond Old Year, 


You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, 


Crown'd with wild flowers and with heather, 


With measured beat and slow, 


Like weak, despised Lear, 
A king, — a king ! 


Like a sexton ringing the village bell 
When the evening sun is low. 


Then comes the summer-like day, 


And children coming home from school 


Bids the old man rejoice ! 


Look in at the open door ; 


His joy! his last! 0, the old man gray 


They love to see the flaming forge, 


Loveth her ever-soft voice, 


And hear the bellows roar, 


Gentle and low. 


And catch the burning sparks that fly 




Like chaff from a threshing-floor. 


To the crimson woods he saith, 




And the voice gentle and low 


He goes on Sunday to the church, 


Of the soft air, like a daughter's breath, 


And sits among his boys ; 


Pray do not mock me so ! 


He hears the parson pray and preach, 


Do not laugh at me ! 


He hears his daughter's voice, 


And now the sweet day is dead ; 
Cold in his arms it lies, 


Singing in the village choir, 

And it makes his heart rejoice. 


No stain from its breath is spread 


It sounds to him like her mother's voice. 


Over the glassy skies, 


Singing in Paradise ! 


No mist nor stain ! 


He needs must think of her once more, 


Then, too, the Old Year dieth, 


How in the grave she lies ; 


And the forests utter a moan, 


And with his hard, rough hand he wipes 


Like the voice of one who crieth 


A tear out of his eyes. 


In the wilderness alone, 




Vex not his "■host ! 


Toiling — rejoicing — sorrowing — 




Onward through life he goes : 


Then comes, with an awful roar, 


Each morning sees some task begin, 


Gathering and sounding on, 


Each evening sees it close ; 


The storm-wind from Labrador, 


Something attempted — something done, 


The wind Euroclydon, 


Has earned a night's repose. 


The storm-wind ! 






Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, 


Howl ! howl ! and from the forest 


For the lesson thou hast taught ! 


Sweep the red leaves away ! 


Thus at the flaming forge of Life 


Would, the sins that thou abhorrest, 


Our fortunes must be wrought, 


soul ! could thus decay, 


Thus on its sounding anvil shaped 


And be swept away ! 
41 


Each burning deed and thought. 







322 



HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 



EXCELSIOR. 

The shades of night were falling fast, 
As through an Alpine village pass'd 
A youth, who bore, mid snow and ice, 
A banner with the strange device, 
Excelsior ! 

His brow was sad ; his eye beneath 
Fiash'd like a faulchion from its sheath, 
And like a silver clarion rung 
The accents of that unknown tongue, 
Excelsior ! 

In happy homes he saw the light 
Of household fires gleam warm and bright : 
Above, the spectral glaciers shone, 
And from his lips escaped a groan, 
Excelsior ! 

"Try not the pass !" the old man said; 
« Hark lowers the tempest overhead, 
The roaring torrent is deep and wide !" 
And loud that clarion voice replied, 
Excelsior ! 

" O stay," the maiden said, " and rest 
Thy weary head upon this breast !" 
A tear stood in his bright blue eye, 
But still he answer'd, with a sigh, 
Excelsior ! 

" Beware the pine tree's wither'd branch ! 
Bevvai-e the awful avalanche !" 
This was the peasant's last good-night ; 
A voice replied, far up the height, 
Excelsior ! 

At break of day, as heavenward 
The pious monks of Saint Bernard 
Utter'd the oft-repeated prayer, 
A voice cried through the startled air, 
Excelsior ! 

A traveller, by the faithful hound, 
Half-buried in the snow was found, 
Still grasping in his hand of ice 
That banner with the strange device, 
Excelsior! 

There, in the twilight cold and gray, 
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay, 
And from the sky, serene and far, 
A voice fell, like a falling star ! 
Excelsior ! 



THE RAINY DAY. 

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary ; 
It rains, and the wind is never weary ; 
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, 
But at every gust the dead leaves fall, 
And the day is dark and dreary. 

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; 
It rains, and the wind is never weary ; 
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past, 
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, 
And the days are dark and dreary. 



Be still, sad heart, and cease repining ; 
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining ; 
Thy fate is the common iate of all : 
Into each life some rain must fall, 

Some days must be dark and. dreary. 



MAIDENHOOD. 

Maided ! with the meek, brown eyes, 
In whose orbs a shadow lies, 
Like the dusk in evening skies ! 

Thou, whose locks outshine the sun, 
Golden tresses, wreathed in one, 
As the braided streamlets run ! 

Standing, with»reluctant feet, 
Where the brook and river meet ! 
Womanhood and childhood fleet ! 

Gazing, with a timid glanc*, 
On the brooklet's swift advance, 
On the river's broad expanse ! 

Deep and still, that gliding stream 
Beautiful to thee must seem, 
As the river of a dream. 

Then, why pause with indecision, 
When bright angels in thy vision 
Beckon thee to fields Elysian] 

Seest thou shadows sailing by, 
As the dove, with startled eye, 
Sees the falcon's shadow fly 1 

Hearest thou voices on the shore, 
That our ears perceive no more, 
Deafen'd by the cataract's roar 1 

O, thou child of many prayers ! 

Life hath quicksands, — Life hath snares ! 

Care and age come unawares ! 

Like the swell of some sweet tune, 
Morning rises into noon, 
May glides onward into June. 

Childhood is the bough where slumber'd 
Birds and blossoms many-number'd ; — 
Age, that bough with snows encumber'd. 

Gather, then, each flower that grows, 
When the young heart overflows, 
To embalm that tent of snows. 

Bear a lily in thy hand ; 

Gates of brass cannot withstand 

One touch of that magic wand. 

Bear, through sorrow, wrong, and ruth, 
In thy heart the dew of youth, 
On thy lips the smile of truth. 

0, that dew, like balm, shall steal 
Into wounds, that cannot heal, 
Even as sleep our eyes doth seal ; 

And that smile, like sunshine, dart 
Into many a sunless heart. 
For a smile of God thou art. 




i m &a 



WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. 



[Born, 1807.] 



The author of " Guy Rivers," " Southern Pas- 
sages and Pictures," etc., was born in Charleston, 
South Carolina, in the spring of 1807. His mother 
died during his infancy, and his father soon after 
emigrated to one of the western territories, leaving 
him under the guardianship of a grandmother, 
who superintended his early education. When 
not more than nine or ten years old, he began to 
write verses ; at fifteen he was a contributor to the 
poetical department of the gazettes printed near 
his home ; and at eighteen he published his first 
volume, entitled " Lyrical and other Poems," 
which was followed in the nest two years by 
" Early Lays," and " The Vision of Cortez and 
other Pieces," and in 1830, by "The Tricolor, or 
Three Days of Blood in Paris." In each of these 
four volumes there were poetical ideas, and occa- 
sionally well-finished verses ; but they are worthy 
of little regard, except as indications of the early 
tendency of the author's mind. 

When twenty-one years old, Mr. Sorxs was 
admitted to the bar, and began to practise his pro- 
fession in his native district ; but feeling a deep in- 
terest in the political questions which then agitated 
the country, he soon abandoned the courts, and 
purchased a daily gazette at Charleston, which he 
edited for several years, with industry, integrity, 
and ability.* It was, however, unsuccessful, and 
he lost by it all his property, as well as the pros- 
pective earnings of several years. His ardour was 
not lessened by this failure, and, confident of suc- 
cess, he determined to retrieve his fortune by author- 
ship. He had been married at an early age ; his 
wife, as well as his father, was now dead ; and no 
domestic ties binding him to Charleston, he in the 
spring of 1832 visited for the first time the northern 
states. After travelling over the most interesting 
portions of the country, he paused at the rural vil- 
lage of Hingham, in Massachusetts, and there pre- 
pared for the press his principal poetical work, 
"Atalantis, a Story of the Sea," which was pub- 
lished at New York in the following winter. This 
is an imaginative story, in the dramatic form ; its 
plot is exceedingly simple, but effectively managed, 
and it contains much beautiful imagery, and fine 
description. While a vessel glides over a summer 
sea, Leox, one of the principal characters, and his 
sister Isabel, hear a benevolent spirit of the air 
warning them of the designs of a sea-god to lure 
them into peril. 

Leo. Didst hear the strain it utter'd, Isabel? 

Isa. All, all ! It spoke, methought, of peril near, 
From rocks and wiies of the ocean : did it not ? 

Leon. It did, but idly! Here can lurk no rocks; 
For, by the chart which now before me lies, 

* The Charleston City Gazette, conducted by Mr. Simms, 
was, I believe, the first journal in South Carolina that 
took ground against the principle of nullification. 



Thy own unpractised eye may well discern 
The wide extent of the ocean — shoreless all. 
The land, for many a league, to the eastward hangs, 
And not a point beside it. 

Isa. Wherefore, then, 
Should come this voice of warning? 

Leon. From the deep : 
It hath its demons as the earth and air, 
All tributaries to the master-fiend 
That s-;ts their springs in motion. This is one, 
That, doubting to mislead us, plants this wile, 
So to divert our course, that we may strike 
The very rocks he fain would warn us from. 

Isa. A subtle sprite : and, now I think of it, 
Dost thou remember the old story told 
By Diaz Ortis, the lame mariner, 
Of an adventure in the Indian Seas, 
Where he made one with John of Portugal, 
Touching a woman of the ocean wave, 
That swam beside the barque, and sang strange songs 
Of riches in the waters ; with a speech 
So winning on the senses, that the crew 
Grew all infected with the melody; 
And, but for a good father of the church, 
Who nir.de the sign of the cross, and offer'd up 
Befitting prayers, which drove the fiend away, 
They had been tempted by her cunning voice 
To leap into the ocean. 

Leon. I do, I do ! 
And, at the time, I do remember me, 
I made much mirth of the extravagant tale, 
As a deceit of the reason : the old man 
B^iiig iii his second childhood, and at fits 
Wild, as you know, on other themes than this. 

Isa. I never more shall mock at marvellous things, 
Such strange conceits hath after-time found true, 
That once were themes for jest. I shall not smile 
At the most monstrous legend. 

Leon. Nor will I: 
To any tale of mighty wonderment 
I shall bestow my ear, nor wonder more; 
And every fancy that my childhood bred, 
In vagrant dreams of frolic, I shall look 
To have, without rebuke, my sense approve. 
Th'is. like a little island in the sea, 
Girt in by perilous waters, and unknown 
To all adventure, may be yon same cloud, 
Specking, with fleecy bosom, the blue sky, 
Lit by the rising moon. There we may dream, 
And find no censure in an after day — 
Throng the assembled fairies, perched on beams, 
And riding on their way triumphantly. 
There gather the coy spirits. Many a fay, 
Roving the silver sands of that same isle, 
Floating in azure ether, plumes her wing 
Of ever-frolicsome fancy, and pursues — 
While myriads, like herself, do watch the chase-- 
Some truant sylph, through the infinitude 
Of their uncircumscribed and rich domain. 
There sport they through the night, with mimicry 
Of strife and battle ; striking their tiny shields 
And gathering into combat; meeting fierce, 
With lip compress'd and spear aloft, and eye 
Glaring with fight and desperate circumstance ; 
Then sudden — in a moment all thpir wrath 
Mellow'd to friendly terms of courtesy — 
Throwing aside the dread array, and link'd 
Each in his foe's embrace. Then comes the danee, 
The grateful route, the wild and musical pomp, 

323 



324 



WILLIAM G. SIMMS. 



The long procession o'er fantastic realms 

Of cloud and moonbeam, through the enamour'd night, 

Making it all one revel. Thus the eye, 

Breathed on by fancy, with enlarged scope, 

Through the protracted and deep hush of night 

May note the fairies, coursing the lazy hours 

In various changes, and without fatigue. 

A fickle race, who tell their time by flowers, 

And live on zephyrs, and have stars for lamps, 

And night-dews for ambrosia; perch'd on beams, 

Speeding through space, even with the scattering light 

On which they feed and frolic. 

Isa. A sweet dream : 
And yet, since this same tale we laugh'd at once, 
The story of old Ortis, is made sooth — 
Perchance not all a dream. I would not doubt. 

Leon. And yet there may be, dress'd in subtle guise 
Of unsuspected art, some gay deceit 
Of human conjuration mix'd with this. 
Some cunning seaman having natural skill — 
As, from the books, we learn may yet be done — 
Hath 'yond our vessel's figure pitch'd his voice, 
Leading us wantonly. 

Isa. It is not so, 
Or does my sense deceive ? Look there : the wave 
A perch beyond our barque. What dost thou see 1 ? 

Leon. A marvellous shape, that with the billow curls, 
In gambols of the deep, and yet is not 
lis wonted burden; for beneath the waves 
I mark a gracious form, though nothing clear 
Of visage I discern. Again it speaks. 

The ship is wrecked, and Atalaxtis, a fairy, 
wandering along the beach with an attendant, Nea, 
discovers the inanimate form of Leon clinging to 
a spar. 

But what is here, 
Grasping a shaft, and lifelessly stretch'd out? 

Nea. One of the creatures of that goodly barque — 
Pfichance the only one of many men, 
That, from their distant homes, went forth in her, 
And here have perish'd. 

Ji-al. There is life in him— 
And his heart swells beneath my hand, with pulse 
Fitful and faint, returning now, now gone, 
That much I fear it may not come again. 
How very young he is — how beautiful ! 
Made, with a matchless sense of what is true, 
In manly grace and chisell'd elegance ; 
And features, rounded in as nice a mould 
As our own, Nea. There, his eye unfolds — 
Stand away, girl, and let me look on him! 
It cannot be, that such a form as this, 
So lovely and compelling, ranks below 
The creatures of our kingdom. He is one, 
That, 'mongst them all, might well defy compare — 
Outshining all that shine ! 

JWa. He looks as well, 
In outward seeming, as our own, methinks — 
And yet, he may be but a shaped thing, 
Wanting in every show of that high sense 
Which makes the standard of true excellence. 

Atal. O, I am sure there is no want in him — 
The spirit must be true, the sense be high, 
The soul as far ascending, strong and bright, 
As is the form he wears, and (hey should be 
Pleased to inhabit — 'twere a fitting home ! 
Breathe on him, Nea. Fan him with thy wing, 
And so arouse him. I would have him speak, 
And satisfy my doubt. Stay, yet a while— 
Now, while his senses sleep, I Ml place my lip 
Upon his own — it is so beautiful ! 
Such lips should give forth music — such a sweet 
Should have been got in heaven — the produce there 
Of never-blighted gardens. [Kisses him. 



Leon, [starts."] Cling to me — 
Am I not with thee, now, my Isabel"? {Swoons again. 

Atal. O, gentle sounds — how sweetly did they fall 
In broken murmurs, like a melody, 
From lips, that waiting long on loving hearts, 
Had learn'd to murmur like them. Wake again, 
Sweet stranger ! If my lips have wrought this spell, 
And won thee back to life, though but to sigh, 
And sleep again in death, they shall, once more, 
Wake and restore thee. 

Soon after the appearance of "Atalantis," Mr. 
Simms published, in the "American Quarterly," a 
review of Mrs. Troelope's "Domestic Manners 
of the Americans," which was reprinted, in several 
editions, in this country and in England; and in 
1833 appeared his first romance, "Martin Faber, 
the Story of a Criminal," parts of which had been 
printed several years before in a magazine conduct- 
ed, by him in Charleston. In the same year he 
published "The Book of My Lady," and, in the 
summer of 1834, " Guy Rivers, a Tale of Georgia," 
which was followed by "The Yemassee," "The 
Partisan," " Mellichampe," "Pelayo," "Carl Wer- 
ner," "The Damsel of Darien," "The Kinsman," 
"The History of South Carolina," "The Blind 
Heart," and numerous sketches, reviews, and mis- 
cellanies, in the periodicals. Several other works 
have been generally attributed to him; though the 
amount of his acknowledged writings seems to be 
as great as one man could have produced since he 
commenced his career as an author. His novels 
have been very popular, particularly in the southern 
states, the scenery and history of which, several of 
them are designed to illustrate. They exhibit con- 
siderable dramatic power, and some of the charac- 
ters are drawn with great skill. 

His " Southern Passages and Pictures" appeared, 
in New York, in 1839, and he has since published 
" Florida," in five cantos, and many shorter poems. 
They are on a great variety of subjects, and in 
almost every measure. Among them are several 
very spirited ballads, founded on Indian traditions 
and on incidents in the war for independence. His 
style is free and melodious, his fancy fertile and in- 
ventive, and his imagery generally well chosen, 
though its range is limited ; but sometimes his 
rhymes are imperfect, and his meaning not easily 
understood. He is strongly attached to his coun- 
try, but his sympathies seem to me to be too local. 
The rivers, forests, savannas, and institutions of 
the south, he regards with feelings similar to those 
with which Whittier looks upon the mountains, 
lakes, and social systems of New England. 

Mr. Soras is again married, and now resides in 
the vicinity of Charleston. He is in the meridian 
of life and energy, and is constantly writing and 
adding to his reputation. He is retiring in his 
habits, goes little into society, and keeps aloof from 
all controversies ; finding happiness in the bosom 
of his family, among his books, and in correspond- 
ence and personal intercourse with his literary 
friends. He is a fine specimen of the true southern 
gentleman, and combines in himself the high quali- 
ties attributed to that character. 



WILLIAM G. SIMMS. 



325 



THE SLAIN EAGLE. 

The eye that mark'd thy flight with deadly aim, 
Had less of warmth and splendour than thine own ; 
The form that did thee wrong could never claim 
The matchless vigour which thy wing hath shown ; 
Yet art thou in thy pride of flight o'erthrown ; 
And the far hilis that echoed back thy scream, 
As from storm-gathering clouds thou sent'st it 

down, 
Shall see no more thy red-eyed glances stream 
For their far summits round, with strong and ter- 
rible gleam. 

Lone and majestic monarch of the cloud ! 
No more I see thee on the tall cliff 's brow, 
When tempests meet, and from their watery shroud 
Pour their wild torrents on the plains below, 
Lifting thy fearless wing, still free to go, 
True in thy aim, undaunted in thy flight, 
As seeking still, yet scorning, every foe — 
Shrieking the while in consciousness of might, 
To thy own realm of high and undisputed light. 

Thy thought was not of danger then — thy pride 
Left thee no fear. Thou hadst gone forth in storms, 
And thy strong pinions had been bravely tried 
Against their rush. Vainly their gathering forms 
Had striven against thy wing. Such conflict warms 
The nobler spirit ; and thy joyful shriek 
Gave token that the strife itself had charms 
For the born warrior of the mountain peak, 
He of the giant brood, sharp fang, and bloody beak. 

How didst thou then, in very mirth, spread far 
Thy pinions' strength ! — with freedom that became 
Audacious license, with the winds at war, 
Striding the yielding clouds that girt thy frame, 
And, with a fearless rush that naught could tame, 
Defying earth — defying all that mars 
The flight of other wings of humbler name ; 
For thee, the storm had impulse, but no bars 
To stop thy upward flight, thou pilgrim of the stars ! 

Morning above the hills, and from the ocean, 
Ne'er leap'd abroad into the fetterless blue 
With' such a free and unrestrained motion, 
Nor shook from her ethereal wing the dew 
That else had clogg'd her flight and dimm'd her 

view, 
With such calm effort as 'twas thine to wear — 
Bending with sunward course erect and true, 
When winds were piping high and lightnings near, 
hy day-guide all withdrawn, through fathomless 

fields of air. 

The moral of a chosen race wert thou, 
In such proud fight. From out the ranks of men — 
The million moilers, with earth-cumber'd brow, 
That slink, like coward tigers to their den, 
Each to his hiding-place and corner then — 
One mighty spirit watch'd thee in that hour, 
Nor turn'd his lifted heart to earth again ; 
Within his soul there sprang a holy power, 
And he grew strong to sway, whom tempests made 
not cower. 



Watching, he saw thy rising wing. In vain, 
From his superior dwelling, the fierce sun 
Shot forth his brazen arrows, to restrain 
The audacious pilgrim, who would gaze upon 
The secret splendours of his central throne ; 
Proudly, he saw thee to that presence fly, 
And, Eblis-like, unaided and alone, 
His dazzling glories seek, his power defy, 
Raised to thy god's own face, meanwhile, thy 
rebel eye. 

And thence he drew a hope, a hope to soar. 
Even with a wing like thine. His daring glance 
Sought, with as bold a vision, to explore 
The secret of his own deliverance — 
The secret of his wing — and to advance 
To sovereign sway like thine — to rule, to rise 
Above his race, and nobly to enhance 
Their empire as his own — to make the skies, 
The extended earth, far seas, and solemn stars, his 
prize. 

He triumphs — and he perishes like thee ! 
Scales the sun's heights, and mounts above the 

winds, 
Breaks down the gloomy barrier, and is free ! 
The worm receives his winglet : he unbinds 
The captive thought, and in its centre finds 
New barriers, and a glory in his gaze; 
He mocks, as thou, the sun ! — but scaly blinds 
Grow o'er his vision, till, beneath the daze, 
From his proud height he falls, amid the world's 

amaze. 

And thou, brave bird ! thy wing hath pierced the 

cloud, 
The storm had not a battlement for thee ; 
But, with a spirit fetterless and proud, 
Thou hast soar'd on, majestically free, 
To worlds, perchance, which men shall never see ! 
Where is thy spirit now'? the wing that bore ? 
Thou hast lost wing and all, save liberty ! 
Death only could subdue — and that is o'er : 
Alas ! the very form that slew thee should deplore ! 

A proud exemplar hath been lost the proud. 
And he who struck thee from thy fearless flight — 
Thy noble loneliness, that left the crowd, 
To seek, uncurb'd, that singleness of height 
Which glory aims at with unswerving sight — 
Had learn'd a nobler toil. No longer base 
With lowliest comrades, he had given his might, 
His life — that had been cast in vilest place — 
To raise his hopes and homes — to teach and lift 
his race. 

*Tis he should mourn thy fate, for he hath lost 
The model of dominion. Not for him 
The mighty eminence, the gathering host 
That worships, the high glittering pomps that dim, 
The bursting homage and the hailing hymn : 
He dies — he hath no life, that, to a star, 
Rises from dust and sheds a holy gleam 
To light the struggling nations from afar, 
And show, to kindred souls, where fruits of glory 
are. 



526 



WILLIAM G. SIMMS. 



Exulting now, he clamours o'er his prey ; 
His secret shaft hath not been idly sped ; 
He lurk'd within the rocky cleft all day, 
Till the proud bird rose sweeping o'er his head, 
And thus he slew him ! He should weep him dead, 
Whom, living, he could love not — weep that he, 
The noble lesson taught him, never read — 
Exulting o'er the victim much more free 
Than, in his lowly soul, he e'er can hope to be. 

'T is triumph for the base to overthrow 
That which they reach not — the ignoble mind 
Loves ever to assail with secret blow 
The loftier, purer beings of their kind : 
In this their petty villany is blind ; 
They hate their benefactors — men who keep 
Their names from degradation — men design'd 
Their guides and guardians : well, if late they weep 
The cruel shaft that struck such noble hearts so deep. 

Around thy mountain dwelling the winds lie — 
Thy wing is gone, thy eyry desolate ; 
O, who shall teach thy young ones when to fly, — 
Who fill the absence of thy watchful mate 1 
Thou type of genius ! bitter is thy fate, 
A boor has sent the shaft that leaves them lone, 
Thy clustering fellows, guardians of thy state — 
Shaft from the reedy fen whence thou hast flown, 
And feather from the bird thy own wing hath struck 
down ! 



THE BROOKLET. 

A little farther on, there is a brook 

Where the breeze linger-s idly. The high trees 

Have roof 'd it with their crowding limbs and leaves, 

So that the sun drinks not from its sweet fount, 

And the shade cools it. You may hear it now, 

A low, faint beating, as, upon the leaves 

That lie beneath its rapids, it descends 

In a fine, showery rain, that keeps one tune, 

And 'tis a sweet one, still of constancy. 

Beside its banks, through the whole livelong day, 
Ere yet I noted much the speed of time, 
And knew him but in songs and ballad-books, 
Nor cared to know him better, I have lain ; 
With thought unchid by harsher din than came 
From the thick thrush, that, gliding through the 

copse, 
Hurried above me ; or the timid fawn 
That came down to the brooklet's edge to drink, 
And saunter'd through its shade, cropping the 

grass, 
Even where I lay, — having a quiet mood, 
And not disturbing, while surveying mine. 

Thou smilest — and on thy lip a straying thought 
Says I have trifled — calls my hours misspent, 
And looks a solemn warning! A true thought, — 
And so my errant mood were well rebuked ! — 
Yet there was pleasant sadness that became 
Meetly the gentle heart and pliant sense, 
In that same idlesse — gazing on that brook 
So pebbly and so clear, — prattling away, 
Like a young child, all thoughtless, till it goes 
From shadow into sunlight, and is lost. 



THE SHADED WATER. 

When that my mood is sad, and in the noise 
And bustle of the crowd, I feel rebuke, 

I turn my footsteps from its hollow joys, 
And sit me down beside this little brook : 

The waters have a music to mine ear 

It glads me much to hear. 

If. is a quiet glen as you may see, 

Shut in from all intrusion by the trees, 

That spread their giant branches, broad and free, 
The silent growth of many centuries ; 

And make a hallow'd time for hapless moods, 

A Sabbath of the woods. 

Few know its quiet shelter, — none, like me, 
Do seek it out with such a fond desire, 

Poring, in idlesse mood, on flower and tree, 

And listening, as the voiceless leaves respire, — 

When the far-travelling breeze, done wandering, 

Rests here his weary wing. 

And all the day, with fancies ever new, 

And sweet companions from their boundless 

Of merry elves, bespangled all with dew, [store 
Fantastic creatures of the old time lore, — 

Watching their wild but unobtrusive play, 

I fling the hours away. 

A gracious couch, — the root, of an old oak, 
Whose branches yield it moss and canopy, — 

Is mine — and so it be from woodman's stroke 
Secure, shall never be resigned by me ; 

It hangs above the stream that idly plies, 

Heedless of any eyes. 

There, with eye sometimes shut, but upward bent, 
Sweetly I muse through many a quiet hour, 

While every sense, on earnest mission sent, [er; 
Returns, thought-laden,back with bloom and flow 

Pursuing, though rebuked by those who moil, 

A profitable toil. 

And still the waters, trickling at my feet, 
Wind on their way with gentlest melody, 

Yielding sweet music, which the leaves repeat, 
Above them, to the gay breeze gliding by, — 

Yet not so rudely as to send one sound 

Through the thick copse around. 

Sometimes a brighter cloud than all the rest 
Hangs o'er the archway opening through the trees, 

Breaking the spell that, like a slumber, press'd 
On my worn spirit its sweet luxuries, — 

And, with awaken'd vision upward bent, 

I watch the firmament. 

How like — its sure and undisturb'd retreat, 
Life's sanctuary at last, secure from storm — 

To the pure waters trickling at my feet, 

The bending trees that overshade my form ; 

So far as sweetest things of earth may seem 

Like those of which we dream. 

Thus, to my mind, is the philosophy 

The young bird teaches, who, with sudden flight, 
Sails far into the blue that spreads on high, 

Until I lose him from my straining sight,— 
With a most lofty discontent, to fly 
Upward, from earth to sky. 



WILLIAM G. SIMMS. 



327 



TO THE BREEZE: 

AFTER A PROTRACTED CALM AT SEA. 

Thou hast been slow to bless us, gentle breeze ; 
Where hast thou been a lingerer, welcome friend 1 

Where, when the midnight gather'd to her brow 

Her pale and crescent minister, wert thou ] 
On what far, sullen, solitary seas, 
Piping the mariner's requiem, didst thou tend 
The home-returning bark, 

Curling the white foam o'er her lifted prow, [dark 1 ? 

White, when the rolling waves around her all were 

Gently, and with a breath 
Of spicy odour from Sabsean vales, 
Where subtle life defies and conquers death, 
FiU'dst thou her yellow sails ! 

On, like some pleasant bird, 
With glittering plumage and light-loving eye, 
While the long pennant lay aloft unstirr'd, 

And sails hung droopingly, 
Camest thou with tidings of the land to cheer 

The weary mariner. 

How, when the ocean slept, 

Making no sign ; 
And his dumb waters, of all life bereft, 

Lay 'neath the sun-girt line ; 
His drapery of storm-clouds lifted high 

In some far, foreign sky, 
While a faint moaning o'er his bosom crept, 

As the deep breathings of eternity, 
Above the grave of the unburied time, 
Claiming its clime — 

How did the weary tar, 
His form reclined along the burning deck, 

Stretch his dim eye afar, 
To hail the finger, and delusive speck, 
Thy bending shadow, from some rocky steep, 

Down-darting o'er the deep! 

Born in the solemn night, 

When the deep skies were bright, 
With all their thousand watchers on the sight — 
Thine was the music through the firmament 
By the fond nature sent, 

To hail the blessed birth, 

To guide to lowly earth 
The glorious glance, the holy wing of light ! 

Music to us no less, 

Thou comest in our distress, 
To cheer our pathway. It is clear, through thee, 

O'er the broad wastes of sea. 
How soothing to the heart that glides alone, 
Unwatch'd and unremember'd, on the wave, 

Perchance his grave ! — 
Should he there perish, to thy deeper moan 

What lip shall add one tone ] 

I bless thee, gentle breeze ! 
Sweet minister to many a fond desire, 
Thou bear'st me to my sire, 
Thou, and these rolling seas ! 
What — O, thou Gon of this strong element ! — 

Are we, that it is sent, 
Obedient to our fond and fervent hope 1 

But that its pinion on our path is bent, 
We had been doom'd beyond desire to grope, 



Where plummet's cast is vain, and human art, 
Lacking all chart. 

THE LOST PLEIAD. 

Not in the sky, 

Where it was seen, 

Nor on the white tops of the glistering wave, 

Nor in the mansions of the hidden deep, — 

Though green, 

And beautiful, its caves of mystery, — 

Shall the bright watcher have 

A place — and, as of old, high station keep. 

Gone, gone ! 

O, never more to cheer 

The mariner who holds his course alone 

On the Atlantic, through the weary night, 

When the stars turn to watchers and do sleep, 

Shall it appear, 

With the sweet fixedness of certain light, 

Down-shining on the shut eyes of the deep. 

Vain, vain ! 

Hopeful most idly then, shall he look forth, 

That mariner from his bark — 

Howe'er the north 

Doth raise his certain lamp when tempests lower — 

He sees no more that perish'd light again ! 

And gloomier grows the hour [dark, 

Which may not, through the thick and crowding 

Restore that lost and loved one to her tower. 

He looks, — the shepherd on Chaldea's hills, 

Tending his flocks, — 

And wonders the rich beacon doth not blaze, 

Gladdening his gaze ; 

And, from his dreary watch along the rocks, 

Guiding him safely home through perilous ways ! 

How stands he in amaze, 

Still wondering, as the drowsy silence fills 

The sorrowful scene, and every hour distils 

Its leaden dews — how chafes he at the night, 

Still slow to bring the expected and sweet light, 

So natural to his sight ! 

And lone, 

Where its first splendours shone, 

Shall be that pleasant company of stars: 

How should they know that death 

Such perfect beauty mars ; 

And, like the earth, its common bloom and breath, 

Fallen from on high, 

Their lights grow blasted by its touch, and die — 

All their concerted springs of harmony, 

Snapp'd ruddy, and the generous music gone. 

A strain — a mellow strain — 

Of wailing sweetness, fill'd the earth and sky; 

The stars lamenting in unborrow'd pain 

That one of the selectest ones must die ; 

Must vanish, when most lovely, from the rest ! 

Alas ! 'tis ever more the destiny, 

The hope, heart-cherish'd, is the soonest lost; 

The flower first budded soonest feels the frost: 

Are not the shortest-lived still loveliest 1 

And, like the pale star shooting down the sky, 

Look they not ever brightest when they fly 

The desolate home they bless'd 1 



328 WILLIAM 


G. SIMMS. 


THE EDGE OF THE SWAMP. 


And well would they persuade us now, 


'Tis a wild spot, and hath a gloomy look; 
The bird sings never merrily in the trees, 


In moments all too dear, 
That, sinful though our hearts may be, 
We have our Eden here. 


And the young leaves seem blighted. A rank growth 




Spreads poisonously round, with power to taint 


Ah, well has lavish nature, 


With blistering dews the thoughtless hand that dares 


From out her boundless store, 


To penetrate the covert. Cypresses [length, 


Spread wealth and loveliness around, 


Crowd on the dank, wet earth ; and, stretch'd at 


On river, rock, and shore : 


The cayman — a fit dweller in such home — 


No sweeter stream than Ashley glides — 


Slumbers, half-buried in the sedgy grass. 


And, what of southern France 1 — 


Beside the green ooze where he shelters him, 


She boasts no brighter fields than ours, 


A whooping crane erects his skeleton form, 


Within her matron glance ; 


And shrieks in flight. Two summer ducks, aroused 


Our skies look down in tenderness 


To apprehension, as they hear his cry, 


From out their realms of blue, 


Dash up from the lagoon, with marvellous haste, 


The fairest of Italian climes 


Following his guidance. Meetly taught by these, 


May claim no softer hue ; 


And startled at our rapid, near approach, 


And let them sing of fruits of Spain, 


The steel-jaw'd monster, from his grassy bed, 


And let them boast the flowers, 


Crawls slowly to his slimy, green abode, 


The Moors' own culture they may claim, 


Which straight receives him. You behold him now, 


No dearer sweet than ours — 


His ridgy back uprising as he speeds, 


Perchance the dark-hair'd maiden 


In silence, to the centre of the stream, 


Is a glory in your eye, 


Whence his head peers alone. A butterfly, 


But the blue-eyed Carolinian rules, 


That, travelling all the day, has counted climes 


When all the rest are nigh. 


Only by flowers, to rest himself a while, 


And none may say, it is not true, 


Lights on the monster's brow. The surly mute 


The burden of my lay, 


Straightway goes down, so suddenly, that he, 


'Tis written, in the sight of all, 


The dandy of the summer flowers and woods, 


In flower and fruit and ray ; 


Dips his light wings, and spoils his golden coat, 


Look on the scene around us now, 


With the rank water of that turbid pond. 


And say if sung amiss, 


Wondering and vex'd, the plumed citizen 


The song that pictures to your eye 


Flies, with a hurried effort, to the shore, 


A spot so fair as this : 


Seeking his kindred flowers : — but seeks in vain — 


Gay springs the merry mocking-bird 


Nothing of genial growth may there be seen, 


Around the cottage pale, — 


Nothing of beautiful ! Wild, ragged trees, 


And, scarcely taught by hunter's aim, 


That look like felon spectres — fetid shrubs, 


The rabbit down the vale ; 


That taint the gloomy atmosphere — dusk shades, 


Each boon of kindly nature, 


That gather, half a cloud, and half a fiend 


Her buds, her blooms, her flowers, 


In aspect, lurking on the swamp's wild edge, — 


And, more than all, the maidens fair 


Gloom with their sternness and forbidding frowns 


That fill this land of ours, 


The general prospect. The sad butterfly, 


Are still in rich perfection, 


Waving his lacker'd wings, darts quickly on, 


As our fathers found them first, 


And, by his free flight, counsels us to speed 


But our sons are gentle now no more, 


For better lodgings, and a scene more sweet, 


And all the land is cursed. 


Than these drear borders offer us to-night. 






Wild thoughts are in our bosoms 




And a savage discontent; 
We love no more the life we led, 
The music, nor the scent ; 


CHANGES OF HOME. 


Well may we sing her beauties, 


The merry dance delights us not, 


This pleasant land of ours, 


As in that better time, 


Her sunny smile?, her aolden fruits, 


When, glad, in happy bands we met, 


And all her world of flowers ; 


With spirits like our clime. 


The voung birds of her forest-groves, 


And all the social loveliness, 


The blue folds of her skv, 


And all the smile is gone. 


And all those airs of gentleness, 


That link'd the spirits of our youth, 


That never seem to fly ; 


And made our people one. 


They wind about our forms at noon, 


They smile no more together, 


They woo us in the shade, 


As in that earlier day, 


When panting, from the summer's heats, 


Our maidens sigh in loneliness, 


The woodman seeks the <rlade ; 


Who once were always gay ; 


They win us with a song of love, 


And though our skies are bright, 


They cheer us with a dream, 


And our sun looks down as then — 


That gilds our passing thoughts of life, 


Ah. me ! the thought is sad I feel, 


A.s sunlight does the stream ; 


We shall never smile again. 



GEORGE LUNT. 



[Born about 1807.] 



Mr. Lu^-t is a native of the pleasant -village 
of Newburyport, near Boston, from which, for a 
long period, his ancestors and relatives " followed 
the sea." He was educated at Cambridge, and 
soon after leaving the university entered as a 
student the law-office of the present Chief Justice 
of Massachusetts. From the time of his admis- 
sion to the bar he has pursued the practice of his 
profession in Newburyport. He has for several 
years represented the people of that town in the 
State Senate and House of Assembly, and has held 
various other honourable offices. 

When he was about nineteen years of age, he 



wrote " The Grave of Byron," a poem in the 
Spenserian measure, which has considerable merit ; 
and, in 1839, appeared a collection of his later 
productions, of which the largest is a metrical 
essay entitled " Life," in which he has attempted 
to show, by reference to the condition of society in 
different ages, that Christianity is necessary to the 
developement of man's moral nature. His minor 
pieces please by their general vigour and spright- 
liness, and by that purity of thought which dis- 
tinguishes the writings of all Christian bards. His 
most recent publication is a volume entitled " The 
Age of Gold, and other Poems." 



AUTUMN MUSINGS. 

Cozvie thou with me ! If thou hast worn away 
All this most glorious summer in the crowd, 
Amid the dust of cities, and the din, 
While birds were carolling on every spray ; 
If, from gray dawn to solemn night's approach, 
Thy soul hath wasted all its better thoughts, 
Toiling and panting for a little gold ; 
Drudging amid the very lees of life 
For this accursed slave that makes men slaves; 
Come thou with me into the pleasant fields: 
Let Nature breathe on us and make us free ! 

For thou shalt hold communion, pure and high, 
With the great Spirit of the Universe ; 
It shall pervade thy soul ; it shall renew 
The fancies of thy boyhood ; thou shalt know 
Tears, most unwonted tears dimming thine eyes ; 
Thou shalt forget, under the old brown oak, 
That the good south wind and the liberal west 
Have other tidings than the songs of birds, 
Or the -soft news wafted from fragrant flowers. 
Look out on Nature's face, and what hath she 
In common with thy feelings 1 That brown hill, 
Upon whose sides, from the gray mountain-ash, 
We gather'd crimson berries, look'd as brown 
When the leaves fell twelve autumn suns ago ; 
This pleasant stream, with the well-shaded verge, 
On whose fair surface have our buoyant limbs 
So often play'd, caressing and caress'd ; 
Its verdant banks are green as then they were ; 
So went its bubbling murmur down the tide. 
Yes, and the very trees, those ancient oaks, 
The crimson-crested maple, feathery elm. 
And fair, smooth ash, with leaves of graceful gold, 
Look like familiar faces of old friends. 
From their broad branches drop the wither'd leaves, 
Drop, one by one, without a single breath, 
Save when some eddying curl round the old roots 
Twirls them about in merry sport a while. 
They are not changed ; their office is not done ; 
42 



The first soft breeze of spring shall see them fresh 
With sprouting twigs bursting from every branch, 
As should fresh feelings from our wither'd hearts. 
Scorn not the moral ; for, while these have warm'd 
To annual beauty, gladdening the fields 
With new and ever-glorious garniture, 
Thou hast grown worn and wasted, almost gray 
Even in thy very summer. 'Tis for this 
We have neglected nature ! Wearing out 
Our hearts and all our life's dearest charities 
In the perpetual turmoil, when we need 
To strengthen and to purify our minds 
Amid the venerable woods ; to hold 
Chaste converse with the fountains and the winds ! 
So should we elevate our souls ; so be 
Ready to stand and act a nobler part 
In the hard, heartless struggles of the world. 
Day wanes; 'tis autumn eventide again; 
And, sinking on the blue hills' breast, the sun 
Spreads the large bounty of his level blaze, 
Lengthening the shades of mountains and tall trees, 
And throwing blacker shadows o'er the sheet 
Of this dark stream, in whose unruffled tide 
Waver the bank-shrub and the graceful elm, 
As the gay branches and their trembling leaves 
Catch the soft whisper of the coming air: 
So doth it mirror every passing cloud, 
And those which fill the chambers of the west 
With such strange beauty, fairer than all thrones, 
Blazon'd with orient gems and barbarous gold. 
I see thy full heart gathering in thine eyes ; 
I see those eyes swelling with precious tears ; 
But, if thou couldst have look'd upon this scene 
With a cold brow, and then turn'd back to thoughts 
Of traffic in thy fellow's wretchedness, 
Thou wert not fit to gaze upon the face 
Of Nature's naked beauty ; most unfit 
To look on fairer things, the loveliness 
Of earth's most lovely daughters, whose glad forms 
And glancing eyes do kindle the great souls 
Of better men to emulate pure thoughts, 
And, in high action, all ennobling deeds. 
2 e 2 329 



330 



GEORGE LUNT. 



But lo ! the harvest moon ! She climbs as fair 
Among the cluster'd jewels of the sky, 
As, mid the rosy bowers of paradise, 
Her soft light, trembling upon leaf and flower, 
Smiled o'er the slumbers of the first-born man. 
And, while her beauty is upon our hearts, 
Now let us seek our quiet home, that sleep 
May come without bad dreams ; may come as light 
As to that yellow-headed cottage-boy, 
Whose serious musings, as he homeward drives 
His sober herd, are of the frosty dawn, 
And the ripe nuts which his own hand shall pluck. 
Then, when the bird, high-courier of the morn, 
Looks from his airy vantage over the world, 
And, by the music of his mounting flight, 
Tells many blessed things of gushing gold, 
Coming in floods o'er the eastern wave, 
Will we arise, and our pure orisons 
Shall keep us in the trials of the day. 



JEWISH BATTLE-SONG. 

Ho ! Princes of Jacob ! the strength and the stay 
Of the daughter of Zion, — now up, and array ; 
Lo, the hunters have struck her, and bleeding alone 
Like a pard in the desert she maketh her moan : 
Up, with war-horse and banner, with spear and 

with sword, 
On the spoiler go down in the might of the Lord ! 

She lay sleeping in beauty, more fair than the moon, 
With her children about her, like stars in night's 

noon, 
When they came to her covert, these spoilers of 

Rome, 
And are trampling her children and rifling her home: 
O, up, noble chiefs ! would you leave her forlorn, 
To be crush'd by the Gentile, a mock and a scorn 1 

Their legions and cohorts are fair to behold, 
With their iron-clad bosoms, and helmets of gold ; 
But, gorgeous and glorious in pride though they be, 
Their avarice is broad as the grasp of the sea ; 
They talk not of pity ; the mercies they feel 
Are cruel and fierce as their death-doing steel. 

Will they laugh at the hind they have struck to 

the earth, 
When the bold stag of Naphtali bursts on their 

mirth 1 
Will they dare to deride and insult, when in wrath 
The lion of Judah glares wild in their path 1 
O, say, will they mock us, when down on the plain 
The hoofs of our steeds thunder over their slain ] 

They come with their plumes tossing haughty and 

free, 
And white as the crest of the old hoary sea ; 
Yet they float not so fierce as the wild lion's mane, 
To whose lair ye have track'd him, whose whelps 

ye have slain ; 
But, dark mountain-archer ! your sinews to-day 
Must be strong as the spear-shaft to drive in the prey. 

And the tribes are all gathering ; the valleys ring out 
To the peal of the trumpet — the timbrel — the shout : 



Lo, Zebulon comes ; he remembers the day 
When they perill'd their lives to the death in the fray; 
And the riders of Naphtali burst from the hills 
Like a mountain-swollen stream in the pride of 
its rills. 

Like Sisera's rolls the foe's chariot-wheel, 
And he comes, like the Philistine, girded in steel ; 
Like both shall he perish, if ye are but men, 
If your javelins and hearts are as mighty as then ; 
He trusts in his buckler, his spear, and his sword ; 
His strength is but weakness ; — we trust in the 
Lord ! 



"PASS ON, RELENTLESS WORLD." 

Swifter and swifter, day by day, 

Down Time's unquiet current hurl'd, 
Thou passest on thy restless way, 

Tumultuous and unstable world ! 
Thou passest on ! Time hath not seen 

Delay upon thy hurried path ; 
And prayers and tears alike have been 

In vain to stay thy course of wrath ! 

Thou passest on, and with thee go 

The loves of youth, the cares of age ; 
And smiles and tears, and joy and wo, 

Are on thy history's troubled page ! 
There, every day, like yesterday, 

Writes hopes that end in mockery ; 
But who shall tear the veil away 

Before the abyss of things to be ] 

Thou passest on, and at thy side, 

Even as a shade, Oblivion treads, 
And o'er the dreams of human pride 

His misty shroud forever spreads ; 
Where all thine iron hand hath traced 

Upon that gloomy scroll to-day, 
With records ages since effaced, — 

Like them shall live, like them decay. 
Thou passest on, with thee the vain, 

Who sport upon thy flaunting blaze, 
Pride, framed of dust and folly's train, 

Who court thy love, and run thy ways : 
But thou and I, — and be it so, — 

Press onward to eternity ; 
Yet not together let us go 

To that deep-voiced but shoieiess sea. 

Thou hast thy friends, — I would have mine ; 

Thou hast thy thoughts, — leave me my own 
I kneel not at thy gilded shrine, 

I bow not at thy slavish throne; 
I see them pass without a sigh, — 

They wake no swelling raptures now, 
The fierce delights that fire thine eye, 

The triumphs of thy haughty brow. 

Pass on, relentless world ! I grieve 

No more for all that thou hast riven , 
Pass on, in Gon's name, — only leave 

The things thou never yet hast given — 
A heart at ease, a mind at home, 

Affections fixed above thy sway, 
Faith set upon a world to come, 

And patience through life's little day. 



GEORGE LUNT. 



331 



HAMPTON BEACH. 

Agaik upon the sounding shore, 
And, how bless'd, again alone ! 
I could not bear to hear thy roar, 
Thy deep, thy long, majestic tone ; 
I could not bear to think that one 
Could view with me thy swelling might, 
And, like a very stock or stone, 
Turn coldly from the glorious sight, 
And seek the idle world, to hate and fear and fight. 

Thou art the same, eternal sea ! 
The earth hath many shapes and forms, 
Of hill and valley, flower and tree ; 
Fields that the fervid noontide warms, 
Or winter's rugged grasp deforms, 
Or bright with autumn's golden store ; 
Thou coverest up thy face with storms, 
Or smilest serene, — but still thy roar 
And dashing foam go up to vex the sea-beat shore. 

I see thy heaving waters roll, 
I hear thy stern, uplifted voice, 
And trumpet-like upon my soul 
Falls the deep music of that noise 
Wherewith thou dost thyself rejoice ; 
The ships, that on thy bosom play, 
Thou dashest them about like toys, 
And stranded navies are thy prey, 
Strown on thy rock-bound coast, torn by the 
whirling spray. 

As summer twilight, soft and calm, 
Or when in stormy grandeur drest, 
Peals up to heaven the eternal psalm, 
That swells within thy boundless breast ; 
Thy curling waters have no rest ; 
But day and night the ceaseless throng 
Of waves that wait thy high behest, 
Speak out in utterance deep and strong, 
And loud the craggy beach howls back their 
savage song. 

Terrible art thou in thy wrath, — 
Terrible in thine hour of glee, 
When the strong winds, upon their path, 
Bound o'er thy breast tumultuously, 
And. shout their chorus loud and free 
To the sad sea-bird's mournful wail, 
As, heaving with the heaving sea, 
The broken mast and shatter'd sail 
Tell of thy cruel strength the lamentable tale. 

Ay, 'tis indeed a glorious sight 
To gaze upon thine ample face ; 
An awful joy, — a deep delight ! 
I see thy laughing waves embrace 
Each other in their frolic race ; 
I sit above the flashing spray, 
That foams around this rocky base, 
And, as the bright blue waters play, [as they. 
Feel that my thoughts, my life, perchance, are vain 

This is thy lesson, mighty sea ! 
Man calls the dimpled earth his own, 
The flowery vale, the golden lea ; 
And on the wild, gray mountain-stone 
Claims nature's temple for his throne ! 



But where thy many voices sing 
Their endless song, the deep, deep tone 
Calls back his spirit's airy wing, 
He shrinks into himself, where God alone is king 



PILGRIM SONG. 

Over the mountain wave, see where they come ; 
Storm-cloud and wintry wind welcome them home ; 
Yet, where the sounding gale howls to the sea, 
There their song peals along, deep-toned and free : 

" Pilgrims and wanderers, hither we come ; 

Where the free dare to be — this is our home !" 
England hath sunny dales, dearly they bloom ; 
Scotia hath heather-hills, sweet their perfume : 
Yet through the wilderness cheerful we stray, 
Native land, native land — home far away ! 

" Pilgrims and wanderers, hither we come ; 

Where the free dare to be — this is our home !" 
Dim grew the forest-path : onward they trod ; 
Firm beat their noble hearts, trusting in God ! 
Gray men and blooming maids, high rose their song ; 
Hear it sweep, clear and deep, ever along : 

" Pilgrims and wanderers, hither we come ; 

Where the free dare to be — this is our home !" 

Not theirs the glory -wreath, torn by the blast ; 
Heavenward their holy steps, heavenward they past! 
Green be their mossy graves ! ours be their fame, 
While their song peals along, ever the same : 

" Pilgrims and wanderers, hither we come ; 

Where the free dare to be — this is our home !" 



THE LYRE AND SWORD. 

The freeman's glittering sword be blest, — 

Forever blest the freeman's lyre, — 
That rings upon the tyrant's crest ; 

This stirs the heart like living fire: 
Well can he wield the shining brand, 
Who battles for his native land ; 

But when his fingers sweep the chords, 
That summon heroes to the fray, 

They gather at the feast of swords, 
Like mountain-eagles to their prey ! 
And mid the vales and swelling hills, 

That sweetly bloom in Freedom's land, 
A living spirit breathes and fills 

The freeman's heart and nerves his hand ; 
For the bright soil that gave him birth, 
The home of all he loves on earth, — 

For this, when Freedom's trumpet calls, 
He waves on high his sword of fire, — 

For this, amidst his country's halls 
Forever strikes the freeman's lyre ! 
His burning heart he may not lend 

To serve a doting despot's sway, — 
A suppliant knee he will not bend, 

Before these things of "brass and clay :" 
When wrong and ruin call to war, 
He knows the summons from afar ; 

On high his glittering sword he waves, 
And myriads feel the freeman's fire, 

While he, around their fathers' graves, 
Strikes to old strains the freeman's lyre! 



JOHN H. BRYANT. 



[Born, 1807.] 



John Howard Bryant was born in Cumming- 
ton, Massachusetts, on the twenty-second day of 
July, 1807. His youth was passed principally in 
rural occupations, and in attending the district and 
other schools, until he was nineteen years of age, 
when he began to study the Latin language, with 
a view of entering one of the colleges. In 1826, 
he wrote the first poem of which he retained any 
copy. This was entitled "My Native Village," and 
first appeared in the " United States Eeview and 
Literary Gazette," a periodical published simulta- 
neously at New York and Boston, of which his 
brother, William Cullen Bryant, was one of 
the editors. It is included in the present collec- 
tion. After this he gave up the idea of a univer- 
sity education, and placed himself for a while at 
the Rensselaer School at Troy, under the superin- 
tendance of Professor Eaton. He subsequently 
applied himself to the study of the mathematical 
and natural sciences, under different instructors, 
and in his intervals of leisure produced several 
poems, which were published in the gazettes. 



In April, 1831, he went to Jacksonville, in Illi- 
nois ; and in September of the next year went to 
Princeton, in the same state, where he sat himself 
down as a squatter, or inhabitant of the public 
lands not yet ordered to be sold by the govern- 
ment. When the lands came into the market, he 
purchased a farm, bordering on one of the fine 
groves of that country. He was married in 1833. 
He accepted soon afterward two or three public 
offices, one of which was that of Recorder of Bu- 
reau county; but afterward resigned them, and 
devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. Of his 
poems, part were written in Massachusetts, and 
part in Illinois. They have the same general 
characteristics as those of his brother. He is a 
lover of nature, and describes minutely and effect- 
ively. To him the wind and the streams are ever 
musical, and the forests and the prairies clothed 
in beauty. His versification is easy and correct, 
and his writings show him to be a man of refined 
taste and kindly feelings, and to have a mind 
stored with the best learning. 



THE NEW ENGLAND PILGRIM'S 
FUNERAL.* 

It was a wintry scene, 
The hills were whiten' d o'er, 
And the chili north winds were blowing keen 
Along the rocky shore. 

Gone was the wood-bird's lay, 
That the summer forest fills, 
And the voice of the stream has pass'd away 
From its path among the hills. 

And the low sun coldly smiled 
Through the boughs of the ancient wood, 
Where a hundred souls, sire, wife, and child, 
Around a coffin stood. 

They raised it gently up, 
And, through the untrodden snow, 
They bore it away, with a solemn step, 
To a woody vale below. 

And grief was in each eye, 
As they moved towards the spot. 
And brief, low speech, and tear and sigh 
Told that a friend was not. 

When they laid his cold corpse low 
In its dark and narrow cell, 
Heavy the mingled earth and snow 
Upon his coffin fell. 

Weeping, they pass'd away, 
And left him there alone, 



With no mark to tell where their dead friend lay, 
But the mossy forest-stone. 

When the winter storms were gone 
And the strange birds sung around, 
Green grass and violets sprung upon 
That spot of holy ground. 

And o'er him giant trees 
Their proud arms toss'd on high, 
And rustled music in the breeze 
That wander'd through the sky. 

When these were overspread 
With the hues that Autumn gave, 
They bow'd them in the wind, and shed 
Their leaves upon his grave. 

These woods are perish'd now, 
And that humble grave forgot, 
And the yeoman sings, as he drives his plough 
O'er that once sacred spot. 

Two centuries are flown 
Since they laid his cold corpse low, 
And his bones are moulder'd to dust, and strown 
To the breezes long ago. 

And they who laid him there, 
That sad and suffering train, 
Now sleep in dust, — to tell us where 
No letter'd stones remain. 

Their memory remains, 
And ever shall remain, 
More lasting than the aged fanes 
Of Egypt's storied plain. 



JOHN H. BRYANT. 



333 



A RECOLLECTION. 

Here tread aside, where the descending brook 
Pays a scant tribute to the mightier stream, 
And all the summer long, on silver feet, 
Glides lightly o'er the pebbles, sending out 
A mellow murmur on the quiet air. 
Just up this narrow glen, in yonder glade 
Set, like a nest amid embowering trees, 
Where the green grass, fresh as in early spring, 
Spreads a bright carpet o'er the hidden soil, 
Lived, in my early days, an humble pair, 
A mother and her daughter. She, the dame, 
Had well nigh seen her threescore years and ten. 
Her step was tremulous ; slight was her frame, 
And bow'd with time and toil ; the lines of care 
Were deep upon her brow. At shut of day 
I 've met her by the skirt of this old wood, 
Alone, and faintly murmuring to herself, 
Haply, the history of her better days. 
I knew that history once, from youth to age : — 
It was a sad one ; he who wedded her 
Had wrong'd her love, and thick the darts of death 
Had fallen among her children and her friends. 
One solace for her age remained, — a fair 
And gentle daughter, with blue, pensive eyes, 
And cheeks like summer roses. Her sweet songs 
Rang like the thrasher's warble in these woods, 
And up the rocky dells. At noon and eve, 
Her walk was o'er the hills, and by the founts 
Of the deep forest. Oft she gather'd flowers 
In lone and desolate places, where the foot 
Of other wanderers but seldom trod. 
Once, in my boyhood, when my truant steps 
Had led me forth among the pleasant hills, 
I met her in a shaded path, that winds [low, 

Far through the spreading groves. The sun was 
The shadow of the hills stretch'd o'er the vale, 
And the still waters of the river lay 
Black in the early twilight. As we met, 
She stoop'd and press'd her friendly lips to mine, 
And, though I then was but a simple child, 
Who ne'er had dream'd of love, nor knew its power, 
I wonder'd at her beauty. Soon a sound 
Of thunder, muttering low, along the west, 
Foretold a coming storm ; my homeward path 
Lav through the woods, tangled with undergrowth. 
A timid urchin then, I fear'd to go, 
Which she observing, kindly led the way, 
And left me when my dwelling was in sight. 
I hasten'd on; but, ere I reach'd the gate, 
The rain fell fast, and the drench'd fields around 
Were glittering in the lightning's frequent flash. 
But where was now Eliza] When the morn 
Blush'd on the summer hills, they found her dead, 
Beneath an oak, rent by the thunderbolt. 
Thick lay the splinters round, and one sharp shaft 
Had pierced hersnow-white brow. And here she lies, 
Where the green hill slopes toward the southern sky. 
'T is thirt) r summers since they laid her here ; 
The cottage where she dwelt is razed and gone; 
Her kindred all are perish'd from the earth, 
And this rude stone, that simply bears her name, 
Is mouldering fast ; and soon this quiet spot, 
Held sacred now, will be like common ground. 



Fit place is this for so much loveliness 
To find its rest. It is a hallow'd shrine, 
Where nature pays her tribute. Dewy spring 
Sets the gay wild flowers thick around her grave; 
The green boughs o'er her, in the summer-time, 
Sigh to the winds ; the robin takes his perch 
Hard by, and warbles to his sitting mate ; 
The brier-rose blossoms to the sky of June, 
And hangs above her in the whiter days 
Its scarlet fruit. No rude foot ventures near ; 
The noisy schoolboy keeps aloof, and he 
Who hunts the fox, when all the hills are white, 
Here treads aside. Not seldom have I found, 
Around the head-stone carefully entwined, 
Garlands of flowers, I never knew by whom. 
For two years past I 've miss'd them ; doubtless one 
Who held this dust most precious, placed them there, 
And, sorrowing in secret many a year, 
At last hath left the earth to be with her. 



MY NATIVE VILLAGE. 

There lies a village in a peaceful vale. 

With sloping hills and waving woods around, 

Fenced from the blasts. There never ruder gale 
Bows the tall grass that covers all the ground ; 

And planted shrubs are there, and cherish 'd flowers, 

And a bright verdure, born of gentler showers. 

'Twas there my young existence was begun, 
My earliest sports were on its flowery green, 

And often, when my schoolboy task was done, 
I climb'd its hills to view the pleasant scene, 

And stood and gazed till the sun's setting ray 

Shone on the height, the sweetest of the day. 

There, when that hour of mellow light was come, 
And mountain shadows cool'd the ripen'd grain, 

I watch'd the weary yeoman plodding home, 
In the lone path that winds across the plain, 

To rest his limbs, and watch his child at play, 

And tell him o'er the labours of the day 

And when the woods put on their autumn glow, 
And the bright sun came in among the trees, 

And leaves were gathering in the glen below, 
Swept softly from the mountains by the breeze, 

I wander'd till the starlight on the stream 

At length awoke me from my fairy dream. 

Ah ! happy days, too happy to return, 

Fled on the wings of youth's departed years, 

A bitter lesson has been mine to learn, 

The truth of life, its labours, pains, and fears ; 

Yet does the memory of my boyhood stay, 

A twilight of the brightness pass'd away. 

My thoughts steal back to that sweet village still, 
Its flowers and peaceful shades before me rise; 

The play -place, and the prospect from the hill, 
Its summer verdure, and autumnal dyes ; 

The present brings its storms ; but, while they last, 

I shelter me in the delightful past. 



334 



JOHN H. BRYANT. 



THE INDIAN SUMMER. 

That soft autumnal time 
Is come, that sheds, upon the naked scene, 
Charms only known in this our northern clime — 

Bright seasons, far between. 

The woodland foliage now 
Is gathered by the wild November blast ; 
E'en the thick leaves upon the poplar's bough 

Are fallen, to the last. 

The mighty vines, that round 
The forest trunks their slender branches bind, 
Their crimson foliage shaken to the ground, 

Swing naked in the wind. 

Some living green remains 
By the clear brook that shines along the lawn ; 
But the sear grass stands white o'er all the plains, 

And the bright flowers are gone. 

But these, these are thy charms — 
Mild airs and temper' d light upon the lea; 
And the year holds no time within its arms 

That doth resemble thee. 

The sunny noon is thine, 
Soft, golden, noiseless as the dead of night; 
And hues that in the flush'd horizon shine 

At eve and early light. 

The year's last, loveliest smile, 
Thou comest to fill with hope the human heart, 
And strengthen it to bear the storms a while, 

Till winter days depart. 

O'er the wide plains, that lie 
A desolate scene, the fires of autumn spread, 
And nightly on the dark walls of the sky 

A ruddy brightness shed. 

Far in a shelter'd nook 
I've met, in these calm days, a smiling flower, 
A lonely aster, trembling by a brook, 

At the quiet noontides' hour : 

And something told my mind, 
That, should old age to childhood call me back, 
Some sunny days and flowers I still might find 

Along life's weary track. 



THE BLIND RESTORED TO SIGHT. 



"And T went and washed, and I received sight. 
John ix. 11. 

When the great Master spoke, 

He touch'd his wither'd eyes, 
And at one gleam upon him broke 

The glad earth and the skies. 



And he saw the city's walls, 
And kings' and prophets' tomb, 

And mighty arches, and vaulted halls, 
And the temple's lofty dome. 

He look'd on the river's flood, 
And the flash of mountain rills, 

And the gentle wave of the palms that stood 
Upon Judea's hills. 

He saw on heights and plains 

Creatures of every race : 
But a mighty thrill ran through his veins 

When he met the human face ; 

And his virgin sight beheld 

The ruddy glow of even, 
And the thousand shining orbs that fill'd 

The azure depths of heaven. 

And woman's voice before 

Had cheer'd his gloomy night, 
But to see the angel form she wore 

Made deeper the delight. 

And his heart, at daylight's close, 
For the bright world where he trod, 

And when the yellow morning rose, 
Gave speechless thanks to God. 



SONNET. 

Thetce is a magic in the moon's mild ray, — 
What time she softly climbs the evening sky, 
And sitteth with the silent stars on high, — 
That charms the pang of earth-born grief away 
I raise my eye to the blue depths above, 

And worship Him whose power, pervading space, 
Holds those bright orbs at pea* « in his embrace, 
Yet comprehends earth's lowliest >hings in love. 
Oft, when that silent moon was sailing high, 
I've left my youthful sports to gaze, and now, 
When time with graver lines has mark'd my 
Sweetly she shines upon my sober'd eye. [brow, 
O, may the light of.truth, my steps to guide, 
Shine on my eve of life — shine soft, and long abide. 



SONNET. 

'Trs Autumn, and my steps have led me far 
To a wild hill, that overlooks a land 

Wide-spread and beautiful. A single star 

Sparkles new-set in heaven. O'er its bright sand 

The streamlet slides with mellow tones away ; 

The west is crimson with retiring day ; 

And the north gleams with its own native light. 
Below, in autumn green, the meadows lie, 
And through green banks the river wanders by, 

And the wide woods with autumn hues are bright: 

Bright — but of fading brightness! — soon is past 
That dream-like glory of the painted wood ; 

And pitiless decay o'ertakes, as fast, 

The pride of men, the beauteous, great, and good. 



JONATHAN LAWRENCE. 



[Born, 1807. Died, 



Few persons in private life, who have died so 
young, have been mourned by so many warm 
friends as was Jonathan Lawrence. Devoted 
to a profession which engaged nearly all his time, 
and regardless of literary distinction, his produc- 
tions would have been known only to his asso- 
ciates, had not a wiser appreciation of their merits 
withdrawn them from the obscurity to which his 
own low estimate had consigned them. 

He was born in New York, in November, 1807, 
and, after the usual preparatory studies, entered 
Columbia College, at which he was graduated 
before he was fifteen years of age. He soon after 
became a student in the office of Mr. W. Slosson, 
an eminent lawyer, where he gained much regard 
by the assiduity with which he prosecuted his 
studies, the premature ripeness of his judgment, 
and the undeviating purity and honourableness of 
his life. On being admitted to the bar, he entered 
into a partnership with Mr. Slossojt, and daily 
added confirmation to the promise of his proba- 
tional career, until he was suddenly called to a 
better life, in April, 1833. 



The industry with which he attended to his 
professional duties did not prevent him from giving 
considerable attention to general literature; and in 
moments — to use his own language — 

"Stolen from hours I should have tied 
To musty volumes at my side, 
Given to hours that sweetly woo'd 
My heart from study's solitude," — 

he produced many poems and prose sketches of 
considerable merit. These, with one or two ex- 
ceptions, were intended not for publication, but 
as tributes of private friendship, or as contributions 
to the exercises of a literary society — still in exist- 
ence — of which he was for several years an active 
member. After his death, in compliance with a 
request by this society, his brother made a collec- 
tion of his writings, of which a very small edition 
was printed, for private circulation. Their cha- 
racter is essentially meditative. Many of them 
are devotional, and all are distinguished for the 
purity of thought winch guided the life of the 



THOUGHTS OF A STUDENT. 

Matty a sad, sweet thought have I, 

Many a passing, sunny gleam, 
Many a bright tear in mine eye, 

Many a wild and wandering dream, 
Stolen from hours I should have tied 
To musty volumes by my side, 
Given to hours that sweetly woo'd 
My heart from study's solitude. 

Oft, when the south wind's dancing free 

Over the earth and in the sky, 
And the flowers peep softly out to see 

The frolic Spring as she wantons by ; 
When the breeze and beam like thieves come in, 
To steal me away, I deem it sin 
To slight their voice, and away I 'm straying 
Over the hills and vales a-Maying. 

Then can I hear the earth rejoice, 

Happier than man may ever be ; 
Every fountain hath then a voice, 
That sings of its glad festivity; 
For it hath burst the chains that bound 
Its currents dead in the frozen ground, 
And, flashing away in the sun, has gone 
Singing, and singing, and singing on. 

Autumn hath sunset hours, and then 
Many a musing mood I cherish ; 



Many a hue of fancy, when 

The hues of earth are about to perish; 
Clouds are there, and brighter, I ween, 
Hath real sunset never seen, 
Sad as the faces of friends that die, 
And beautiful as their memory. 

Love hath its thoughts, we cannot keep, 

Visions the mind may not control, 
Waking, as fancy does in sleep, 

The secret transports of the soul ; 
Faces and forms are strangely mingled, 
Till one by one they 're slowly singled, 
To the voice, and lip, and eye of her 
I worship like an idolater. 

Many a big, proud tear have I, 

When from my sweet and roaming track, 
From the green earth and misty sky, 

And spring, and love, I hurry back ; 
Then what a dismal, dreary gloom 
Settles upon my loathed room, 
Darker to every thought and sense 
Than if they had never travell'd thence. 
Yet, I have other thoughts, that cheer 

The toilsome day and lonely night, 
And many a scene and hope appear, 

And almost make me gay and bright. 
Honour and fame that I would win, 
Though every toil that yet hath been 
Were doubly borne, and not an hour 
Were brightly hued by Fancy's power. 

335 



336 



JONATHAN LAWRENCE. 



And, though I sometimes sigh to think 

Of earth and heaven, and wind and sea, 
And know that the cup which others drink 

Shall never be brimm'd by me ; 
That many a joy must be untasted, 
And many a glorious breeze be wasted, 
Yet would not, if I dared, repine, 
That toil, and study, and care are mine. 



SEA-SONG. 

Oyer the far blue ocean-wave, 

On the wild winds I flee, 
Yet every thought of my constant heart 

Is winging, love, to thee ; 
For each foaming leap of our gallant ship 

Had barb'd a pang for me, 
Had not thy form, through sun and storm, 

Been my only memory. 

0, the sea-mew's wings are fleet and fast, 

As he dips in the dancing spray ; 
But fleeter and faster the thoughts, I ween, 

Of dear ones far away ! 
And lovelier, too, than yon rainbow's hue, 

As it lights the tinted sea, 
Are the daylight dreams and sunny gleams 

Of the heart that throbs for thee. 

And when moon and stars are asleep on the waves, 

Their dancing tops among, 
And the sailor is guiling the long watch-hour 

By the music of his song; 
When our sail is white in the dark midnight, 

And its shadow is on the sea, 
O, never knew hall such festival 

As my fond heart holds with thee ! 



LOOK ALOFT. 

In- the tempest of life, when the wave and the gale 
Are around and above, if thy footing should fail, 
If thine eye should grow dim, and thy caution depart, 
"Look aloft," and be firm, and be fearless of heart. 

If the friend, who embraced in prosperity's glow, 
With a smile for each joy and a tear for each wo, 
Should betray thee when sorrows like clouds are 

array 'd, 
"Look aloft" to the friendship which never shall 

fade. 

Should the visions which hope spreads in light to 

thine eye, 
Like the tints of the rainbow, but brighten to fly, 
Then tarn, and, through tears of repentant regret, 
"Look aloft" to the sun that is never to set. 

Should they who are dearest, the son of thy heart, 
The wife of thy bosom, in sorrow depart, 
"Look aloft" from the darkness and dust of the tomb, 
To that soil where " affection is ever in bloom." 



And, ! when death comes in his terrors, to cast 
His fears on the future, his pall on the past, 
In that moment of darkness, with hope in thy heart, 
And a smile in thine eye, " look aloft," and depart ' 



TO MAY. 

Come, gentle May ! 
Come with thy robe of flowers, 
Come with thy sun and sky, thy clouds and showers; 

Come, and bring forth unto the eye of day, 
From their imprisoning and mysterious night, 
The buds of many hues, the children of thy light. 

Come, wondrous May ! 
For, at the bidding of thy magic wand, 
Quick from the caverns of the breathing land, 

In all their green and glorious array 
They spring, as spring the Persian maids to hail 
Thy flushing footsteps m Cashmerian vale. 

Come, vocal May ! 
Come with thy train, that high 
On some fresh branch pour out their melody ; 

Or, carolling thy praise the livelong day, 
Sit perch'd in some lone glen, on echo calling, 
Mid murmuring woods and musical waters falling. 

Come, sunny May ! 
Come with thy laughing beam, 
What time the lazy mist melts on the stream, 

Or seeks the mountain-top to meet thy ray, 
Ere yet the dew-drop on thine own soft flower 
Hath lost its light, or died beneath his power. 

Come, holy May ! 
When, sunk behind the cold and western hill, 
His light hath ceased to play on leaf and rill, 

And twilight's footsteps hasten his decay ; 
Come with thy musings, and my heart shall be 
Like a pure temple consecrate to thee. 

Come, beautiful May ! 
Like youth and loveliness, 
Like her I love; O, come in thy full dress, 

The drapery of dark winter cast away ; 
To the bright eye and the glad heart appear 
Queen of the spring, and mistress of the year. 

Yet, lovely May ! 
Teach her whose eyes shall rest upon this rhyme 
To spurn the gilded mockeries of time, 

The heartless pomp that beckons to betray, 
And keep, as thou wilt find, that heart each year, 
Pure as thy dawn, and as thy sunset clear. 

And let me too, sweet May ! 
Let thy fond votary see, 
As fade thy beauties, all the vanity 

Of this world's pomp ; then teach, that though 
decay 
In his short winter bury beauty's frame, 

In fairer worlds the soul shall break his sway, 
Another spring shall bloom, eternal and the same. 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 



[Born, 1S08.] 



The ancestors of Mr. Whittier settled at an 
early period in the town of Haverhill, on the 
banks of the Merrimack River, in Massachusetts. 
They were Quakers, and some of them suffered 
from the "sharp laws" which the fierce Independ- 
ents enacted against those « devil-driven heretics," 
as they are styled in the "Magnalia" of Cotton 
Mather. The poet was born in the year 1808, 
on a spot inhabited by his family during four or 
five generations; and until he was eighteen years 
of age, his time was chiefly passed in the district 
schools, and in aiding his father on the farm. Hia 
nineteenth year was spent in a Latin school, and 
in 1828 he went to Boston to conduct "The 
American Manufacturer," a gazette established to 
advocate a protective tariff. He had previously 
won. some reputation as a writer by various con- 
tributions, in prose and verse, to the newspapers 
printed in his native town and in Xewbmyport, 
and the ability- with which he managed the ".Ma- 
nufacturer," now made his name familiar through- 
out the country. In 1830 he went to Hartford, 
in Connecticut, to take charge of the " New Eng- 
land Weekly Review." He remained here about 
two years, during which he was an ardent politi- 
cian, of what was then called the National Re- 
publican party, and devoted but little attention to 
literature. He published, however, in this period 
his "Legends of New England," a collection of 
poems and prose sketches, founded on events in 
the early history of the country ; wrote the memoir 
of his friend Braikard, prefixed to the collection 
of that author's works printed in 1830; and several 
poems which appeared in the " Weekly Review." 

In 1831 Mr. Whittier returned to Haverhill, 
where he was five or six years engaged in. agri- 
cultural, pursuits. He represented that town in the 
legislature, in its sessions for 1S35 and 1836, and 
declined a reelection in 1837. His longest poem, 
" Mogg Megone," was first published in 1836. He 
regarded the story of the hero only as a framework 
for sketches of the scenery and of the primitive 
settlers of Massachusetts and the adjacent states. 
In portraying the Indian character, he followed as 
closely as was practicable the rough but natural 
delineations of Church, Mathew, Charlevoix, 
and Roger Wiixiahs, discarding much of the 
romance which more modern writers have thrown 
around the red-man's life. In this, as in the fine 
Dallad of " Cassandra Southwick," and in some 
of his prose writings, he has exhibited in a very 
striking manner the intolerant spirit of the Puri- 
tans. It can excite no surprise that a New Eng- 
land Quaker refuses to join in the applause which 
it is the custom to bestow upon the persecutors of 
his ancestors. But our poet, by a very natural 
43 



exaggeration, may have done them even less than 
justice. 

Impelled by that hatred of every species of op- 
pression which perhaps is the most marked of his 
characteristics, Mr. Whittier entered at an early 
period upon the discussion of the abolition ques- 
tion, and since the year 1836, when he was elected 
one of the secretaries of the American Anti-Sla- 
very Society, he has been among the most promi- 
nent and influential advocates of immediate eman- 
cipation. His poems on this subject are full of 
indignant and nervous remonstrance, invective 
and denunciation. Very few in this country ex- 
press themselves with uniform freedom and sin- 
cerity. Nowhere else is there so common and 
degrading a servility. We have therefore com. 
paratively little individuality, and of course less 
than we otherwise should have that is original. 
Mr. Whittier rates this tyranny of public opi- 
nion at its true value. Whatever may be its power 
he despises it. He gives to his mind and heart 
their true voice. His simple, direct and earnest 
appeals have produced deep and lasting impres- 
sions. Their reception has happily shown that 
plain and unprejudiced speech is not less likely 
to be heard than the vapid self-praise and weari- 
some iteration of inoffensive commonplaces with 
which the great mass of those who address the 
public ply the drowsy ears of the hydra. 

Although boldness and energy are Whittier's 
leading characteristics, his works are not without 
passages scarcely less distinguished for tenderness 
and grace. In his later poems his style is more 
subdued and correct, though it is divested of none 
of his peculiar freshness. 

Besides his -Mogg Megone," "Ballads," "Lays 
of Home," " Bridal of Pennacook." and other po- 
ems, he has written the " Legends of New Eng- 
land," before mentioned, " The Stranger in Lowell," 
and much more in prose, all in the same honest 
and fearless spirit which marks his verse. 

Whittier may reasonably be styled a national 
poet. Hlo works breathe affection for and faith in 
our republican polity and unshackled religion, but 
an affection and a faith that do not blind him to 
our weakness or wickedness. He dares to " tell 
the world it lies," He is of that class of authors 
whom we most need in America to build up a lite- 
rature that shall elevate with itself the national 
feeling and character. 

The last volume of his poems was published by 
Ticknor & Company, of Boston, in 1844. An 
edition of his select works has since appeared in 
London, with an introduction by Mr. Wright, 
the accomplished translator of the Fables of La 

FOXTAIXE. 

2P 337 



338 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



THE BALLAD OF CASSANDRA 
SOUTHWICK.* 

To the God of all sure mercies let my blessing rise 
to-day, 

From the scoffer and the cruel he hath pluck'd the 
spoil away, — 

Yea, He who cool'd the furnace around the faith- 
ful three, 

And tamed the Chaldean lions, hath set his hand- 
maid free ! 

Last night I saw the sunset melt through my pri- 

. son bars, 
Last night across my damp earth-floor fell the pale 

gleam of stars; 
In the coldness and the darkness all through the 

long night time, 
My grated casement whitened with Autumn's 

early rime. 

Alone, in that dark sorrow, hour after hour crept by ; 
Star after star looked palely in and sank adown 

the sky ; 
No sound amid night's stillness, save that winch 

seem'd to be 
The dull and heavy beating of the pulses of the sea ; 

All night I sat unsleeping, for I knew that on the 

morrow 
The ruler and the cruel priest would mock me in 

my sorrow, 
Dragg'd to their place of market, and bargain'd 

for and sold, 
Like a lamb before the shambles, like a heifer from 

the fold ! 

Oh, the weakness of the flesh was there — the 

shrinking and the sbame ; 
And the low voice of the Tempter like whispers 

to me came : 
" AVhy sit'st thou thus forlornly 1" the wicked 

murmur said, 
" Damp walls thy bower of beauty, cold earth thy 

maiden bed 1 

" Where be the smiling faces, and voices soft and 
sweet, 

Seen in thy father's dwelling, heard in the plea- 
sant street] 

Where be the youths, whose glances the summer 
Sabbath through 

Tum'd tenderly and timidly unto thy father's pew? 

* This ballad has its foundation upon a somewhat re- 
markable event in the history of Puritan intolerance. 
Two young persons, son and daughter of Laurence 
Southwiek, of Salem, who had himself been imprisoned 
and deprived of all his property for having entertained 
two Quakers at his house, were fined ten pounds each 
for non-attendance at church, which they were unable to 
pay. The case being represented to the General Court, 
at Boston, that body issued an order which may still be 
seen on the court records, bearing the signature of 
Edward Rawson, Secretary, by which the treasurer of 
the County was "fully empowered to sell the said per^ 
so7is to any of the English nation at Virginia or Barba- 
does, to answer said fines." An attempt was made to 
carry this barbarous order into execution, but no ship- 
master was found willing to convey them to the West 
Indies. Vide Sewall's History, pp. 225-0, G. Bishop. 



" Why sit'st thou here, Cassandra 1 — Bethink thee 

with what mirth 
Thy happy schoolmates gather around the warm 

bright hearth ; 
How the crimson shadows tremble, on foreheads 

white and fair, 
On eyes of merry girlhood, half hid in golden hair. 

" Not for thee the hearth-fire brightens, not for thee 
kind words are spoken, 

Not for thee the nuts of Wenham woods by laugh- 
ing boys are broken ; 

No first-fruits of the orchard within thy lap are 
laid, 

For thee no flowers of Autumn the youthful hunt- 
ers braid. 

" Oh ! weak, deluded maiden ! — by crazy fancies led, 
With wild and raving railers an evil path to tread; 
To leave a wholesome worship, and teaching pure 

and sound ; 
And mate with maniac women, loose-hair'd and 

sackcloth-bound. 

"Mad scoffers of the priesthood, who mock at 

things divine, 
Who rail against the pulpit, and holy bread and 

wine; 
Sore from their cart-tail scourgings, and from the 

pillory lame, 
Rejoicing in their wretchedness, and glorying in 

their shame. 

" And what a fate awaits thee ! — a sadly toiling 
slave, 

Dragging the slowly length'ning chain of bondage 
to the grave ! 

Think of thy woman's nature, subdued in hope- 
less thrall, 

The easy prey of any, the scoff and scorn of all !'' 

Oh ! — ever as the Tempter spoke, and feeble Na- 
ture's fears 

Wrung drop by. drop the scalding flow of unavail- 
ing tears, 

I wrestled down the evil thoughts, and strove in 
silent prayer 

To feel, oh, Helper of the weak ! — that Thou in- 
deed wcrt there ! 

I thought of Paul and Silas, within Philippi's cell, 

And how from Peter's sleeping limbs the prison- 
shackles fell, 

Till I seem'd to hear the trailing of an angel's robe 
of white, 

And to feel a blessed presence invisible to sight. 

Bless the Lord for all His mercies ! — for the peace 
and love I felt, 

Like dew of Hermon's holy hill, upon my spirit 
melt ; 

When, " Get behind me, Satan !" was the lan- 
guage of my heart, 

And I felt the Evil Tempter with all his doubts depart. 

Slow broke the gray cold morning ; again the sun- 
shine fell, 

Fleck'd with the shade of bar and grate within my 
lonely cell ; 



JOHN G. WHIT TIER. 



339 



The hoarfrost melted on the wall, and upward 

from the street 
Came careless laugh and idle word, and tread of 

passing feet. 

At length the heavy bolts fell back, my door was 

open cast, 
And slowly at the sheriffs side, up the long street 

I pass'd ; 
I heard the murmur round me, and felt, but dared 

not see, 
How, from every door and window, the people 

gazed on me. 

And doubt and fear fell on me, shame burn'd upon 
my cheek, 

Swam earth and sky around me, my trembling 
limbs grew weak ; 

" Lord ! support thy handmaid ; and from her 
soul cast out 

The fear of man, which brings a snare — the weak- 
ness and the doubt." 

Then the dreary shadows scatter'd like a cloud in 

morning's breeze, 
And a low deep voice within me seem'd whisper- 
ing words like these : 
" Though thy earth be as the iron, and thy heaven 

a brazen wall, 
Trust still His loving-kindness whose power is 

over all." 
We paused at length, where at my feet the sunlit 

waters broke 
On glaring reach of shining beach, and shingly 

wall of rock ; 
The merchants-ships lay idly there, in hard clear 

lines on high, 
Tracing with rope and slender spar their net-work 

on the sky. 

And there were ancient citizens, cloak-wrapp'd 

and grave and cold, 
And grim and stout sea-captains with faces bronzed 

and old, 
And on his horse, with Rawson,hiscruelclerkathand, 
Sat dark and haughty Endicott, the ruler of the land. 

And poisoning with his evil words the ruler's ready 
' ear, 

The priest lean'd o'er his saddle, with laugh axd 
scoff and jeer; 

It stirr'd my soul, and from my lips the seal of si- 
lence broke, 

As if through woman's weakness a warning spirit 
spoke. 

cried, " The Lord rebuke thee, thou smiter of the 

meek, 
Thou robber of the righteous, thou trampler of the 

weak! 
Go light the dark, cold hearth-stones — go turn the 

prison lock 
Of the poor hearts thou hast hunted, thou wolf 

amid the flock!" 

Dark lower'd the brows of Endicott, and with a 

deeper red 
O'er Rawson's wine-empurpled cheek the flush of 

anger spread ; 



" Good people," quoth the white-lipp'd priest, « heed 

not her words so wild, 
Her master speaks within her — the Devil owns his 

child !" 

But gray heads shook, and young brows knit, the 

while the sheriff read 
That law the wicked rulers against the poor have 

made, 
Who to their house of Rimmon and idol priesthood 

bring 
No bended knee of worship, nor gainful offering. 

Then to the stout sea-captains the sheriff turning 
said: 

« Which of ye, worthy seamen, will take this Qua- 
ker maid 1 

In the Isle of fair Barbadoes, or on Virginia's shore, 

You may hold her at a higher price than Indian 
girl or Moor." 

Grim and silent stood the captains; and when 

again he cried, 
" Speak out, my worthy seamen !" — no voice or 

sign replied; 
But I felt a hard hand press my own, and kind 

words met my ear : 
" God bless thee, and preserve thee, my gentle girl 

and dear !" 

A weight seem'd lifted from my heart, — a pitying 

friend was nigh, 
I felt it in his hard, rough hand, and saw it in his 

eye; 
And when again the sheriff spoke, that voice, so 

kind to me, 
Growl'd back its stormy answer like the roaring of 

the sea : 

« Pile my ship with bars of silver — pack with 

coins of Spanish gold, 
From keel-piece up to deck-plank, the roomage of 

her hold, 
By the living God who made me ! — I would soonei 

in 3 T our bay 
Sink ship and crew and cargo, than bear this child 

away !" 

" Well answer'd, worthy captain, shame on their 
cruel laws !" 
I Ran through the crowd in murmurs loud the peo- 
ple's just applause. 
I " Like the herdsman of Tekoa, in Israel of old, 
Shall we see the poor and righteous again for sil- 
ver sold"?" 

I look'd on haughty Endicott ; with weapon half 
way drawn, 

Swept round the throng his lion glare of bitter hate 
and scorn ; 

Fiercely he drew his bridle rein, and turn'd in si- 
lence back, 

And sneering priest and baffled clerk rode mur- 
muring in his track. 

Hard after them the sheriff look'd in bitterness of 

soul ; 
Thrice smote his staff upon the ground, and crush'd 

his parchment roll. 



340 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



« Good friends," he said, " since both have fled, the 

ruler and the priest, 
Judge ye, if from their further work I be not well 

released." 

Loud was the cheer which, fall and clear, swept 

round the silent bay, . 
As, with kind words and kinder looks, he bade me 

go my way ; 
For He who turns the courses of the streamlet of 

the glen, 
And the river of great waters, had turn'd the 

hearts of men. 

Oh, at that hour the very earth seem'd changed : 

beneath my eye, 
A holier wonder round me rose the blue walls of | 

the sky, 
A lovelier light on rock and hill, and stream and j 

woodland lay, 
And softer lapsed on sunnier sands the waters of 

the bay. 

Thanksgiving to the Lord of life ! — to Him all 

praises be, 
Who from the hands of evil men hath set his 

handmaid free ; 
All praise to Him before whose power the mighty 

are afraid, 
Who takes the crafty in the snare, which for the 

poor is laid ! 

Sing, oh, my soul, rejoicingly ; on evening's twi- 
light calm 

Uplift the loud thanksgiving — pour forth the grate- 
ful psalm; 

Let all dear hearts with me rejoice, as did the 
saints of old, 

When of the Lord's good angel the rescued Peter 
told.. 

And weep and howl, ye evil priests and mighty men 

of wrong, 
The Lord shall smite the proud and lay His hand 

upon the strong. 
Wo to the wicked rulers in His avenging hour ! 
Wo to the wolves who seek the flocks to raven and 

devour : 

But let the humble ones arise, — the poor in heart 

be glad, 
And let the mourning ones again with robes of 

praise be clad, 
For He who cool'd the furnace, and smoothed the 

stormy wave, 
And tamed the Chaldean lions, is mighty still to save ! 



NEW ENGLAND. 

Land of the forest and the rock — 

Of dark-blue lake and mighty river — 
Of mountains rear'd aloft to mock 
The storm's career, the lightning's shock — 

My own green land for ever ! 
Land of the beautiful and brave — 
The freeman's home — the martyr's grave — 



The nursery of giant men, 

Whose deeds have link'd with every glen, 

And every hill, and every stream, 

The romance of some warrior-dream ! 

Oh ! never may a son of thine, 

Where'er his wandering steps incline, 

Forget the sky which bent above 

His childhood like a dream of love, 

The stream beneath the green hill flowing, 

The broad-arm'd trees above it growing, 

The clear breeze through the foliage blowing ; 

Or hear, unmoved, the taunt of scorn 

Breathed o'er the brave New England born ; 

Or mark the stranger's jaguar-hand 

Disturb the ashes of thy dead, 
The buried glory of a land 

Whose soil with noble blood is red, 
And sanctified in every part, — 

Nor feel resentment, like a brand, 
Unsheathing from his fiery heart ! 

Oh ! greener hills may catch the sun 

Beneath the glorious heaven of France ; 
And streams, rejoicing as they run 

Like life beneath the day-beam's glance, 
May wander where the orange-bough 
With golden fruit is bending low ; 
And there may bend a brighter sky 
O'er green and classic Italy — 
And pillar'd fane and ancient grave 

Bear record of another time, 
And over shaft and architrave 

The green, luxuriant ivy climb; 
And far toward the rising sun 

The palm may shake its leaves on high, 
Where flowers are opening, one by one, 

Like stars upon the twilight sky ; 
And breezes soft as sighs of love 

Above the broad banana stray, 
And through the Brahmin's sacred grove 

A thousand bright-hued pinions play ! 
Yet unto thee, New England, 'still 

Thy wandering sons shall stretch their arms, 
And thy rude chart of rock and hill 

Seem dearer than the land of palms; 
Thy massy oak and mountain-pine 

More welcome than the banyan's shade 
And every free, blue stream of thine 

Seem richer than the golden bed 
Of oriental waves, which glow 
And sparkle with the wealth below ! 



TO JOHN PIERPONT. 

Not to the poet, but the man, I bring 
In friendship's fearless trust my offering : 
How much it lacks I feel, and thou wilt see, 
Yet well I know that thou hast deem'ed with me 
Life all too earnest, and its time too short, 
For dreamy ease and Fancy's graceful sport; 

And girded for thy constant strife with wrong, 
Like Nehemiah, fighting while he wrought 

The broken walls of Zioii, even thy song 
Hath a rude martial tone, a blow in every thought! 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



341 



PALESTINE. 

Blest land of Judea ! thrice hallow'd of song, 
Where the holiest of memories pilgrim-like throng ; 
In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea, 
On the hills of thy beauty, my heart is with thee. 

With the eye of a spirit I look on that shore, 
Where pilgrim and prophet have linger'd before ; 
With the glide of a spirit I traverse the sod 
Made bright by the steps of the angels of God. 

Blue sea of the hills ! — in my spirit I hear 
Thy waters, Gennesaret, chime on my ear ; 
Where the Lowly and Just with the people sat down, 
And thy spray on the dustofHis sandals was thrown. 

Beyond are Bethulia's mountains of green, 
And the desolate hills of the wild Gadarene ; 
And I pause on the goat-crags of Tabor to see 
The gleam of thy waters, O, dark Galilee ! 

Hark, a sound in the valley ! where, swollen and 
Thy river, 0, Kishon, is sweeping along; [strong, 
Where the Canaanite strove with Jehovah in vain, 
And thy torrent grew dark with the blood of the slain. 

There, down from his mountains stern Zebtjlon 

came, 
And Naphtali's stag, with his eyeballs of flame, 
And the chariots of Jabiu roll'd harmlessly on, 
For the arm of the Lord was Abinoam's son ! 

There sleep the still rocks and the caverns which 

rang 
To the song which the beautiful prophetess sang, 
When the princes of Issachar stood by her side, 
And the shout of a host in its triumph replied. 

Lo, Bethlehem's hill-site before me is seen, 
With the mountains around and the valleys between; 
There rested the shepherds of Judah, and there 
The song of the angels rose sweet on the air. 

And Bethany's palm trees in beauty still throw 
Their shadows at noon on the ruins below; 
But where are the sisters who hasten'd to greet 
The lowly Redeemer, and sit at His feet? 

I tread .where the twelve in their wayfaring trod ; 
I stand where they stood with the chosen of God — 
Where His blessings was heard and his lessons 

were taught, 
Where the blind were restored and the healing 

was wrought. 

O, here with His flock the sad Wanderer came — 
These hills He toil'd over in grief, are the same — 
The founts where He drank by the way-side still 

flow, 
And the same airs are blowing which breath'd on 

his brow ! 

And throned on her hills sits Jerusalem yet, [feet; 
But with dust on her forehead, and chains on her 
For the crown of her pride to the mocker hath gone, 
And the holy Shechinah is dark where it shone. 

But wherefore this dream of the earthly abode 
Of humanity clothed in the brightness of God 1 



Were my spirit but tuned from the outward and dim, 
It could gaze, even now, on the presence of Him ! 

Not in clouds and in terrors, but gentle as when, 
In love and in meekness, He moved among men ; 
And the voice which breathed peace to the waves 

of the sea, 
In the hush of my spirit would whisper to me ! 

And what if my feet may not tread where He stood, 
Nor my ears hear the dashing of Galilee's flood, 
Nor my e} r es see the cross which he bow'd him to 

bear, 
Nor my knees press Gethsemane's garden of prayer. 

Yet, Loved of the Father, Thy Spirit is near 
To the meek, and the lowly, and penitent here ; 
And the voice of thy love is the same even now, 
As at Bethany's tomb, or on Olivet's brow. 

O, the outward hath gone ! — but, in glory and power, 
The Spirit surviveth the things of an hour; 
Unchanged, undecaying, its Pentecost flame 
On the heart's secret altar is burning the same ! 



PENTUCKET.* 

How sweetly on the wood-girt town 
The mellow light of sunset shone ! 
Each small, bright lake, whose waters still 
Mirror the forest and the hill, 
Reflected from its waveless breast 
The beauty of a cloudless west, 
Glorious as if a glimpse were given 
Within the western gates of Heaven, 
Left, by the spirit of the star 
Of sunset's holy hour, ajar ! 

Beside the river's tranquil flood 
The dark and low-wall'd dwellings stood, 
Where many a rood of open land 
Stretch'd up and down on either hand, 
With corn-leaves waving freshly green 
The thick and blacken'd stumps between ; 
Behind, unbroken, deep and dread, 
The wild, untravell'd forest spread, 
Back to those mountains, white and cold, 
Of which the Indian trapper told, 
Upon whose summits never yet 
Was mortal foot in safety set. 

Quiet and calm, without a fear 
Of danger darkly lurking near, 
The weary labourer left his plough — 
The milk-maid caroll'd by her cow — 

* The village of Haverhill, on the Merrimack, called by 
the Indians Pentucket, was for nearly seventy years a 
frontier town, and during thirty years endured all the 
horrors of savage warfare. In the year 1708, a combined 
body of French and Indians, under the command of De 
Challions, and IIertel de Rouville, the infamous and 
bloody sacker of Deerfield, made an attack upon the vil- 
lage, which, at that time, contained only thirty houses. 
Sixteen of the villagers were massacred, and a still 
larger number made prisoners. About thirty of the enemy 
also fell, and among them Hertel de Rouville. The 
minister of the place, Benjamin Rolfe, was killed by a 
shot throueh his own door 

2f2 



342 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



From cottage door and household hearth 
Rose songs of praise, or tones of mirth. 
At length the murmur died away, 
And silence on that village lay. — 
So slept Pompeii, tower and hall, 
Ere the quick earthquake swallow'd all, 
Undreaming of the fiery fate 
Which made its dwellings desolate ! 

Hours pass'd away. By moonlight sped 
The Merrimack along his bed. 
Bathed in the pallid lustre, stood 
Dark cottage-wall and rock and wood, 
Silent, beneath that tranquil beam, 
As the hush'd grouping of a dream. 
Yet on the still air crept a sound — 
No bark of fox — no rabbit's bound — 
No stir of wings — nor waters flowing — 
Nor leaves in midnight breezes blowing. 

Was that the tread of many feet, 
Which downward from the hill-side beat? 
What forms were those which darkly stood 
Just on the margin of the wood 1 — 
Charr'd tree-stumps in the moonlight dim, 
Or paling rude, or leafless limb 1 
No — through the trees fierce eyeballs glow'd, 
Dark human forms in moonshine show'd, 
Wild from their native wilderness, 
With painted limbs and battle-dress ! 

A yell, the dead might wake to hear, 
Swell'd on the night air, far and clear — 
Then smote the Indian tomahawk 
On crashing door and shattering lock — 
Then rang the rifle-shot — and then 
The shrill death-scream of stricken men — 
Sunk the red axe in woman's brain, 
And childhood's cry arose in vain — 
Bursting through roof and window came, 
Red, fast, and fierce, the kindled flame; 
And blended fire and moonlight glared 
Over dead corse and weapons bared. 

The morning sun look'd brightly through 
The river-willows, wet with dew. 
No sound of combat fill'd the air, 
No shout was heard, — nor gun-shot there : 
Yet still the thick and sullen smoke 
From smouldering ruins slowly broke ; 
And on the green sward many a stain, 
And, here and there, the mangled slain, 
Told how that midnight bolt had sped, 
Pentucket, on thy fated head ! 

E'en now, the villager can tell 
Where Rolfe beside his hearth-stone fell, 
Still show the door of wasting oak 
Through which the fatal death-shot broke, 
And point the curious stranger where 
De Rouyilee's corse lay grim and bare — 
Whose hideous head, in death still fear'd, 
Bore not a trace of hair or beard — 
And still, within the churchyard ground, 
HeaA^es darkly up the ancient mound, 
Whose grass-grown surface overlies 
The victims of that sacrifice. 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF S. OLIVER 
TORREY, OF BOSTON. 

Goke before us, 0, our brother, 

To the spirit-land ! 
Vainly look we for another 

In thy place to stand. 
Who shall offer youth and beauty 

On the wasting shrine 
Of a stern and lofty duty, 

With a faith like thine 1 

! thy gentle smile of greeting 

Who again shall see ] 
Who, amidst the solemn meeting, 

Gaze again on thee 1 — 
Who, when peril gathers o'er us, 

Wear so calm a brow 1 
Who, with evil men before us, 

So serene as thou 1 

Early hath the spoiler found thee, 

Brother of our love ! 
Autumn's faded earth around thee, 

And its storms above ! 
Evermore that turf lie lightly, 

And, with future showers, 
O'er thy slumbers fresh and brightly 

Blow the summer-flowers ! 

In the locks thy forehead gracing, 

Not a silvery streak ; 
Nor a line of sorrow's tracing 

On thy fair, young cheek ; 
Eyes of light and lips of roses, 

Such as Hyeas wore — 
Over all that curtain closes, 

Which shall rise no more ! 

Will the vigil Love is keeping 

Round that grave of thine, 
Mournfully, like Jazer weeping 

Over Sibmah's vine* — 
Will the pleasant memories, swelling 

Gentle hearts, of thee, 
In the spirit's distant dwelling 

All unheeded be 1 

If the spirit ever gazes, 

From its journeyings, back ; 
If the immortal ever traces 

O'er its mortal track ; 
Wilt thou not, O brother, meet us 

Sometimes on our way, 
And, in hours of sadness, greet us 

As a spirit may 1 

Peace be with thee, our brother, 

In the spirit-land ! 
Vainly look we for another 

In thy place to stand. 
Unto Truth and Freedom giving 

All thy early powers, 
Be thy virtues with the living, 

And thy spirit ours ! 

* " O, vine of Sibmah ! I will weep for thee with the 
weeping of Jazer l"— Jeremiah xlviii. 32. 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



343 



RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE. 

Oh, Mother Earth ! upon thy lap 

Thy weary ones receiving, 
And o'er them, silent as a dream, 

Thy grassy mantle weaving — 
Fold softly in thy long embrace 

That heart so worn and broken, 
And cool its pulse of fire beneath 

Thy shadows old and oaken. 

Shut out from him the bitter word 

And serpent hiss of scorning ; 
Nor let the storms of yesterday 

Disturb his quiet morning. 
Breathe over him forgetfulness 

Of all save deeds of kindness, 
And, save to smiles of grateful eyes, 

Press down his lids in blindness. 

There, where with living ear and eye 

He heard Potomac's flowing, 
And, through his tall ancestral trees 

Saw Autumn's sunset glowing, 
He sleeps — still looking to the west, 

Beneath the dark wood shadow, 
As if he still would see the sun 

Sink down on wave and meadow. 

Baal, sage, and tribune ! — in himself 

All moods of mind contrasting — 
The tenderest wail of human wo, 

The scorn like lightning blasting; 
The pathos which from rival eyes 

Unwilling tears could summon, 
The stinging taunt, the fiery burst 

Of hatred scarcely human ! 

Mirth, sparkling like a diamond-shower, 

From lips of life-long sadness; 
Clear picturings of majestic thought 

Upon a ground of madness ; 
And over all, romance and song 

A classic beauty throwing, 
And laurell'd Clio at his side 

Her storied pages showing. 

All parties fear'd him : each in turn 

Beheld its schemes disjointed, 
As right or left his fatal glance 

And spectral finger pointed. 
Sworn foe of Cant, he smote it down 

With trenchant wit unsparing, 
And, mocking, rent with ruthless hand 

The robe Pretence was wearing. 

Too honest or too proud to feign 

A love he never cherish'd, 
Beyond Virginia's border line 

His patriotism perish'd. 
While others hail'd in distant skies 

Our eagle's dusky pinion, 
He only saw the mountain bird 

Stoop o'er his Old Dominion ! 

Still through each change of fortune strange, 
Rack'd nerve, and brain all burning, 

His loving faith in mother-land 
Knew never shade of turning: : 



By Britain's lakes, by Neva's wave, 

Whatever sky was o'er him, 
He heard her rivers' rushing sound, 

Her blue peaks rose before him. 
He held his slaves, yet made withal 

No false and vain pretences, 
Nor paid a lying priest to seek 

For scriptural defences. 
His harshest words of proud rebuke, 

His bitterest taunt and scorning, 
Fell firelike on the northern brow 

That bent to him in fawning. 

He held his slaves : yet kept the while 

His reverence for the human ; 
In the dark vassals of his will 

He saw but man and woman ! 
No hunter of God's outraged poor 

His Roanoke valley enter'd ; 
No trader in the souls of men 

Across his threshold ventured. 

And when the old and wearied man 

Laid down for his last sleeping, 
And at his side, a slave no more, 

His brother man stood weeping, 
His latest thought, his latest breath, 

To freedom's duty giving, 
With failing tongue and trembling hand 

The dying bless'd the living. 

Oh ! never bore his ancient state 

A truer son or braver ; 
None trampling with a calmer scorn 

On foreign hate or favor. 
He knew her faults, yet never stoop'd 

His proud and manly feeling 
To poor excuses of the wrong, 

Or meanness of concealing. 

But none beheld with clearer eye 

The plague-spot o'er her spreading, 
None heard more sure the steps of Doom 

Along her future treading. 
For her as for himself he spake, 

V\ hen, his gaunt frame upbracing, 
He traced with dying hand, " Rexorse !"* 

And perished in the tracing. 
As from the grave where Henry sleeps, 

From Vernon's weeping willow, 
And from the grassy pall which hides 

The sage of Monticello, 
So from the leaf-strewn burial-stone 

Of Randolph's lowly dwelling, 
Virginia ! o'er thy land of slaves 

A warning voice is swelling. 

And hark ! from thy deserted fields 

Are sadder warnings spoken, 
From quench'd hearths, where thine exiled sons 

Their household gods have broken. 
The curse is on thee — wolves for men, 

And briers for corn-sheaves giving ! 
Oh ! more than all thy dead renown 

Were now one hero living ! 



* See the remarkable statement of Dr. Parrish, his medi- 
cal attendant. 



344 JOHN G. WHITTIER. 


THE PRISONER FOR DEBT. 


And every thing with breath agree 





To praise " our glorious liberty !" 


Look on him — through his dungeon-grate, 


And when the patriot cannon jars 


Feebly and cold, the morning light 


That prison's cold and gloomy wall, 


Comes stealing round him, dim and late, 


And through its grates the stripes and stars 


As if it loathed the sight. 


Rise on the wind, and fall — 


Reclining on his strawy bed, 


Think ye that prisoner's aged ear 


His hand upholds his drooping head — 


Rejoices in the general cheer? 


His bloodless cheek is seam'd* and hard, 


Think ye his dim and failing eye 


Unshorn his gray, neglected beard ; 


Is kindled at your pageantry 1 


And o'er his bony fingers flow 


Sorrowing of soul, and chain'd of limb, 


His long, dishevell'd locks of snow. 


What is your carnival to him 1 


No grateful fire before him glows, — 


Down with the law that binds him thus ! 


And yet the winter's breath is chill : 


Unworthy freemen, let it find 


And o'er his half-clad person goes 


No refuge from the withering curse 


The frequent ague-thrill ! 


Of God and human kind ! 


Silent — save ever and anon, 


Open the prisoner's living tomb, 


A sound, half-murmur and half-groan, 


And usher from its brooding gloom 


Forces apart the painful grip 


The victims of your savage code, 


Of the old sufferer's bearded lip: 


To the free sun and air of God ! 


0, sad and crushing is the fate 


No longer dare as crime to brand 


Of old age chain'd and desolate ! 


The chastening of the Almighty's hand ! 


Just God ! why lies that old man there 1 
A murderer shares his prison-bed, 






Whose eyeballs, through his horrid hair, 


THE MERRIMACK. 


Gleam on him fierce and red ; 





And the rude oath and heartless jeer 


Stream of my fathers ! sweetly still 


Fall ever on his loathing ear, 


The sunset rays thy valley fill ; 


And, or in wakefulness or sleep, 


Pour'd slantwise down the long defile, 


Nerve, flesh, and fibre thrill and creep, 


Wave, wood, and spire beneath them smile. 


Whene'er that ruffian's tossing limb, 


I see the winding Powow fold 


Crimson'd with murder, touches him ! 


The green hill in its belt of gold, 




And, following down its wavy line, 


What has the gray-hair'd prisoner done 1 


Its sparkling waters blend with thine. 


Has murder stain'd his hands with gore! 


There 's not a tree upon thy side, 


Not so : his crime 's a fouler one : 


Nor rock, which thy returning tide 


God made the old man poor / 


As yet hath left abrupt and stark 


For this he shares a felon's cell — 


Above thy evening water-mark ; 


The fittest earthly type of hell ! 


No calm cove with its rocky hem, 


For this — the boon for which he pour'd 


No isle whose emerald swells begem 


His young blood on the invader's sword, 


Thy broad, smooth current; not a sail 


And counted light the fearful cost — 


Bow'd to the freshening ocean-gale ; 


His blood-gain'd liberty is lost ! 


No small boat with its busy oars, 


And so, for such a place of rest, 

Old prisoner, pour'd thy blood as rain 


Nor gray wall sloping to thy shores ; 
Nor farm-house with its maple shade, 


Or rigid poplar colonnade, 

But lies distinct and full in sight, 


On Concord's field, and Bunker's crest, 


And Saratoga's plain 1 


Beneath this gush of sunset light. 


Look forth, thou man of many scars, 


Centuries ago, that harbour-bar, 


Through thy dim dungeon's iron bars ! 


Stretching its length of foam afar, 


It must be joy, in sooth, to see 


And Salisbury's beach of shining sand, 


Yon monument* uprear'd to thee — 


And yonder island's wave-smoothed strand, 
Saw the adventurer's tiny sail 


Piled granite and a prison-cell — 


The land repays thy service well ! 


Flit, stooping from the eastern gale ; 


Go, ring the bells and fire the guns, 


And o'er these woods and waters broke 


And fling the starry banner out ; 


The cheer from Britain's hearts of oak, 


Shout "Freedom!" till your lisping ones 


As brightly on the voyager's eye, 


Give back their cradle-shout : 


Weary of forest, sea, and sky, 


Let boasted eloquence declaim 


Breaking the dull, continuous wood, 


Of honour, liberty, and fame ; 


The Merrimack roll'd down his flood ; 


Still let the poet's strain be heard, 


Mingling that clear, pellucid brook 


With "glory" for each second word, 


Which channels vast Agioochook — 


When spring-time's sun and shower unlock 
The frozen fountains of the rock, 


* Bunker Hill Monument. 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



345 



And more abundant waters given 
From that pure lake, < The Smile of Heaven,' 
Tributes from vale and mountain side — 
With ocean's dark, eternal tide ! 

On yonder rocky cape which braves 
The stormy challenge of the waves, 
Midst tangled vine and dwarfish wood, 
The hardy Anglo-Saxon stood, 
Planting upon the topmost crag 
The staff of England's battle-flag ; 
And, while from out its heavy fold 
St. George's crimson cross unroll'd. 
Midst roll of drum and trumpet blare, 
And weapons brandishing in air, 
He gave to that lone promontory 
The sweetest name in all his story ; 
Of her — the flower of Islam's daughters, 
Whose harems look on Stamboul's waters — 
Who, when the chance of war had bound 
The Moslem chain his limbs around, 
Wreathed o'er with silk that iron chain, 
Soothed with her smiles his hours of pain, 
And fondly to her youthful slave 
A dearer gift than freedom gave. 

But look ! the yellow light no more 
Streams down on wave and verdant shore ; 
And clearly on the calm air swells 
The distant voice of twilight bells. 
From ocean's bosom, white and thin 
The mist comes slowly rolling in ; 
Hills, woods, the river's rocky rim, 
Amidst the sea-like vapour swim, 
While yonder lonely coast-light set 
Within its wave-wash'd minaret, 
Half-quench'd, a beamless star and pale, 
Shines dimly through its cloudy veil ! 
Vale of my fathers ! — I have stood 
Where Hudson roll'd his lordly flood ; 
Seen sunrise rest and sunset fade 
Along his frowning palisade ; 
Look'd down the Appalachian peak 
On Juniata's silver streak ; 
Have seen along his valley gleam 
The Mohawk's softly winding stream ; 
The setting sun, his axle red 
Quench darkly in Potomac's bed ; 
The autumn's rainbow-tinted banner 
Hang lightly o'er the Susquehanna ; 
Yet, wheresoe'er his step might be, 
Thy wandering child look'd back to thee ! 
Heard in his dreams thy river's sound 
Of murmuring on its pebbly bound, 
The unforgotten swell and roar 
Of waves on thy familiar shore ; 
And seen amidst the curtain'd gloom 
And quiet of my lonely room, 
Thy sunset scenes before me pass ; 
As, in Agrippa's magic glass, 
The loved and lost arose to view, 
Remember' d groves in greenness grew ; 
And while the gazer lean'd to trace, 
More near, some old familiar face, 
He wept to find the vision flown — 
A phantom and a dream alone ! 
44 



GONE. 

Another hand is beckoning us, 

Another call is given ; 
And glows once more with angel-steps 

The path which reaches Heaven. 

Our young and gentle friend whose smile 

Made brighter summer hours, 
Amid the frosts of autumn time 

Has left us, with the flowers. 

No paling of the cheek of bloom 

Forewarned us of decay, 
No shadow from the silent land 

Fell around our sister's way. 

The light of her young life went down, 

As sinks behind the hill 
The glory of a setting star — 

Clear, suddenly, and still. 
As pure and sweet her fair brow seemed — 

Eternal as the sky ; 
And like the brook's low song, her voice — 

A sound which could not die. 
And half we deemed she needed not 

The changing of her sphere, 
To give to heaven a shining one, 

Who walked an angel here. 
The blessing of her quiet life 

Fell on us like the dew ; 
And good thoughts, where her footsteps press'd, 

Like fairy blossoms grew. 
Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds 

Were in her very look ; 
We read her face, as one who reads 

A true and holy book : 
The measure of a blessed hymn, 

To which our hearts could move ; 
The breathing of an inward psalm — 

A canticle of love. 
We miss her in the place of prayer, 

And by the hearth-fire's light ; 
We pause beside her door to hear 

Once more her sweet " Good night! " 
There seems a shadow on the day, 

Her smile no longer cheers ; 
A dimness on the stars of night, 

Like eyes that look through tears. 
Alone unto our Father's will 

One thought hath reconciled — 
That He whose love exceedeth ours 

Hath taken home his child. 
Fold her, oh Father ! in thine arms, 

And let her henceforth be 
A messenger of love between 

Our human hearts and thee. 
Still let her mild rebuking stand 

Between us and the wrong, 
And her dear memory serve to make 

Our faith in goodness strong. 

And grant that she who, trembling, here 

Distrusted all her powers, 
May welcome to her holier home 

The well belov'd of ours. 



346 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



LINES 

WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF A FEIEND. 


Whence voices call'd me like the flow, 
Which on the listener's ear will grow, 
Of forest streamlets soft and low. 


On page of thine I cannot trace 

The cold and heartless commonplace — 

A statue's fix'd and marble grace. 


And gentle eyes, which still retain 
Their picture on the heart and brain, 
Smiled, beckoning from that path of pain. 


For ever as these lines are penn'd, 
Still with the thought of thee will blend 
That of some loved and common friend, 


In vain ! — nor dream, nor rest, nor pause, 
Remain for him who round him draws 
The batter'd mail of freedom's cause. 


"Who, in life's desert track has made 
His pilgrim tent with mine, or laid 
Beneath the same remember'd shade. 


From youthful hopes — from each green spot 
Of young romance, and gentle thought, 
Where storm and tumult enter not. 


And hence my pen unfetter'd moves 
In freedom which the heart approves — 
The negligence which friendship loves. 


From each fair altar, where belong 
The offerings love requires of song 
In homage to her bright-eyed throng, 


And wilt thou prize my poor gift less 

For simple air and rustic dress, 

And sign of haste and carelessness"?— 


With soul and strength, with heart and hand, 
I turn'd to freedom's struggling band — 
To the sad helots of our land. 


! more than specious counterfeit 

Of sentiment, or studied wit, 

A heart like thine should value it. 


What marvel then that Fame should turn 
Her notes of praise to those of scorn — 
Her gifts reclaim'd — her smiles withdrawn. 


Yet half I fear my gift will be 
Unto thy book, if not to thee, 
Of more than doubtful courtesy. 


What matters it ! — a few years more, 
Life's surge so restless heretofore 
Shall break upon the unknown shore ! 


A banish'd name from fashion's sphere — 
A lay unheard of Beauty's ear, 
Forbid, disown'd, — what do they here 1 


In that far land shall disappear 

The shadows which we follow here — 

The mist-wreaths of our atmosphere ! 


Upon my ear not all in vain 

Came the sad captive's clanking chain — 

The groaning from his bed of pain. 


Before no work of mortal hand 
Of human will or strength expand 
The pearl gates of the " better land ;" 


And sadder still, I saw the wo 
Which only wounded spirits know 
When pride's strong footsteps o'er them go. 


Alone in that pure love which gave 
Life to the sleeper of the grave, 
Resteth the power to " seek and save." 


Spurn'd not alone in walks abroad, 
But in the " temples of the Lord," 
Thrust out apart like things abhorr'd. 


Yet, if the spirit gazing through 

The vista of the past can view 

One deed to heaven and virtue true ; 


Deep as I felt, and stern and strong 

In words which prudence smother'd long 

My soul spoke out against the wrong. 


If through the wreck of wasted powers, 
Of garlands wreathed from folly's bowers, 
Of idle aims and misspent hours, 


Not mine alone the task to speak 
Of comfort to the poor and weak, 
And dry the tear on sorrow's cheek ; 


The eye can note one sacred spot 
By pride and self profaned not — 
A green place in the waste of thought, 


But, mingled in the conflict warm, 
To pour the fiery breath of storm 
Through the harsh trumpet of reform ; 


Where deed or word hath render'd less 
"The sum of human wretchedness," 
And gratitude looks forth to bless — 


To brave opinion's settled frown, 
From ermined robe and saintly gown, 
While wrestling hoary error down. 


The simple burst of tenderest feeling 
From sad hearts won by evil-dealing, 
For blessing on the hand of healing, — 


Founts gush'd beside my pilgrim way, 
Cool shadows on the green sward lay, 
Flowers swung upon the bending spray, 


Better than glory's pomp will be 
That green and blessed spot to me — 
A landmark in eternity ! — 


And, broad and bright on either hand 
Stretch'd the green slopes of fairy land, 
With hope's eternal sunbow spann'd ; 


Something of time which may invite 
The purified and spiritual sight 
To rest on with a calm delight. 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



341 



And when the summer winds shall sweep 
With their light wings my place of sleep, 
And mosses round my head-stone creep, 

If still, as freedom's rallying sign, 
Upon the young heart's altars shine 
The very fires they caught from mine, 

If words my lips once utter'd still 
In the calm faith and steadfast will 
Of other hearts, their work fulfil, 

Perchance with joy the soul may learn 

These tokens, and its eye discern 

The fires which on those altars burn, — 

A marvellous joy that even then 

The spirit hath its life again, 

In the strong hearts of mortal men. 

Take, lady, then, the gift I bring, 

No gay and graceful offering — 

No flower-smile of the laughing spring. 

Midst the green buds of youth's fresh May, 
With fancy's leaf-enwoven bay, 
My sad and sombre gift I lay. 

And if it deepens in thy mind 

A sense of suffering human kind — 

The outcast and the spirit-blind : 

Oppress'd and spoil'd on every side, 
By prejudice, and scorn, and pride; 
Life's common courtesies denied : 

Sad mothers mourning o'er their trust, 
Children by want and misery nursed, 
Tasting life's bitter cup at first. 

If to their strong appeals which come 
From tireless hearth, and crowded room, 
And the dark alley's noisome gloom, — 

Though dark the hands upraised to thee 

In mute, beseeching agony, 

Thou lend'st thy woman's sympathy, 

Not vainly on thy gentle shrine 

Where love, and mirth, and friendship twine 

Their varied gifts, I offer mine. 



DEMOCRACY. 

Oh, fairest born of love and light, 
Yet bending brow and eye severe 

On all which pains the holy sight 
Or wounds the pure and perfect ear! 

Beautiful yet thy temples rise, 

Though there profaning gifts are thrown; 
And fires unkindled of the skies 

Are glaring round thy altar-stone 

Still sacred — though thy name be breathed 
By those whose hearts thy truth deride ; 

And garlands, pluck'd from thee, are wreathed 
Around the haughty brows of pride. 

0, ideal of rfty boyhood's time ! 

The faith in which my father stood, 



Even when the sons of lust and crime 
Had stain'd thy peaceful courts with blood! 

Still to those courts my footsteps turn, 
For, through the mists that darken there, 

I see the flame of freedom burn — 
The Kebla of the patriot's prayer ! 

The generous feeling, pure and warm, 
Which owns the right of all divine — 

The pitying heart — the helping arm — 
The prompt self-sacrifice — are thine. 

Beneath thy broad, impartial eye, 

How fade the lines of caste and birth! 

How equal in their suffering lie 
The groaning multitudes of earth ! 

Still to a stricken brother true, 

Whatever dime hath nurtured him; 

As stoop'd to heal the wounded Jew 
The worshipper of Gerizim. 

By misery unrepell'd, unawed 

By pomp or power, thou see'st a Ma]st 

In prince or peasant — slave or lord — 
Pale priest, or swarthy artisan. 

Through all disguise, form, place or name, 
Beneath the flaunting robes of sin, 

Through poverty and squalid shame, 
Thou lookest on the man within. 

On man, as man, retaining yet, 

Howe'er debased, and soil'd, and dim, 

The crown upon his forehead set — 
The immortal gift of God to him. 

And there is reverence in thy look ; 

For that frail form which mortals wear 
The Spirit of the Holiest took, 

And veil'd His perfect brightness there. 

Not from the cold and shallow fount 

Of vain philosophy thou art, 
He who of old on Syria's mount 

Thrill'd, warm'd by turns the listener's heart. 

In holy words which cannot die, 

In thoughts which angels lean'd to know, 
Proclaim'd thy message from on high — 

Thy mission to a world of wo. 

That voice's echo hath not died ! 

From the blue lake of Galilee, 
And Tabor's lonely mountain side, 

It calls a struggling world to thee. 

Thy name and watchword o'er this land 

I hear in every breeze that stirs, 
And round a thousand altars stand 

Thy banded party worshippers. 

Not to these altars of a day, 

At party's call, my gift I bring; 
But on thy olden shrine I lay 

A freeman's dearest offering: 

The voiceless utterance of his will — 
His pledge to freedom and to truth, 

That manhood's heart remembers still 
The homage of its generous youth. 



348 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



THE CYPRESS TREE OF CEYLON.* 

Thet sat in silent watchfulness 

The sacred cypress tree about, 
And from the wrinkled brows of age 

Their failing eyes look'd out. 

Gray age and sickness waiting there, 

Through weary night and lingering day, 
Grim as the idols at their side, 

And motionless as they. 
Unheeded, in the boughs above, 

The song of Ceylon's birds was sweet ; 
Unseen of them the island's flowers 

Bloom'd brightly at their feet. 
O'er them the tropic night-storm swept, 

The thunder crash'd on rock and hill, 
The lightning wrapp'd them like a cloud, — 

Yet there they waited still ! 

What was the world without to them? 

The Moslem's sunset call — the dance 
Of Ceylon's maids — the passing gleam 

Of battle-flag and lance 1 

They waited for that falling leaf 

Of which the wandering Jogees sing, 
Which lends once more to wintry age 

The greenness of its spring. 
! if these poor and blinded ones 

In trustful patience wait to feel 
O'er torpid pulse and failing limb 

A youthful freshness steal : 

Shall we, who sit beneath that tree 
Whose healing leaves of life are shed 

In answer to the breath of prayer, 
Upon the waiting head : 

Not to restore our failing forms, 
Nor build the spirit's broken shrine, 

But on the fainting soul to shed 
A light and life divine: 

Shall we grow weary at our watch, 
And murmur at the long delay, — 

Impatient of our Father's time, 
And his appointed way ] 

Or shall the stir of outward things 
Allure and claim the Christian's eye, 

When on the heathen watcher's ear 
Their powerless murmurs die ] 

Alas ! a deeper test of faith 

Than prison-cell or martyr's stake, 

The self-abasing watchfulness 
Of silent prayer may make. 

We gird us bravely to rebuke 
Our erring brother in' the wrong; 

And in the ear of pride and power 
Our warning voice is strong. 

* Ibn Batuta, the celebrated Mussulman traveller of 
the fourteenth century, speaks of a cypress tree in Cey- 
lon, universally held sacred by the inhabitants, the leaves 
of which were said to fall only at long and uncertain pe- 
riods; and he who had the happiness to find and eat one 
of them was restored at once to youth and vigour. The 
traveller saw several venerable Jogees, or saints, sitting 
eilent under the tree, patiently waiting the fall of a leaf. 



Easier to smite with Peter's sword, 

Than "watch one hour" in humbling prayer; 

Life's "great things," like the Syrian lord, 
Our souls can do and dare. 

But, 0, we shrink from Jordan's side, 
From waters which alone can save ; 

And murmur for Abana's banks, 
And Pharpar's brighter wave. 

! Thou who in the garden's shade 
Didst wake thy weary ones again, 

Who slumber'd in that fearful hour, 
Forgetful of thy pain: 

Bend o'er us now, as over them, 
And set our sleep-bound spirits free, 

Nor leave us slumbering in the watch 
Our souls should keep with thee ! 



THE WORSHIP OF NATURE.* 

The ocean looketh up to heaven, 

As 't were a living thing ; 
The homage of its waves is given 

In ceaseless worshipping. 

They kneel upon the sloping sand, 

As bends the human knee, 
A beautiful and tireless band, 

The priesthood of the sea ! 

They pour the glittering treasures out 
Which in the deep have birth, 

And chant their awful hymns about 
The watching hills of earth. 

The green earth sends its incense up 

From every mountain-shrine, 
From every flower and dewy cup 

That greeteth the sunshine. 

The mists are lifted from the rills, 
Like the white wing of prayer ; 

They lean above the ancient hills, 
As doing homage there. 

The forest-tops are lowly cast 

O'er breezy hill and glen, 
As if a prayerful spirit pass'd 

On nature as on men. 

The clouds weep o'er the fallen world, 

E'en as repentant love ; 
Ere, to the blessed breeze unfurl' d, 

They fade in light above. 

The sky is as a temple's arch, 

The blue and wavy air 
Is glorious with the spirit-march 

Of messengers at prayer. 

The gentle moon, the kindling sun, 

The many stars are given, 
As shrines to burn earth's incense on, 

The altar-fires of Heaven ! 

* "Ithathbeeneas it were especially rendered untomee, 
and made plaine and legible to my understandynge, that 
a great worshipp is going on among the thyngs of God."— 
Gralt. 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



349 



THE FUNERAL TREE OF THE 
SOKOKIS.* 

Around Sebago's lonely lake 
There lingers not a breeze to break 
The mirror which its waters make. 

The solemn pines along its shore, 
The firs which hang its gray rocks o'er, 
Are painted on its glassy floor. 

The sun looks o'er, with hazy eye, 
The snowy mountain-tops which lie 
Piled coldly up against the sky. 

Dazzling and white ! save where the bleak, 
Wild winds have bared some splintering peak, 
Or snow-slide left its dusky streak. 

Yet green are Saco's banks below, 
And belts of spruce and cedar show, 
Dark fringing round those cones of snow. 

The earth hath felt the breath of spring, 
Though yet upon her tardy wing 
The lingering frosts of winter cling. 

Fresh grasses fringe the meadow-brooks, 
And mildly from its sunny nooks 
The blue eye of the violet looks. 
And odours from the springing grass, 
The sweet birch, and the sassafras, 
Upon the scarce-felt breezes pass. 

Her tokens of renewing care 
Hath Nature scatter'd everywhere, 
In bud and flower, and warmer air. 
But in their hour of bitterness, 
What reck the broken Sokokis, 
Beside their slaughter'd chief, of this 1 
The turf's red stain is yet undried — 
Scarce have the death-shot echoes died 
Along Sebago's wooded side : 
And silent now the hunters stand, 
Group'd darkly, where a swell of land 
Slopes upward from the lake's white sand. 

Fire and the axe have swept it bare, 
Save one lone beech, unclosing there 
Its light leaves in the April air. 
With grave, cold looks, all sternly mute, 
They break the damp turf at its foot, 
And bare its coil'd and twisted root. 
They heave the stubborn trunk aside, 
The firm roots from the earth divide — 
The rent beneath yawns dark and wide. 
And there the fallen chief is laid, 
In tassell'd garb of skins array'd, 
And girdled with his wampum-braid. 

* Polan, a chief of the Sokokis Indians, the original 
inhabitants of the country lying between Agamenticus 
and Casco bay, was killed in a skirmish at Windham, on 
the Sebago lake, in the spring of 1756. He claimed all 
the lands on both sides of the Presumpscot river to its 
mouth at Casco, as his own. He was shrewd, subtle, 
and brave. After the white men had retired, the sur- 
viving Indians "swayed" or bent down a young tree 
until its roots were turned up, placed the body of their 
chief beneath them, and then released the tree to spring 
back to its former position. 



The silver cross he loved is press'd 
Beneath the heavy arms, which rest 
Upon his scarr'd and naked breast.* 

'T is done : the roots are backward sent, 
The beechen tree stands up unbent — 
The Indian's fitting monument! 

When of that sleeper's broken race 
Their green and pleasant dwelling-place 
Which knew them once, retains no trace ; 

O ! long may sunset's light be shed 
As now upon that beech's head — 
A green memorial of the dead ! 

There shall his fitting requiem be, 
In northern winds, that, cold and free, 
Howl nightly in that funeral tree. 

To their wild wail the waves which break 
Forever round that lonely lake 
A solemn under-tone shall make ! 

And who shall deem the spot unblest, 
Where Nature's younger children rest, 
Lull'd on their sorrowing mother's breast ] 

Deem ye that mother loveth less 
These bronzed forms of the wilderness 
She foldeth in her long caress 1 

As sweet o'er them her wild flowers flow, 
As if with fairer hair and brow 
The blue-eyed Saxon slept below. 

What though the places of their rest 
No priestly knee hath ever press'd — 
No funeral rite nor prayer hath bless'd 1 
What though the bigot's ban be there, 
And thoughts of wailing and despair, 
And cursing in the place of prayer !j- 
Yet Heaven hath angels watching round 
The Indian's lowliest forest-mound — 
And they have made it holy ground. 
There ceases man's frail judgment ; all 
His powerless bolts of cursing fall 
Unheeded on that grassy pall. 

O, peel'd, and hunted, and reviled ! 
Sleep on, dark tenant of the wild ! 
Great Nature owns her simple child ! 

And Nature's God, to whom alone 
The secret of the heart is known — 
The hidden language traced thereon ; 
Who, from its many cumberings 
Of form and creed, and outward things, 
To light the naked spirit brings ; 
Not with our partial eye shall scan — 
Not with our pride and scorn shall ban 
The spirit of our brother man ! 

* The Sokokis were early converts to the Catholic 
faith. Most of them, prior to the year 1756, had removed 
to the French settlements on the St. Francois. 

f The brutal and unchristian spirit of the early settlers 
of New England toward the red man is strikingly illus- 
trated in the conduct of the man who shot down the So- 
kokis chief. He used to say he always noticed the anni- 
versary of that exploit, as " the day on which he sent 
the devil a present."— Williamson's History of Maine. 
2G 



350 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



RAPHAEL. 

I shall not soon forget that sight: 
The glow of autumn's westering day, 

A hazy warmth, a dreamy light, 
On Raphael's picture lay. 

It was a simple print I saw, 
The fair face of a musing boy ; 

Yet while I gazed a sense of awe 
Seem'd blending with my joy. 

A simple print : — the graceful flow 
Of boyhood's soft and wavy hair, 

Arid fresh young lip and cheek, and brow 
Unmark'd and clear, were there. 

Yet through its sweet and calm repose 

I saw the inward spirit shine ; 
It was as if before me rose 

The white veil of a shrine. 

As if, as Gothland's sage has told, 
The hidden life, the man within, 

Dissever'd from its frame and mould, 
By mortal eye were seen. 

Was it the lifting of that eye, 

The waving of that pictured hand 1 

Loose as a cloud-wreath on the sky 
I saw the walls expand. 

The narrow room had vanish'd — space 
Broad, luminous, remain'd alone, 

Through which all hues and shapes of grace 
And beauty look'd or shone. 

Around the mighty master came 

The marvels which .his pencil wrought, 

Those miracles of power whose fame 
Is wide as human thought. 

There droop'd thy more than mortal face, 

Mother, beautiful and mild ! 
Enfolding in one dear embrace 

Thy Saviour and thy child ! 

The rapt brow of the Desert John ; 

The awful glory of that day 
When all the Father's brightness shone 

Through manhood's veil of clay. 

And, midst gray prophet forms, and wild 
Dark visions of the days of old, 

How sweetly woman's beauty smiled 
Through locks of brown and gold ! 

There Fornarina's fair young face 
Once more upon her lover shone, 

Whose model of an angel's grace 
He borrow'd from her own. 

Slow pass'd that vision from my view, 
But not the lesson which it taught; 

The soft, calm shadows which it threw 
Still rested on my thought: 

The truth, that painter, bard and sage, 
Even in earth's cold and changeful clime, 

Plant for their deathless heritage 
The fruits and flowers of time. 



We shape ourselves the joy or fear 
Of which the coming life is made, 

And fill our future's atmosphere 
With sunshine or with shade. 

The tissue of the life to be 

We weave with colours all our own, 
And in the field of destiny 

We reap as we have sown. 

Still shall the soul around it call 

The shadows which it gather'd here, 

And painted on the eternal wall 
The past shall reappear. 

Think ye the notes of holy song 
On Milton's tuneful ear have died ? 

Think ye that Raphael's angel throng 
Has vanish'd from his side ! 

Oh no ! — we live our life again: 
Or warmly touch'd or coldly dim 

The pictures of the past remain, — 
Man's works shall follow him! 



MEMORIES. 

A beautiful and happy girl 

With step as soft as summer air, 
And fresh young lip and brow of pearl 
Shadow'd by many a careless curl 

Of unconfined and flowing hair: 
A seeming child in every thing 

Save thoughtful brow, and ripening charms, 
As nature wears the smile of spring 

When sinking into summer's arms. 

A mind rejoicing in the light 

Which melted through its graceful bower, 
Leaf after leaf serenely bright 
And stainless in its holy white 

Unfolding like a morning flower: 
A heart, which, like a fine-toned lute 

With every breath of feeling woke, 
And, even when the tongue was mute, 

From eye and lip in music spoke. 

How thrills once more the lengthening chain 

Of memory at the thought of thee ! — 
Old hopes which long in dust have Iain, 
Old dreams come thronging back again, 

And boyhood lives again in me ; 
I feel its glow upon my cheek, 

Its fulness of the heart is mine, 
As when I lean'd to hear thee speak, 

Or raised my doubtful eye to thine. 

I hear again thy low replies, 

I feel thy arm within my own, 
And timidly again uprise 
The fringed lids of hazel eyes 

With soft brown tresses overblown. 
Ah ! memories of sweet summer eves, 

Of moonlit wave and willowy way, 
Of stars and flowers and dewy leaves, 

And smiles and tones more dear than they ! 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



351 



Ere this thy quiet eye hath smiled 

My picture of thy youth to see, 
When half a woman, half a child, 
Thy very artlessness beguiled, 

And folly's self seem'd wise in thee. 
I too can smile, when o'er that hour 

The lights of memory backward stream, 
Yet feel the while that manhood's power 

Is vainer than my boyhood's dream. 

Years have pass'd on, and left their trace 

Of graver care and deeper thought ; 
And unto me the calm, cold face 
Of manhood, and to thee the grace 

Of woman's pensive beauty brought, 
On life's rough blasts for blame or praise 

The schoolboy's name has widely flown ; 
Thine in the green and quiet ways 

Of unobtrusive goodness known. 

And wider yet in thought and deed 

Our still diverging thoughts incline, 
Thine the Genevan's sternest creed, 
While answers to my spirit's need 

The Yorkshire peasant's simple line. 
For thee the priestly rite and prayer, 

And holy day and solemn psalm, 
For me the silent reverence where 

My brethren gather, slow and calm. 

Yet hath thy spirit left on me 

An impress time has not worn out, 
And something of myself in thee, 
A shadow from the past, I see 

Lingering even yet thy way about ; 
Not wholly can the heart unlearn 

That lesson of its better hours, 
Not yet has Time's dull footstep worn 

To common dust that path of flowers. 

Thus, while at times before our eye 

The clouds about the present part, 
And, smiling through them, round us lie 
Soft hues of memory's morning sky — 

The Indian summer of the heart, 
In secret sympathies of mind, 

In founts of feeling which retain 
Their pure, fresh flow, we yet may find 

Our early dreams not wholly vain ! 



TO A FRIEND, 

ON HER RETURN FRO^I EUROPE. 

How smiled the land of France 
Under thy blue eye's glance, 

Light-hearted rover! 
Old walls of chateaux gray, 
Towers of an early day 
Which the three colours play 

Flauntingly over. 

Now midst the Dril'liant train 
Thronging the banks of Seine : 
Now midst the splendour 



Of the wild Alpine range, 
Waking with change on change 
Thoughts in thy young heart strange, 
Lovely and tender. 

Vales, soft, Elysian, 
Like those in the vision 

Of Mirza, when, dreaming, 
He saw the long hollow dell 
Touch'd by the prophet's spell 
Into an ocean's sw r ell 

With its isles teeming. 

Cliffs wrapt in snows of years, 
Splintering with icy spears 

Autumn's blue heaven: 
Loose rock and frozen slide, 
Hung on the mountain side, 
Waiting their hour to glide 

Downward, storm-driven ! 

Rhine stream, by castle old 
Baron's and robber's hold, 

Peacefully flowing ; 
Sweeping through vineyards green, 
Or where the cliffs are seen 
O'er the broad wave between 

Grim shadows throwing. 

Or, where St. Peter's dome 
Swells o'er eternal Rome 

Vast, dim, and solemn, — 
Hymns ever chanting low — 
Censers swung to and fro — 
Sable stoles sweeping slow 

Cornice and column ! 

Oh, as from each and all 
Will there not voices call 

Evermore back again? 
In the mind's gallery 
Wilt thou not ever see 
Dim phantoms beckon thee 

O'er that old track again] 

New forms thy presence haunt — 
New voices softly chant — 

New faces greet thee ! — 
Pilgrims from many a shrine 
Hallow'd by poet's line 
At memory's magic sign 

Rising to meet thee. 

And when such visions come 
Unto thy olden home, 

Will they not waken 
Deep thoughts of Him whose hand 
Led thee o'er sea and land 
Back to the household band 

Whence thou wast taken 1 ? 

While at the sunset time, 
Swells the cathedral's chime, 

Yet, in thy dreaming, 
While to thy spirit's eye 
Yet the vast mountain's lie 
Piled in the Switzer's sky, 

lev and gleaming: 



852 JOHN G. WHITTIER. 


Prompter of silent prayer, 


The grain grew green on battle-plains, 


Be the wild picture there 


O'er swarded war-mounds grazed the cow ; 


In the mind's chamber, 


The slave stood forging from his chains 


And, through each coming day 


The spade and plough. 


Him, who, as staff and stay, 
Watch'd o'er thy wandering way, 
Freshly remember. 


Where frown'd the fort, pavilions gay 

And cottage windows, flower-entwined, 
Look'd out upon the peaceful bay 


So, when the call shall be 


And hills behind. 


Soon or late unto thee, 

As to all given, 
Still may that picture live, 
And its fair forms survive, 


Through vine-wreath'd cups with wine once red, 
The lights on brimming crystal fell, 


Drawn, sparkling, from the rivulet head 


. And to thy spirit give 


And mossy well. 


Gladness in heaven ! 


Through prison walls, like Heaven-sent hope, 




Fresh breezes blew, and sunbeams stray'd, 


♦ 


And with the idle gallows-rope 




The young child play'd. 


THE REFORMER. 






Where the doom'd victim in his cell 


All grim, and soil'd, and brown with tan, 


Had counted o'er the weary hours, 


I saw a strong one, in his wrath, 
Smiting the godless shrines of man 


Glad school-girls, answering to the bell, 
Came crown'd with flowers. 


Along his path. 


Grown wiser for the lesson given, 


The Church beneath her trembling dome 


I fear no longer, for I know 


Essay'd in vain her ghostly charm : 


That, where the share is deepest driven, 


Wealth shook within his gilded home 


The best fruits grow. 


With strange alarm. 


The outworn rite, the old abuse, 


Fraud from his secret chambers fled 


The pious fraud transparent grown, 


Before the sunlight bursting in : 


The good held captive in the use 


Sloth drew her pillow o'er her head 


Of wrong alone — 


To drown the din. 


These wait their doom, from that great law 


" Spare," Art implored, " yon holy pile ; 


Which makes the past time serve to-day , 


That grand, old, time-worn turret spare !" 


And fresher life the world shall draw 


Meek Reverence, kneeling in the aisle, 


From their decay. 


Cried out, " Forbear !" 






Oh ! backward-looking son of Time ! — 


Gray-bearded Use, who, deaf and blind, 


The new is old, the old is new — 


Groped for his old, accustom'd stone, 


The cycle of a change sublime 


Lean'd on his stalf, and wept, to find 


Still sweeping through. 


His seat o'erthrown. 






So wisely taught the Indian seer ; 


Young Romance raised his dreamy eyes, 


Destroying Seva, forming Brahm, 


O'erhung with paly locks of gold : 


Who wake by turns Earth's love and fear, 


" Why smite," he asked in sad surprise, 


Are one> the same. 


« The fair, the old 1" 






As idly as, in that old day, 


Yet louder rang the strong one's stroke, 


Thou mournest, did thy sires repine : 


Yet nearer flash'd his axe's gleam ! 
Shuddering and sick of heart I woke, 
As from a dream. 


So, in his time, thy child grown gray, 
Shall sigh for thine. 


I look'd : aside the dust-cloud roll'd — 


Yet, not the less for them or thou 


The waster seem'd the builder too ; 


The eternal step of Progress beats 


Upspringing from the ruin'd old, 
I saw the new. 


To that great anthem, calm and slow, 
Which God repeats ! 


'Twas but the ruin of the bad — 


Take heart ! — the waster builds again — 


The wasting of the wrong and ill ; 


A charmed life old Goodness hath ; 


Whate'er of good the old time had, 


The tares may perish — but the grain 


Was living still. 


Is not for death. 


Calm grew the brows of him I fear'd ; 


God works in all things ; all obey 


The frown which awed me pass'd away, 


His first propulsion from the night: 


And left behind a smile which cheer'd 


Ho, wake and watch ! — the world is gTay 


Like breaking day. 


With morning light ! 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 353 


MY SOUL AND I. 


And whither this troubled life of thine 





Evermore doth tend 1 


Staxd still, my soul : in the silent dark 


What daunts thee now 1 — what shakes thee so 1 


I would question thee, 


My sad soul, say. 


Alone in the shadow drear and stark 


" I see a cloud like a curtain low 


With God and me ! 


Hang o'er my way. 


What, my soul, was thine errand here 1 


" Whither I go I cannot tell : 


Was it mirth or ease, 


That cloud hangs black, 


Or heaping up dust from year to year? 
" Nay, none of these." 


High as the heaven and deep as hell, 
Across my track. 


Speak, soul, aright in His holy sight 


" I see its shadow coldly enwrap 


Whose eye looks still 


The souls before. 


And steadily on thee through the night : 
" To do his will !" 


Sadly they enter it, step by step, 
To return no more ! 


What hast thou done, oh, soul of mine, 


" They shrink, they shudder, dear God ! they knee] 


That thou tremblest so ? — 


To thee in prayer. 


Hast thou wrought His task, and kept the line 


They shut their eyes on the cloud, but feel 


He bade thee go 1 


That it still is there. 


What, silent all ! — art sad of cheer? 


" In vain they turn from the dread Before 


Art fearful now 1 


To the Known and Gone ; 


When God seem'd far, and men were near, 


For while gazing behind them evermore, 


How brave wert thou ! 


Their feet glide on. 


Aha ! thou tremblest! — well I see 


" Yet, at times, I see upon sweet, pale faces 


Thou 'rt craven grown. 


A light begin 


Is it so hard with God and me 


To tremble, as if from holy places 


To stand alone 1 


And shrines within. 


Summon thy sunshine bravery back, 


" And at times methinks their cold lips move 


Oh, wretched sprite ! 


With hymn and prayer, 


Let me hear thy voice through this deep and black 


As if somewhat of awe, but more of love 


Abysmal night. 


And hope were there. 


What hast thou wrought for Right and Truth, 


" I call on the souls who have left the light, 


For God and man, 


To reveal their lot; 


From the golden hours of bright-eyed youth 


I bend mine ear to that wall of night, 


To life's mid span 1 


And they answer not. 


Ah, soul of mine, thy tones I hear, 


" But I hear around me sighs of pain 


But weak and low; 


And the cry of fear, 


Like far, sad murmurs on my ear 


And a sound like the slow, sad dropping of rain, 


They come and go. 


Each drop a tear ! 


" I have wrestled stoutly with the Wrong, 


"Ah, the cloud is dark, and, day by day, 


And borne the Right 


I am moving thither : 


From beneath the footfall of the throng 


I must pass beneath it on my way — 


To life and light. 


God pity me ! — whither ?" 


" Wherever Freedom shiver'd a chain, 


Ah, soul of mine, so brave and wise 


' God speed,' quoth I ; 


In the life-storm loud, 


To Error amidst her shouting train 


Fronting so calmly all human eyes 


I gave the lie." 


In the sunlit crowd ! 


Ah, soul of mine ! ah, soul of mine ! 


Now standing apart with God and me, 


Thy deeds are well : 


Thou art weakness all, 


Were they wrought for Truth's sake or for thine ? 


Gazing vainly after the things to be 


My soul, pray tell. 


Through Death's dread wall. 


" Of all the work my hand hath wrought 


But never for this, never for this 


Beneath the sky, 


Was thy being lent ; 


Save a place in kindly human thought, 


For the craven's fear is but selfishness, 


No gain have I." 


Like his merriment. 


Go to, go to ! — for thy very self 


Folly and Fear are sisters twain : 


Thy deeds were done: 


One closing her eyes, 


Thou for fame, the miser for pelf, 


The other peopling the dark inane 


Your end is one. 


With spectral lies. 


And where art thou going, soul of mine ? 


Know well, my soul, God's hand controls 


Canst see the end 1 


Whate'er thou fearest ; 


45 


262 



354 



JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



Round him in calmest music rolls 
Whate'er thou hearest. 

What to thee is shadow, to him is day, 

And the end he knoweth, 
And not on a blind and aimless way 

The spirit goeth. 

Man sees no future — a phantom show 

Is alone before him ; 
Past Time is dead, and the grasses grow, 

And flowers bloom o'er him. 

Nothing before, nothing behind : 

The steps of Faith 
Fall on the seeming void, and find 

The rock beneath. 

The Present, the Present is all thou hast 

For thy sure possessing ; 
Like the patriarch's angel, hold it fast 

Till it gives its blessing. 

Why fear the night 1 why shrink from Death, 

That phantom wan 1 
There is nothing in heaven, or earth beneath, 

Save God and man. 

Peopling the shadows, we turn from Him 

And from one another ; 
All is spectral, and vague, and dim, 

Save God and our brother ! 

Like warp and woof, all destinies 

Are woven fast, 
Linked in sympathy like the keys 

Of an organ vast. 

Pluck one thread, and the web ye mar; 

Break but one 
Of a thousand keys, and the paining jar 

Through all will run. 

Oh, restless spirit ! wherefore strain 

Beyond thy sphere? — 
Heaven and hell, with their joy and pain, 

Are now and here. 

Back to thyself is measured well 

All thou hast given ; 
Thy neighbor's wrong is thy present hell, 

His bliss thy heaven. 

And in life, in death, in dark and light, 

All are in God's care ; 
Sound the black abyss, pierce the deep of night, 

And he is there ! 

All which is real now remaineth, 

And fadeth never : 
The hand which upholds it now, sustaineth 

The soul for ever. 

Leaning on Him, make with reverent meekness 

His own thy will, 
And with strength from him shall thy utter weakness 

Life's task fulfil : 

And that cloud itself, which now before thee 

Lies dark in view, 
Shall with beams of light from the inner glory 

Be stricken through. 



And like meadow-mist through Autumn's dawn 

Uprolling thin, 
Its thickest folds when about thee drawn 

Let sunlight in. 

Then of what is to be, and of what is done, 

Why queriest thou 1 — 
The past and the time to be are one, 

And both are no w ! 

TO A FRIEND, ON THE DEATH OF 
HIS SISTER. 

Thine is a grief, the depth of which another 

May never know ; 
Yet, o'er the waters, oh, my stricken brother ! 

To thee I go. 

I lean my heart unto thee, sadly folding 

Thy hand in mine ; 
With even the weakness of my soul upholding 

The strength of thine. 

I never knew, like thee, the dear departed , 

I stood not by 
When, in calm trust, the pure and tranquil -hearted 

Lay down to die. 

And on thine ears my words of weak condoling 

Must vainly fall : 
The funeral-bell which in thy heart is tolling, 

Sounds over all ! 

I will not mock thee with the poor world's common 

And heartless phrase, 
Nor wrong the memory of a sainted woman 

With idle praise. 

With silence only as their benediction, 

God's angels come 
Where, in the shadow of a great affliction, 

The soul sits dumb ! 

Yet, would I say what thine own heart approveth : 

Our Father's will, 
Calling to him the dear one whom he lovelh, 

Is mercy still. 

Not upon thee or thine the solemn angel 

Hath evil wrought : 
Her funeral-anthem is a glad evangel — 

The good die not ! 

God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly 

What he hath given ; 
They live on earth, in thought and deed, as truly 

As in his heaven. 

And she is with thee : in thy path of trial 

She walketh yet; 
Still with the baptism of thy self-denial 

Her locks are wet. 

Up, then, my brother ! Lo, the fields of harvest 

Lie white in view ! 
She lives and loves thee, and the God thou servest 

To both is true. 

Thrust in thy sickle ! England's toil-worn peasants 

Thy call abide; 
And she thou mourn'st, a pure and holy presence, 

Shall glean beside ! 



WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. 



[Born, 1808. 



William D. Gallagher, the son of an Irish 
patriot who came to this country soon after the re- 
bellion, and married in New Jersey, was born in 
Philadelphia in 1808, and in 1816 emigrated with 
his widowed mother to Ohio. He learned the busi- 
ness of printing in Cincinnati, and has been from 
an early age conspicuous as a journalist and a man 



of letters. He has edited " The Cincinnati Mir- 
ror," " The Western Literary Journal," " The Hes- 
perian," and other periodicals, and has published, 
under the title of" Errato," three volumes of poems. 
As a poet, he has great merits. He is graceful, pic- 
turesque, and forcible, and his writings are informed 
with an earnest and intelligent love of mankind. 



CONSERVATISM. 

The owl, he fareth well 

In the shadows of the night, 

And it puzzleth hirn to tell 

Why the eagle loves the light. 

Away he floats — away, 

From the forest dim and old, 

Where he pass'd the garish day — 
The night doth make him bold ! 

The wave of his downy wing, 
As he courses round about, 

Disturbs no sleeping thing, 
That he findeth in his route. 

The moon looks o'er the hill, 
And the vale grows softly light; 

And the cock, with greeting shrill, 
Wakes the echoes of the night. 

But the moon — he knoweth well 

Its old familiar face ; 
And the cock — it doth but tell, 

Poor fool ! its resting-place. 

And as still as the spirit of Death 
On the air his pinions play ; 

There 's not the noise of a breath 
As he grapples with his prey. 

Oh, the shadowy night for him ! 

It bringeth him fare and glee : 
And what cares he how dim 

For the eagle it may be 1 

It clothes him from the cold, 

It keeps his larders full ; 
And he loves the darkness old, 

To the eagle all so dull. 

But the dawn is in the east, 
And the shadows disappear; 

And at once his timid breast 
Feels the presence of a fear. 

He resists — but all in vain ! 

The clear light is not for him ; 
So he hastens back again 

To the forest old and dim. 

Through his head strange fancies run 
For he cannot comprehend 

Why the moon, and then the sun, 
Up the heavens should ascend — 



When the old and quiet night, 
With its shadows dark and deep, 

And the half-revealing light 
Of its stars, he 'd ever keep. 

And he hooteth loud and long : 
But the eagle greets the day — 

And on pinions bold and strong, 

Like a roused thought, sweeps away ! 



THE INVALID. 

She came in Spring, when leaves were green, 
And birds sang blithe in bower and tree — 

A stranger, but her gentle mien 
It was a calm delight to see. 

In every motion, grace was hers ; 

On every feature, sweetness dwelt ; 
Thoughts soon became her worshippers — 

Affections soon before her knelt. 

She bloom'd through all the summer days 
As sweetly as the fairest flowers, 

And till October's softening haze 

Came with its still and dreamy hours. 

So calm the current of her life, 

So lovely and serene its flow, 
We hardly mark'd the deadly strife 

Disease forever kept below. 

But autumn winds grew wild and chill, 
And pierced her with their icy breath ; 

And when the snow on plain and hill 
Lay white, she pass'd, and slept in death. 

Tones only of immortal birth 

Our memory of her voice can stir; 

Wilh things too beautiful for earth 
Alone do we remember her. 

She came in Spring, when leaves were green, 
And birds sang blithe in bower and tree, 

And flowers sprang up and bloom'd between 
Low branches and the quickening lea. 

The greenness of the leaf is gone, 
The beauty of the flower is riven, 

The birds to other climes have flown, 
And there 's an angel more in heaven ! 

355 



WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. 



THE EARLY LOST. 

Whet* the soft airs and quickening showers 

Of spring-time make the meadows green, 
And clothe the sunny hills with flowers, 

And the cool hollows scoop'd between — 
Ye £0, and fondly bending where 

The bloom is brighter than the day, 
Ye pluck the loveliest blossom there 

Of all that gem the rich array. 
The stem, thus robb'd and rudely press'd, 

Stands desolate in the purple even ; 
The flower has wither'd on your breast, 

But given its perfume up to heaven. 
When, mid our hopes that waken fears, 

And mid our joys that end in gloom, 
The children of our earthly years 

Around us spring, and bud, and bloom — 
An angel from the blest above 

Comes down among them at their play, 
And takes the one that most we love, 

And bears it silently away. 
Bereft, we feel the spirit's strife ; 

But while the inmost soul is riven, 
Our dear and beauteous bud of life 

Receives immortal bloom in heaven. 



FIFTY YEARS AGO. 

A sovg for the early times out west, 

And our green old forest-home, 
Whose pleasant memories freshly yet 

Across the bosom come : 
A song for the free and gladsome life 

In those early days we led, 
With a teeming soil beneath our feet, 

And a smiling heaven o'erhead ! 
Oh, the waves of life danced merrily, 

And had a joyous flow, 
In the days when we were pioneers, 

Fifty years ago ! 
The hunt, the shot, the glorious chase, 

The captured elk or deer ; 
The camp, the big, bright fire, and then 

The rich and wholesome cheer ; 
The sweet, sound sleep, at dead of night, 

By our camp-fire blazing high — 
Unbroken by the wolf's long howl, 

And the panther springing by. 
Oh, merrily pass'd the time, despite 

Our wily Indian foe, 
In the days when we were pioneers, 

Fifty years ago ! 
W T e shunn'd not labour; when 'twas due 

We wrought with right good will ; 
And for the home we won for them, 

Our children bless us still. 
We lived not hermit lives, but oft 

In social converse met ; 
And fires of love were kindled then, 

That burn on warmly yet. 
Oh, pleasantly the stream of life 

Pursued its constant flow, 
In the days when we were pioneers, 

Fifty years ago ! 



We felt that we were fellow-men ; 

We felt we were a band 
Sustain'd here in the wilderness 

By Heaven's upholding hand. 
And when the solemn sabbath came, 

We gather'd in the wood, 
And lifted up our hearts in prayer 

To God, the only good. 
Our temples then were earth and sky ; 

None others did we know 
In the days when we were pioneers, 

Fifty years ago ! 
Our forest life was rough and rude, 

And dangers closed us round, 
But here, amid the green old trees, 

Freedom we sought and found. 
Oft through our dwellings wintry blasts 

Would rush with shriek and moan ; 
We cared not — though they were but frail, 

We felt they were our own ! 
Oh, free and manly lives we led, 

Mid verdure or mid snow, 
In the days when we were pioneers, 

Fifty years ago ! 
But now our course of life is short; 

And as, from day to day, 
We're walking on with halting step, 

And fainting by the way, 
Another land, more bright than this, 

To our dim sight appears, 
And on our way to it we'll soon 

Again be pioneers ! 
Yet while we linger, we may all 

A backward glance still throw 
To the days when we were pioneers, 

Fifty years ago ! 



TRUTH AND FREEDOM. 

On the page that is immortal, 
We the brilliant promise see : 

" Ye shall know the truth, my people, 
And its might shall make you free !" 

For the truth, then, let us battle, 

Whatsoever fate betide ; 
Long the boast that we are freemen, 

We have made and publish'd wide. 

He who has the truth, and keeps it, 
Keeps what not to him belongs — 

But performs a selfish action, 
That his fellow-mortal wrongs. 

He who seeks the truth, and trembles 
At the dangers he must brave, 

Is not fit to be a freeman — 
He at best is but a slave. 

He who hears the truth, and places 
Its high promptings under ban, 

Loud may boast of all that's manly, 
But can never be a man ! 

Friend, this simple lay who readest, 
Be not thou like either them — 

But to truth give utmost freedom, 
And the tide it raises stem. 



WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. 



Bold in speech and bold in action 
Be forever ! — Time will test, 

Of the free-soul'd and the slavish, 
Which fulfils life's mission best. 

Be thou like the noble ancient — 
Scorn the threat that bids thee fear : 

Speak ! — no matter what betide thee ; 
Let them strike, but make them hear ! 

Be thou like the first apostles — 

Be thou like heroic P.aul : 
If a free thought seek expression, 

Speak it boldly — speak it all ! 

Face thine enemies — accusers; 

Scorn the prison, rack, or rod ; 
And, if thou hast truth to utter, 

Speak, and leave the rest to God ! 



AUGUST. 

Dust on thy mantle ! dust, 
Bright Summer, on thy livery of green ! 

A tarnish, as of rust, 

Dims thy late-brilliant sheen : 
And thy young glories — leaf, and bud, and flower — 
Change cometh over them with every hour. 

Thee hath the August sun 
Look'd on with hot, and fierce, and brassy face ; 
And still and lazily run, 
Scarce whispering in their pace, 
The half-dried rivulets, that lately sent 
A shout of gladness up, as on they went. 

Flame-like, the long midday, 
With not so much of sweet air as hath stirr'd 

The down upon the spray, 

Where rests the panting bird, 
Dozing away the hot and tedious noon, 
With fitful twitter, sadly out of tune. 

Seeds in the sultry air, 
And gossamer web-work on the sleeping trees; 
E'en the tall pines, that rear 
Their plumes to catch the breeze, 
The slightest breeze from the unfreshening west, 
Partake the general languor, and deep rest. 

Happy, as man may be, 
Stretch'd on his back, in homely bean-vine bower, 
While the voluptuous bee 
Robs each surrounding flower, 
And prattling childhood clambers o'er his breast, 
The husbandman enjoys his noonday rest. 

Against the hazy sky 
The thin and fleecy clouds, unmoving, rest. 

Beneath them far, yet high 

In the dim, distant west, 
The vulture, scenting thence its carrion-fare, 
Sails, slowly circling in the sunny air. 

Soberly, in the shade, 
Repose the patient cow, and toil-worn ox ; 
Or in the shoal stream wade, 
Shelter'd by jutting rocks : 



The fleecy flock, fly-scourged and restless, rush 
Madly from fence to fence, from bush to bush. 

Tediously pass the hours, 
And vegetation wilts, with blister'd root, 
And droop the thirsting flowers, 
Where the slant sunbeams shoot : 
But of each tall, old tree, the lengthening line, 
Slow-creeping eastward, marks the day's decline. 

Faster, along the plain, 
Moves now the shade, and on the meadow's edge : 

The kine are forth again, 

The bird flits in the hedge. 
Now in the molten west sinks the hot sun. 
Welcome, mild eve ! — the sultry day is done. 

Pleasantly comest thou, 
Dew of the evening, to the crisp'd-up grass ; 

And the curl'd corn-blades bow, 

As the light breezes pass, 
That their parch'd lips may feel thee, and expand. 
Thou sweet reviver of the fever' d land. 

So, to the thirsting soul, 
Cometh the dew of the Almighty's love ; 

And the scathed heart, made whole, 

Turneth in joy above, 
To where the spirit freely may expand, 
And rove, untrammel'd, in that " better land." 



SPRING VERSES. 

How with the song of every bird, 
And with the scent of every flower, 

Some recollection dear is stirr'd 
Of many a long-departed hour, 

Whose course, though shrouded now in night, 

Was traced in lines of golden light ! 

I know not if, when years have cast 
Their shadows on life's early dreams, 

'Tis wise to touch the hope that's past, 
And re-illume its fading beams : 

But, though the future hath its stai - , 

That olden hope is dearer far. 

Of all the present, much is bright ; 

And in the coming years, I see 
A brilliant and a cheering light, 

Which burns before me constantly ; 
Guiding my steps, through haze and gloom, 
To where Fame's turrets proudly loom. 

Yet coldly shines it on my brow ; 

And in my breast it wakes to life 
None of the holy feelings now, 

With which my boyhood's heart was rife : 
It cannot touch that secret spring 
Which erst made life so bless'd a thing. 

Give me, then give me birds and flowers, 
Which are the voice and breath of Spring ! 

For those the songs of life's young hours 
With thrilling touch recall and sing: 

And these, with their sweet breath, impart 

Old tales, whose memory warms the heart. 



358 



WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. 



MAY. 

Would that thou couldst last for aye, 

Merry, ever-merry May ! 

Made of sun-gleams, shade, and showers, 

Bursting buds, and breathing flowers ; 

Dripping-lock'd, and rosy-vested, 

Violet-slipper'd, rainbow-crested ; 

Girdled with the eglantine, 

Festoon'd with the dewy vine : 

Merry, ever-merry May, 

Would that thou couldst last for aye ! 

Out beneath thy morning sky 
Dian's bow still hangs on high ; 
And in the blue depths afar 
Glimmers, here and there, a star. 
Diamonds robe the bending grass, 

Glistening, early flowers among — 
Monad's world, and fairy's glass, — 
Bathing-fount for wandering sprite — 

By mysterious fingers hung, 
In the lone and quiet night. 
Now the freshening breezes pass — 
Gathering, as they steal along, 
Rich perfume, and matin-song ; 
And quickly to destruction hurl'd 
Is fairy's diamond glass, and monad's dew-drop 
Lo! yon cloud, which hung but now [world. 

Black upon the mountain's brow, 
Threatening the green earth with storm ; 
See ! it heaves its giant form, 
And, ever changing shape and hue, 
Each time presenting something new, 
Moves slowly up, and spreading rolls away 
Towards the rich purple streaks that usher in the 
Brightening, as it onward goes, [day ; 

Until its very centre glows 

With the warm, cheering light, the coming sun 
As the passing Christian's soul, [bestows : 

Nearing the celestial goal, 

Blighter and brighter grows, till God illumes the 
whole. 

Out beneath thy noontide sky, 
On a shady slope I lie, 

Giving fancy ample play ; 
And there's not more blest than I, 

One of Adam's race to-day. 
Out beneath thy noontide sky ! 
Earth, how beautiful ! how clear 
Of cloud or mist the atmosphere ! 
What a glory greets the eye ! 
What a calm, or quiet stir, 
Steals o'er Nature's worshipper- 
Silent, yet so eloquent, 
That we feel 'tis heaven-sent ! 
Waking thoughts, that long have slumber'd, 
P;ission-dimm'd and earth-encumber' d — 
Bearing soul and sense away, 
To revel in the perfect day 

Which 'waits us, when we shall for aye [clay! 
Discard this darksome dust — this prison-house of 

Out beneath thy evening sky, 
Not a breeze that wanders by 



But hath swept the green earth's bosom ; 
Rifling the rich grape-vine blossom, 
Dallying with the simplest flower 
In mossy nook and rosy bower ; 
To the perfumed green-house straying, 
And with rich exotics playing ; 
Then, unsated, sweeping over 
Banks of thyme, and fields of clover ! 
Out beneath thy evening sky, 
Groups of children caper by, 
Crown'd with flowers, and rush along 
With joyous laugh, and shout, and song. 
Flashing eye, and radiant cheek, 
Spirits all unsunn'd bespeak. 
They are in life's May-month hours, 
And those wild bursts of joy, what are they but 
life's flowers '? 

Would that thou couldst last for aye, 

Merry, ever-merry May ! 

Made of sun-gleams, shade, and showers, 

Bursting buds, and breathing flowers ; 

Dripping-lock'd, and rosy-vested, 

Violet-slipper'd, rainbow-crested ; 

Girdled with the eglantine, 

Festoon'd with the dewy vine : 

Merry, ever-merry May, 

Would that thou couldst last for aye ! 



OUR EARLY DAYS. 

Our early days ! — How often back 
We turn on life's bewildering track, 
To where, o'er hill and valley, plays 
The sunlight of our early days ! 

A boy — my truant steps were seen 

Where streams were bright, and meadows green 

Where flowers, in beauty and perfume, 

Breathed ever of the Eden-bloom ; 

And birds, abroad in the free wind, 

Sang, as they left the earth behind 

And wing'd their joyous way above, 

Of Eden-peace, and Eden-love. 

That life was of the soul, as well 

As of the outward visible ; 

And now, its streams are dry ; and sere 

And brown its meadows all appear ; 

Gone are its flowers ; its bird's glad voice 

But seldom bids my heart rejoice ; 

And, like the mist as comes the day, 

Its Eden-glories roll away. 

A youth — the mountain-torrent made 
The music which my soul obey'd. 
To shun the crowded ways of men, 
And seek the old tradition'd glen, 
Where, through the dim, uncertain light, 
Moved many an ever-changing sprite, 
Alone the splinter'd crag to dare, 
While trooping shadows fill'd the air, 
And quicken'd fancy many a form 
Traced vaguely in the gathering storm, 
To tread the forest's lone arcades, 
And dream of Sherwood's peopled shades. 



WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. 



359 



And Windsor's haunted " alleys green" 
" Dingle" and " bosky bourn" between, 
Till burst upon my raptured glance 
The whole wide realm of Old Romance : 
Such was the life I lived — a youth ! 
But vanish'd, at the touch of Truth, 
And never to be known agen, 
Is all that made my being then. 

A man — the thirst for fame was mine, 

And bow'd me at Ambition's shrine, 

Among the votaries who have given 

Time, health, hope, peace — and madly striven, 

Ay, madly ! for that which, when found, 

Is oftenest but an empty sound. 

And I have worshipp'd ! — even yet 

Mine eye is on the idol set; 

But it hath found so much to be 

But hollowness and mockery, 

That from its worship oft it turns 

To where a light intenser burns, 

Before whose radiance, pure and warm, 

Ambition's star must cease to charm. 

Our early days ! — They haunt us ever- 
Bright star-gleams on life's silent river, 
Which pierce the shadows, deep and dun, 
That bar e'en manhood's noonday sun. 



THE LABOURER. 

Stand up — erect ! Thou hast the form, 
And likeness of thy God ! — who more ] 

A soul as dauntless mid the storm 

Of daily life, a heart as warm 

And pure, as breast e'er wore. 

What then 1 — Thou art as true a man 

As moves the human mass among; 
As much a part of the great plan 
That with Creation's dawn began, 
As any of the throng. 



Who is thine enemy 1 the high 

In station, or in wealth the chief? 
The great, who coldly pass thee by, 
With proud step and averted eye 1 
Nay ! nurse not such belief. 



If true unto thyself thou wast, 

What were the proud one's scorn to thee? 
A feather, which thou mightest cast 
Aside, as idly as the blast 

The light leaf from the tree. 

No : — uncurb'd passions, low desires, 

Absence of noble self-respect, 
Death, in the breast's consuming fires, 
To that high nature which aspires 

Forever, till thus check'd ; 

These are thine enemies — thy worst ; 

They chain thee to thy lowly lot : 
Thy labour and thy life accursed. 
0, stand erect ! and from them burst ! 

And longer suffer not ! 



Thou art thyself thine enemy ! 

The great ! — what better they than thou 1 
As theirs, is not thy will as free 1 
Has God with equal favours thee 

Neglected to endow 1 

True, wealth thou hast not — 'tis but dust ! 

Nor place — uncertain as the wind ! 
But that thou hast, which, with thy crust 
And water, may despise the lust 

Of both — a noble mind. 

With this, and passions under ban, 

True faith, and holy trust in God, 

Thou art the peer of any man. 

Look up, then : that thy little span 
Of life may be well trod ! 



THE MOTHERS OF THE WEST. 

The mothers of our forest-land ! 

Stout-hearted dames were they; 
With nerve to wield the battle-brand, 

And join the border-fray. 
Our rough land had no braver, 

In its days of blood and strife — 
Aye ready for severest toil, 

Aye free to peril life. 

The mothers of our forest-land ! 

On old Kentucky's soil 
How shared they, with each dauntless band, 

War's tempest and life's toil ! 
They shrank not from the foeman — 

They quail'd not in the fight — 
But cheer'd their husbands through the day, 

And soothed them through the night. 

The mothers of our forest-land ! 

Their bosoms pillow'd men ! 
And proud were they by such to stand, 

In hammock, fort, or glen, 
To load the sure, old rifle — 

To run the leaden ball — 
To watch a battling husband's place, 

And fill it, should he fall : 

The mothers of our forest-land ! 

Such were their daily deeds. 
Their monument ! — where does it stand ? 

Their epitaph ! — who reads ! 
No braver dames had Sparta, 

No nobler matrons Rome — 
Yet who or lauds or honours them, 

E'en in their own green home 1 

The mothers of our forest-land ! 

They sleep in unknown graves : 
And had they borne and nursed a band 

Of ingrates, or of slaves, 
They had not been more neglected ! 

But their graves shall yet be found, 
And their monuments dot here and there 

"The Dark and Bloody Ground." 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 



[Born, 1809.] 



Oliver Wendelx Holmes is a son of the late 
Abtel Holmes, D. D., and was born at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, on the twenty -ninth day of 
August, 1809. He received his early education 
at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and entered Har- 
vard University in 1825. On being graduated he 
commenced the study of the law, but relinquished 
it, after one year's appplication, for the more con- 
genial pursuit of medicine, to which he devoted 
himself with ardour and industry. For the more 
successful prosecution of his studies, he visited 
Europe in the spring of 1S33, passing the princi- 
pal portion of his residence abroad at Paris, where 
he attended the hospitals, acquired an intimate 
knowledge of the language, and became personally 
acquainted with many of the most eminent physi- 
cians of France. 

He returned to Boston near the close of 1835, 
and in the following spring commenced the prac- 
tice of medicine in that city. In the autumn of 
the same year he delivered a poem before the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society of Harvard University, which 
was received with extraordinary and merited ap- 
plause. In 1838 he was elected Professor of Anat- 
omy and Physiology in the medical institution con- 
nected with Dartmouth College, but resigned the 
place on his marriage, two years afterward. De- 
voting all his attention to his profession, he soon 
acquired a large and lucrative practice, and in 1847 
he succeeded Dr. Warren- as Professor of Anato- 
my in the medical department of Harvard Universi- 
ty. His principal medical writings are comprised in 
his " Boylston Prize Essays," (i Lectures on Popular 
Delusions in Medicine," and the " Theory and Prac- 
tice," by himself and Dr. Birelow. His other com- 
positions in prose consist of occasional addresses, 
and papers in the North American Review. 

The earlier poems of Dr. Holmes appeared in 
" The Collegian."* They were lit^Je less distin- 
guished for correct and melodious versification than 
his more recent and most elaborate productions. 
They attracted attention by their humour and ori- 
ginality, and were widely republished in the peri- 
odicals. But a small portion of them have been 
printed under his proper signature. 

In 1 831 a small volume appeared in Boston, en- 
titled " Illustrations of the Athenaeum Gallery of 
Paintings," and composed of metrical pieces, chiefly 
satirical, written by Dr. Holmes and Epes Sar- 
gent. It embraced many of our author's best hu- 
morous verses, afterward printed among his ac- 



* " The Collegian" was a monthly miscellany published 
in 1830, by the undergraduates at Cambridge. Among the 
editors were Holmes, the late William H. Simmons, who 
will be remembered for his admirable lectures on the poets 
and orators of England, and John O. Sargent, who has 
distinguished himself as a lawyer and as a political writer. 



knowledged works. His " Poetry, a Metrical Es- 
say," was delivered before a literary society at 
Cambridge. It is in the heroic measure, and in 
its versification it is not surpassed by any poem 
written in this country. It relates to the nature 
and offices of poetry, and is itself a series of bril- 
liant illustrations of the ideas of which it is an ex- 
pression. Of the universality of the poetical feel- 
ing he says : — 

There breathes no being but has some pretence 
To that fine instinct call'd poetic sense ; 
The rudest savage, roaming through the wild, 
The simplest rustic, bending o'er his child, 
The infant, listening to the warbling bird, 
The mother, smiling at its half-formed word ; 
The freeman, casting with unpurchased hand 
The vote that shakes the turrets of the land ; 
The slave, who, slumbering on his rusted chain, 
Dreams of the palm-trees on his burning plain ; 
The hot-cheek'd reveller, tossing down the wine, 
To join the chorus pealing " Auld lang syne ;" 
The gentle maid, whose azure eye grows dim, 
While Heaven is listening to her evening hymn ; 
The jewell'd beauty, when her steps draw near 
The circling dance and dazzling chandelier; 
E'en trembling age, when spring's renewing air 
Waves the thin ringlets of his silver'd hair — 
All, all are glowing with the inward flame, 
Whose wider halo wreathes the poet's name, 
While, unembalm'd, the silent dreamer dies, 
His memory passing with his smiles and sighs ! 

The poet, he contends, is 

He, whose thoughts differing not in shape, but dress, 
What others feel, more fitly can express. 

In another part of the essay is the following 
fine description of the different English measures : 

Poets, like painters, their machinery claim. 
And verse bestows the varnish and the frame; 
Our grating English, whose Teutonic jar 
Shakes the rack'd axle of Art's rattling car, 
Fits like Mosaic in the lines that gird 
Fast in its place each many-angled word ; 
From Saxon lips Anachreon's numbers glide, 
As once they melted on the Teian tide, 
And, fresh transfused, the Iliad thrills again 
From Albion's cliffs as o'er Achaia's plain ; 
The proud heroic, with its pulse-like beat, 
Rings like the cymbals, clashing as they meet ; 
The sweet Spenserian, gathering as it flows, 
Sweeps gently onward to its dying close, 
Where waves on waves in long succession pour, 
Till the ninth billow melts alonj; the shore; 
The lonely spirit of the mournful lay, 
Which lives immortal in the verse of Gray, 
In sable plumage slowly drifts along, 
On eagle pinion, through the air of song : 
The glittering lyric bounds elastic by, 
With flashiug ringlets and exultimr eye, 
While every image, in her airy whirl, 
Gleams like a diamond on a dancing girl! 
In 1843 Dr. Holmes published "Terpsichore," 
a poem read at the annual dinner of the Phi Beta 
Kappa Society in that year; and in 1846, « Ura- 
nia, a Rhymed Lesson," pronounced before the 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 



361 



Mercantile Library Association. The last is a 
collection of brilliant thoughts, with many local 
allusions, in compact but flowing and harmonious 
versification, and is the longest poem Dr. Hollies 
has published since the appearance of his " Metri- 
cal Essay" in 1835. 

Dr. Holmes is a poet of art and humour and 
genial sentiment, with a style remarkable for its 
purity, terseness, and point, and for an exquisite 



finish and grace. His lyrics ring and sparkle like 
cataracts of silver, and his serious pieces — as suc- 
cessful in their way as those mirthful frolics of 
his muse for which he is best known — arrest the 
attention by touches of the most genuine pathos 
and tenderness. All his poems illustrate a manly 
feeling, and have in them a current of good sense, 
the more charming because somewhat out of fash- 
ion now in works of imagination and fancy. 



ON LENDING A PUNCH-BOWL. 

This ancient silver bowl of mine — it tells of good 
old times — 

Of joyous days, and jolly nights, and merry Christ- 
mas chimes ; 

They were a free and jovial race, but honest, brave, 
and true, 

That dipp'd their ladle in the punch when this old 
bowl was new. 

A Spanish galleon brought the bar — so runs the 
ancient tale ; 

'T was hammer'd by an Antwerp smith, whose arm 
was like a flail ; 

And now and then between the strokes, for fear 
his strength should fail, 

He wiped his brow, and quaff 'd a cup of good old 
Flemish ale. 

'T was purchased by an English squire to please 
his loving dame, 

Who saw the cherubs, and conceived a longing for 
the same ; 

And oft, as on the ancient stock another twig was 
found, 

'T was fill'd with caudle spiced and hot, and handed 
smoking round. 

But, changing hands, it reach'd at length a Puritan 
divine, 

Who used to follow Timothy, and take a little wine, 

But hated punch and prelacy ; and so it was, per- 
haps, 

He went to Leyden, where he found conventicles 
and schnaps. 

And then, of course, you know what's next : it left 
the Dutchman's shore 

With those that in the May-Flower came — a hun- 
dred souls and more — 

Along with all the furniture, to fill their new 
abodes — 

To judge by what is still on hand, at least a hun- 
dred loads. 

'Twas on a dreary winter's eve, the night was 
closing dim, 

When old Miles Staxdtsh took the bowl, and 
fili'd it to the brim ; 

The little captain stood and stirr'd the posset with 
his sword, 

And all his sturdy men-at-arms were ranged about 
the board. 

He pour'd the fiery Hollands in — the man that 
never fear'd — 

He took a long and solemn draught, and wiped 

his yellow beard ; 

J 46 



And one by one the musketeers — the men that 

fought and pray'd — 
All drank as 'twere their mother's milk, and not 

a man afraid. 
That night, affrighted from his nest, the screaming 

eagle flew : 
He heard the Pequot's ringing whoop, the soldier's 

wild halloo ; 
And there the sachem learn'd the rule he taught 

to kith and kin : 
" Run from the white man when you find he smells 

of Hollands gin !" 

A hundred years, and fifty more, had spread their 

leaves and snows, 
A thousand rubs had flatten'd down each little 

cherub's nose ; 
When once again the bowl was fill'd, but not in 

mirth or joy — 
'Twas mingled by a mother's hand to cheer her 

parting boy. 

"Drink, Jo hx," she said, "'twill do you good; poor 
child, you'll never bear 

This working in the dismal trench, out in the mid- 
night air ; 

And if — God bless me — you were hurt, 'twould 
keep away the chill." 

So Johx did drink — and well he wrought that 
night at Bunker's hill ! 

I tell you, there was generous warmth in good old 

English cheer ; 
I tell you, 'twas a pleasant thought to drink its 

symbol here. 
'Tis but the fool that loves excess: hast thou a 

drunken soul 1 
Thy bane is in thy shallow skull — not in my silver 

bowl ! 

I love the memory of the past — its press'd yet fra- 
grant flowers — 

The moss that clothes its broken walls, the ivy on 
its towers — 

Nay, this poor bauble it bequeath'd : my eyes 
grow moist and dim, 

To think of all the vanish'd joys that danced 
around its brim. 

Then fill a fair and honest cup, and bear it straight 

to me ; 
The goblet hallows all it holds, whate'er the liquid be; 
I And may the cherubs on its face protect me from 

the sin 
' That dooms one to those dreadful words — " My 
dear, where have you been V 
2H 



862 



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 



LEXINGTON. 

Sjlowly the mist o'er the meadow was creeping, 

Bright on the dewy buds glisten'd the sun, 
When from his couch — while his children were 
sleeping — 
Rose the bold rebel and shoulder'd his gun. 
Waving her golden veil 
Over the silent dale, 
Blithe look'd the morning on cottage and spire ; 
Hush'd was his parting sigh, 
While from his noble eye 
Flash'd the last sparkle of Liberty's fire. 

On the smooth green where the fresh leaf is spring- 
Calmly the first-born of glory have met : [ing 
Hark ! the death- volley around them is ringing — 
Look! with their life-blood the young grass is wet. 

Faint is the feeble breath, 

Murmuring low in death — 
"Tell to our sons how their lathers have died;" 

Nerveless the iron hand, 

Raised for its native land, 
Lies by the weapon that gleams at its side. 

Over the hillsides the wild knell is tolling, 
From their far hamlets the yeomanry come ; 

As thro' the storm-clouds the thunder-burst rolling, 
Circles the beat of the mustering drum. 
Fast on the soldier's path 
Darken the waves of wrath ; 

Long have they gather'd, and loud shall they fall : 
Red glares the musket's flash, 
Sharp rings the rifle's crash, 

Blazing and clanging from thicket and wall. 

Gayly the plume of the horseman was dancing, 

Never to shadow his cold brow again ; 
Proudly at morning the war-steed was prancing, 
Reeking and panting he droops on the rein; 

Pale is the lip of scorn, 

Voiceless the trumpet-horn 
Torn is the silken-fring'd red cross on high ; 

Many a belted breast 

Low on the turf shall rest, 
Ere the dark hunters the herd have pass'd by. 

Snow-girdled crags where the hoarse wind is raving, 
Rocks where the weary floods murmur and wail, 
Wilds where the fern by the furrow is waving, 
Reel'd with the echoes that rode on the gale ; 

Far as the tempest thrills 

Over the darken'd hills, 
Far as the sunshine streams over the plain, 

Roused by the tyrant band, 

Woke all the mighty land, 
Girded for battle, from mountain to main. 

Green be the graves where her martyrs are lying ! 
Shroudless and tombless they sunk to their rest ; 
While o'er their ashes the starry fold flying, 
Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nest. 

Borne on her northern pine, 

Long o'er the foaming brine 
Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun ; 

Heaven keep her ever free 

Wide as U or land and sea 
Floats the fair emblem her heroes have won ! 



A SONG OF OTHER DAYS. 

As o'er the glacier's frozen sheet 

Breathes soft the Alpine rose, 
So, through life's desert springing sweet, 

The flower of friendship grows; 
And as, where'er the roses grow, 

Some rain or dew descends, 
'T is Nature's law that wine should flow 

To wet the lips of friends. 

Then once again, before we part, 
My empty glass shall ring; 

And he that has the warmest heart 
Shall loudest laugh and sing. 

They say we were not born to eat ; 

But gray -haired sages think 
It means — " Be moderate in your meat, 

And partly live to drink." 

For baser tribes the rivers flow 

, That know not wine or song; 

\Man wants but little drink below, 

y But wants that little strong. 

Then once again, &c. 

If one bright drop is like the gem 

That decks a monarch's crown, 
One goblet holds a diadem 

Of rubies melted down ! 
A fig for Cesar's blazing brow, 

But, like the Egyptian queen, 
Bid each dissolving jewel glow 

My thirsty lips between. 
Then once again, &c. 

The Grecian's mound, the Roman's urn, 

Are silent when we call, 
Yet still the purple grapes return 

To cluster on the wall ; 
It was a bright Immortal's head 

They circled with the vine, 
And o'er their best and bravest dead 

They pour'd the dark-red wine. 
Then once again, &c. 

Methinks o'er every sparkling glass 

Young Eros waves his wings, 
And echoes o'er its dimples pass 

From dead Axacreon's strings; 
And, tossing round its beaded brim 

Their locks of floating gold, 
With bacchant dance and choral hymn 

Return the nymphs of old. 
Then once again, &c. 

A welcome, then, to joy and mirth, 

From hearts as fresh as ours, 
To scatter o'er the dust of earth 

Their sweetly mingled flowers ; 
'T is Wisdom self the cup that fills, 

In spite of Folly's frown; 
And Nature, from her vine-clad hills, 

That rains her life-blood down ! 

Then once again, before we part, 
My empty glass shall ring; 

And he that has the warmest heart 
Shall loudest laugh and sing. 



OLIVER W. HOLMES. 



THE CAMBRIDGE CHURCHYARD. 

Our ancient church ! its lowly tower, 

Beneath the loftier spire, 
Is shadow'd when the sunset hour 

Clothes the tall shaft in fire ; 
It sinks beyond the distant eye, 

Long ere the glittering vane, 
High wheeling in the western sky, 

Has faded o'er the plain. 

Like sentinel and nun, they keep 

Their vigil on the green ; 
One seems to guard, and one to weep, 

The dead that lie between ; 
And both roll out, so full and near, 

Their music's mingling waves, 
They shake the grass, whose pennon'd spear 

Leans on the narrow graves. 

The stranger parts the flaunting weeds, 

Whose seeds the winds have strown 
So thick beneath the line he reads, 

They shade the sculptured stone ; 
The child unveils his cluster'd brow, 

And ponders for a while 
The graven willow's pendent bough, 

Or rudest cherub's smile. 

But what to them the dirge, the knell 1 

These were the mourner's share ; 
The sullen Wang, whose heavy swell 

Thrrbo'd through the beating air; 
The rattling cord, — the rolling stone, — 

The shelving sand that slid, 
And, far beneath, with hollow tone 

Rung on the coffin's lid. 

The slumberer's mound grows fresh and green, 

Then slowly disappears ; 
The mosses creep, the gray stones lean, 

Earth hides his date and years ; 
But, long before the once-loved name 

Is sunk or worn away, 
No lip f he silent dust may claim, 

That press'd the breathing clay. 

Go where the ancient pathway guides, 

See where our sires laid down 
Their smiling babes, their cherish'd brides, 

The patriarchs of the town ; 
Hast thou a tear for buried love ! 

A sigh for transient power 1 
All that a century left above, 

Go, read it in an nour ! 

The Indian's shaft, the Briton's ball, 

The sabre's thirsting edge, 
The hot shell, shattering in its fall, 

The bayonet's rending wedge, — 
Here scatter'd death ; yet seek the spot, 

No trace thine eye can see, 
No altar, — and they need it not 

Who leave their children free ! 

Look where the turbid rain-drops stand 
In many a chisell'd square, 



The knightly crest, the shield, the brand 
Of honour'd names were there ; 

Alas ! for every tear is dried 

Those blazon'd tablets knew, 

Save when the icy marble's side 
Drips with the evening dew. 

Or gaze upon yon pillar'd stone,* 

The empty urn of pride ; 
There stands the goblet and the sun, — 

What need of more beside 1 
Where lives the memory of the dead 1 

Who made their tomb a toy 1 
Whose ashes press that nameless bed 1 

Go, ask the village boy ! 

Lean o'er the slender western wall, 

Ye ever-roaming girls ; 
The breath that bids the blossom fall 

May lift your floating curls, 
To sweep the simple lines that tell 

An exile's-f date and doom ; 
And sigh, for where his daughters dwell, 

They wreathe the stranger's tomb. 

And one amid these shades was born, 

Beneath this turf who lies, 
Once beaming as the summer's morn, 

That closed her gentle eyes ; 
If sinless angels love as we, 

Who stood thy grave beside, 
Three seraph welcomes waited thee, 

The daughter, sister, bride ! 

I wander'd to thy buried mound, 

When earth was hid, below 
The level of the glaring ground, 

Choked to its gates with snow, 
And when with summer's flowery waves 

The lake of verdure roll'd, 
As if a sultan's white-robed slaves 

Had scatter'd pearls and gold. 

Nay, the soft pinions of the air, 

That lifts this trembling tone, 
Its breath of love may almost bear, 

To kiss thy funeral-stone; 
And, now thy smiles have pass'd away, 

For all the joy they gave, 
May sweetest dews and warmest ray 

Lie on thine early grave ! 

When damps beneath, and storms above, 

Have bow'd these fragile towers, 
Still o'er the graves yon locust-grove 

Shall swing its orient flowers ; 
And I would ask no mouldering bust, 

If o'er this humble line, 
Which breathed a sigh o'er other's dust, 

Might call a tear on mine. 

* The tomb of the Vassall family is marked by a free- 
stone tablet, supported by five pillars, and bearing nothing 
but the sculptured reliefs of the goblet and the sun,— Vas- 
SoZ,— which designated a powerful family, now almost 
forgotten. 

t The exile referred to in this stanza was a native of 
Honfleur, in Normandy. 



364 



OLIVER W. HOLMES. 



AN EVENING THOUGHT. 

WRITTEN AT SEA. 

If sometimes in the dark-blue eye, 

Or in the deep-red wine, 
Or soothed by gentlest melody, 

Still warms this heart of mine, 
Yet something colder in the blood, 

And calmer in the brain, 
Have whisper'd that my youth's bright flood 

Ebbs, not to flow again. 

If by Helvetia's azure lake, 

Or Arno's yellow stream, 
Each star of memory could awake, 

As in my first young dream, 
I know that when mine eye shall greet 

The hill-sides bleak and bare, 
That gird my home, it will not meet 

My childhood's sunsets there. 

O, when love's first, sweet, stolen kiss 

Burn'd on my boyish brow, 
Was that young forehead worn as this 1 

Was that flush'd cheek as now 1 
Where that wild pulse and throbbing heart 

Like these, which vainly strive, 
In thankless strains of soulless art, 

To dream themselves alive 1 

Alas ! the morning dew is gone, 

Gone ere the full of day; 
Life's iron fetter still is on, 

Its wreaths all torn away ; 
Happy if still some casual hour 

Can warm the fading shrine, 
Too soon to chill beyond the power 

Of love, or song, or wine ! 



LA GRISETTE. 

Ah, Clemeitce ! when I saw thee last 

Trip down the Rue de Seine, 
And turning, when thy form had pass'd, 

I said, " We meet again," — 
I dream'd not in that idle glance 

Thy latest image came, 
And only left to memory's trance 

A shadow and a name. 

The few strange words my lips had taught 

Thy timid voice to speak; 
Their gentler sighs, which often brought 

Fresh roses to thy cheek ; 
The trailing of thy long, loose hair 

Bent o'er my couch of pain, 
All, all return'd, more sweet, more fair ; 

0, had we met again ! 

1 walk'd where saint and virgin keep 

The vigil lights of Heaven, 
I knew that thou hadst woes to weep, 

And sins to be forgiven ; 
I watch'd where Genevieve was laid, 

I knelt by Mart's shrine, 
Beside me low, soft voices pray'd ; 

Alas ! but where was thine ] 



And when the morning sun was bright, 

When wind and wave were calm, 
And flamed, in thousand-tinted light, 

The rose* of Notre Dame, 
I wander'd through the haunts of men, 

From Boulevard to Quai, 
Till, frowning o'er Saint Etienne, 

The Pantheon's shadow lay. 

In vain, in vain ; we meet no more, 

Nor dream what fates befall ; 
And long upon the stranger's shore 

My voice on thee may call, 
When years have clothed the line in moss 

That tells thy name and days, 
And wither' d, on thy simple cross, 

The wreaths of Pere-la-Chaise ! 



THE TREADMILL SONG. 

The stars are rolling in the sky, 

The earth rolls on below, 
And we can feel the rattling wheel 

Revolving as we go. 
Then tread away, my gallant boys, 

And make the axle fly ; 
Why should not wheels go round about 

Like planets in the sky 1 

Wake up, wake up, my duck-legg'd man, 

And stir your solid pegs ; 
Arouse, arouse, my gawky friend, 

And shake your spider-legs ; 
What though you're awkward at the trade 1 

There 's time enough to learn, — 
So lean upon the rail, my lad, 

And take another turn. 

They 've built us up a noble wall, 

To keep the vulgar out ; 
We've nothing in the world to do, 

But just to walk about; 
So faster, now, you middle men, 

And try to beat the ends : — 
It's pleasant work to ramble round 

Among one's honest friends. 

Here, tread upon the long man's toes, 

He sha'n't be lazy here ; 
And punch the little fellow's ribs, 

And tweak that lubber's ear; 
He's lost them both ; don't pull his hair, 

Because he wears a scratch, 
But poke him in the farther eye, 

That is n't in the patch. 

Hark ! fellows, there's the supper-bell, 

And so our work is done ; 
It's pretty sport, — suppose we take 

A round or two for fun ! 
If ever they should turn me out, 

When I have better grown, 
Now, hang me, but I mean to have 

A treadmill of my own ! 

* Circular-stained windows are called roses. 



OLIVER W. HOLMES. 



365 



DEPARTED DAYS. 

Yes, dear, departed, cherish'd days, 

Could Memory's hand restore 
Your morning light, your evening rays, 

From Time's gray urn once more,— 
Then might this restless heart be still, 

This straining eye might close, 
And Hope her fainting pinions fold, 

While the fair phantoms rose. 

But, like a child in ocean's arms, 

We strive against the stream, 
Each moment farther from the shore, 

Where life's young fountains gleam- 
Each moment fainter wave the fields, 

And wilder rolls the sea ; 
The mist grows dark — the sun goes down- 
Day breaks — and where are we '{ 



THE DILEMMA. 

Now, by the bless'd Paphian queen, 
Who heaves the breast of sweet sixteen; 
By every name I cut on bark 
Before my morning-star grew dark ; 
By Hymen's torch, by Cupid's dart, 
By all that thrills the beating heart ; 
The bright, black eye, the melting blue, — 
I cannot choose between the two. 

I had a vision in my dreams ; 
I saw a row of twenty beams ; 
Prom every beam a rope was hung, 
In every rope a lover swung. 
I ask'd the hue of every eye 
That bade each luckless lover die ; 
Ten livid lips said, heavenly blue, 
And ten accused the darker hue. 

I ask'd a matron, which she deem'd 
With fairest light of beauty beam'd ; 
She answer'd, some thought both were fair- 
Give her blue eyes and golden hair. 
I might have liked her judgment well, 
But as she spoke, she rung the bell, 
And all her girls, nor small nor few, 
Came marching in — their eyes were blue. 

I ask'd a maiden ; back she flung 

The locks that round her forehead hung, 

And turn'd her eye, a glorious one, 

Bright as a diamond in the sun, 

On me, until, beneath its rays, 

I felt as if my hair would blaze ; 

She liked all eyes but eyes of green ; 

She look'd at me ; what could she mean 1 

Ah ! many lids Love lurks between, 
Nor heeds the colouring of his screen ; 
And when his random arrows fly, 
The victim falls, but knows not why. 
Gaze not upon his shield of jet, 
The shaft upon the string is set ; 
Look not beneath his azure veil, 
Though every limb were cased in mail. 



Well, both might make a martyr break 
The chain that bound him to the stake, 
And both, with but a single ray, 
Can melt our very hearts away ; 
And both, when balanced, hardly seem 
To stir the scales, or rock the beam ; 
But that is dearest, all the while, 
That wears for us the sweetest smile. 



THE STAR AND THE WATER-LILY. 

The Sun stepp'd down from his golden throne, 

And lay in the silent, sea, 
And the Lily had folded her satin leaves, 

For a sleepy thing was she ; 
What is the Lily dreaming of] 

Why crisp the waters blue 1 
See, see, she is lifting her varnish'd lid ! 

Her white leaves are glistening through ! 

The Rose is cooling his burning cheek 

In the lap of the breathless tide ; 
The Lily hath sisters fresh and fair, 

That would lie by the Rose's side ; 
He would love her better than all the rest, 

And he would be fond and true ; 
But the Lily unfolded her weary lids, 

And look'd at the sky so blue. 

Remember, remember, thou silly one, 

How fast will thy summer glide, 
And wilt thou wither a virgin pale, 

Or flourish a blooming bride 1 
" 0, the Rose is old, and thorny, and cold, 

And he lives on earth," said she; 
" But the Star is fair and he lives in the air, 

And he shall my bridegroom be." 

But what if the stormy cloud should come, 

And ruffle the silver seal 
Would he turn his eye from the distant sky, 

To smile on a thing like thee ] 
O, no ! fair Lily, he will not send 

One ray from his far-off throne ; 
The winds shall blow and the waves shall flow, 

And thou wilt be left alone. 

There is not a leaf on the mountain-top, 

Nor a drop of evening dew, 
Nor a golden sand on the sparkling shore, 

Nor a pearl in the waters blue, 
That he has not cheer'd with his fickle smile, 

And warm'd with his faithless beam, — 
And will he be true to a pallid flower, 

That floats on the quiet stream ] 

Alas, for the Lily ! she would not heed, 

But turn'd to the skies afar, 
And bared her breast to the trembling ray 

That shot from the rising star ; 
The cloud came over the darken'd sky, 

And over the waters wide ; 
She look'd in vain through the beating rain, 

And sank in the stormy tide. 
2h2 



366 OLIVER W. HOLMES. 


THE MUSIC-GRINDERS. 


It cannot be, — it is, — it is, — 




A hat is going round ! 


There are three ways in which men take 


No ! Pay the dentist when he leaves 


One's money from his purse, 


A fracture in your jaw, 


And very hard it is to tell 


And pay the owner of the bear, 


Which of the three is worse ; 


That stunn'd you with his paw, 


But all of them are bad enough 


And buy the lobster, that has had 


To make a body curse. 


Your knuckles in his claw ; 


Fou're riding out some pleasant day, 


But if you are a portly man, 


And counting up your gains ; 


Put on your fiercest frowm, 


A fellow jumps from out a bush 


And talk about a constable 


And takes your horse's reins, 


To turn them out of town ; 


Another hints some words about 


Then close your sentence with an oath, 


A bullet in your brains. 


And shut the window down ! 


It's hard to meet such pressing friends 


And if you are a slender man, 


In such a lonely spot ; 


Not big enough for that, 


It's very hard to lose your cash, 


Or, if you cannot make a speech, 


But harder to be shot ; 


Because you are a flat, 


And so you take your wallet out, 


Go very quietly and drop 


Though you would rather not. 


A button in the hat ! 


Perhaps you're going out to dine, — 
Some filthy creature begs 






You'll hear about the cannon-ball 


THE PHILOSOPHER TO HIS LOVE. 


That carried off his pegs, 





And says it is a dreadful thing 


Dearest, a look is but a ray 


For men to lose their legs. 


Reflected in a certain way ; 




A word, whatever tone it wear, 


He tells you of his starving wife, 


Is but a trembling wave of air ; 


His children to be fed, 


A touch, obedience to a clause 


Poor, little, lovely innocents, 


In nature's pure material laws. 


All clamorous for bread, — 




And so you kindly help to put 


The very flowers that bend and meet, 


A bachelor to bed. 


In sweetening others, grow more sweet; 




The clouds by day, the stars by night, 


You're sitting on your window-seat 


Inweave their floating locks of light ; 


Beneath a cloudless moon ; 


The rainbow, Heaven's own forehead's braid, 


You hear a sound, that seems to wear 


Is but the embrace of sun and shade. 


The semblance of a tune, 




As if a broken fife should strive 


How few that love us have we found ! 


To drown a crack'd bassoon. 


How wide the world that girds them round ! 




Like mountain-streams we meet and part, 


And nearer, nearer still, the tide 


Each living in the other's heart, 


Of music seems to come, 


Our course unknown, our hope to be 


There's something like a human voice, 


Yet mingled in the distant sea. 


And something like a drum ; 




You sit, in speechless agony, 


But ocean coils and heaves in vain, 


Until your ear is numb. 


Bound in the subtle moonbeam's chain ; 


And love and hope do but obey 
Some cold, capricious planet's ray, 


Poor « Home, sweet home" should seem to be 
A very dismal place ; 


Which lights and leads the tide it charms, 
To Death's dark caves and icy arms. 


Your "Auld acquaintance," all at once, 


Is alter'd in the face ; 




Their discords sting through Burns and Moore, 


Alas ! one narrow line is drawn, 


Like hedgehogs dress'd in lace. 


That links our sunset with our dawn ; 


You think they are crusaders, sent 
From some infernal clime, 


In mist and shade life's morning rose, 
And clouds are round it at its close ; 


To pluck the eyes of Sentiment, 
And dock the tail of Rhyme, 


But, ah ! no twilight beam ascends 


To whisper where that evening ends. 


To crack the voice of Melody, 


! in the hour when I shall feel 


And break the legs of Time. 


Those shadows round my senses steal, 


But, hark ! the air again is still, 


When gentle eyes are weeping o'er 


The music all is ground, 


The clay that feels their tears no more, 


And silence, like a poultice, comes 


Then let thy spirit with me be, 


To heal the blows of sound ; 


Or some sweet angel, likest thee ! 



OLIVER W. HOLMES. 



L'INCONNUE. 

Is thy name Mart, maiden fair 1 

Such should, methinks, its music be; 

The sweetest name that mortals bear, 
Were best befitting thee ; 

And she to whom it once was given, 

Was half of earth and half of heaven. 

I hear thy voice, I see thy smile, 
I look upon thy folded hair ; 

Ah ! while we dream not they beguile, 
Our hearts are in the snare ; 

And she, who chains a wild bird's wing 

Must start not if her captive sing. 

So, lady, take the leaf that falls, 
To all but thee unseen, unknown; 

When evening shades thy silent walls, 
Then read it all alone ; 

In stillness read, in darkness seal, 

Forget, despise, but not reveal ! 



THE LAST READER. 

I sometimes sit beneath a tree, 
And read my own sweet songs ; 

Though naught they may to others be, 
Each humble line prolongs 

A tone that might have pass'd away, 

But for that scarce-remember'd lay. 

I keep them like a lock or leaf, 
That some dear girl has given ; 

Frail record of an hour, as brief 
As sunset clouds in heaven, 

But spreading purple twilight still 

High over memory's shadow'd hill. 

They lie upon my pathway bleak, 
Those flowers that once ran wild, 

As on a father's care-worn cheek 
The ringlets of his child ; 

The golden mingling with the gray,/ 

And stealing half its snows away. 

What, care I though the dust is spread 

Around these yellow leaves, 
Or o'er them his sarcastic thread 

Oblivion's insect weaves ; 
Though weeds are tangled on the stream, 
It still reflects my morning's beam. 

And therefore love I such as smile 

On these neglected songs, 
Nor deem that flattery's needless wile 

My opening bosom wrongs ; 
For who would trample, at my side, 
A few pale buds, my garden's pride 1 

It may be that my scanty ore 
Long years have wash'd away, 

And where were golden sands before, 
Is naught but common clay ; 

Still something sparkles in the sun, 

For Memory to look back upon. 

And when my name no more is heard, 
My lyre no more is known, 



Still let me, like a winter's bird, 

In silence and alone, 
Fold over them the weary wing 
Once flashing through the dews of spring. 

Yes, let my fancy fondly wrap 

My youth in its decline, 
And riot in the rosy lap 

Of thoughts that once were mine, 
And give the worm my little store, 
When the last reader reads no more I 



THE LAST LEAF. 

I saw him once before, 
As he pass'd by the door, 

And again 
The pavement-stones resound 
As he totters o'er the ground 

With his cane. 

They say that in his prime, 
Ere the pruning-knife of Time 

Cut him down, 
Not a better man was found 
By the crier on his round 

Through the town. 

But now he walks the streets, 
And he looks at all he meets 

So forlorn ; 
And he shakes his feeble head, 
That it seems as if he said, 

"They are gone." 

The mossy marbles rest 

On the lips that he has press'd 

In their bloom, 
And the names he loved to hear 
Have been carved for many a year 

On the tomb. 

My grandmamma has said — 
Poor old lady ! she is dead 

Long ago — 
That he had a Roman nose, 
And his cheek was like a rose 

In the snow. 

And now his nose is thin, 
And it rests upon his chin 

Like a staff, 
And a crook is in his back, 
And a melancholy crack 

In his laugh. 

I know it is a sin 
For me to sit and grin 

At him here, 
But the old three-corner'd hat, 
And the breeches — and all that, 

Are so queer ! 

And if I should live to be 
The last leaf upon the tree 

In the spring — 
Let them smile as I do now 
At the old forsaken bough 

Where I clina;. 



368 



OLIVER W. HOLMES. 



OLD IRONSIDES.* 

At, tear her tatter'd ensign down ! 

Long has it waved on high, 
And many an eye has danced to see 

That banner in the sky ; 
Beneath it rung the battle-shout, 

And burst the cannon's roar ; 
The meteor of the ocean air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more ! 

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, 

. Where knelt the vanquish'd foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 

And waves were white below, 
No more shall feel the victor's tread, 

Or know the conquer'd knee ; 
The harpies of the shore shall pluck 

The eagle of the sea ! 

0, better that her shatter'd hulk 

Should sink beneath the wave ; 
Her thunders shook the mighty deep, 

And there should be her grave ; 
Nail to the mast her holy flag, 

Set every threadbare sail, 
And give her to the god of storms, — 

The lightning and the gale ! 



STANZAS. 

Strange ! that one lightly-whisper'd tone 

Is far, far sweeter unto me, 
Than all the sounds that kiss the earth, 

Or breathe along the sea ; 
But, lady, when thy voice I greet, 
Not heavenly music seems so sweet. 

I look upon the fair, blue skies, 

And naught but empty air I see ; 

But when I turn me to thine eyes, 
It seemeth unto me 

Ten thousand angels spread their wings 

Within those little azure rings. 

The lily hath the softest leaf 

That ever western breeze hath fann'd, 
But tbou shalt have the tender flower, 

So I may take thy hand ; 
That little hand to me doth yield 
More joy than all the broider'd field. 

0, lady ! there be many things 

That seem right fair, below, above ; 

But sure not one among them all 
Is half so sweet as love ; — 

Let us not pay our vows alone, 

But join two altars both in one. 

* Written when it was proposed to break up the frigate 
Constitution, as unfit for service. 



THE STEAMBOAT. 

See how yon flaming herald treads 

The ridged and rolling waves, 
As, crashing o'er their crested heads, 

She bows her surly slaves ! 
With foam before and fire behind, 

She rends the clinging sea, 
That flies before the roaring wind, 

Beneath her hissing lee. 

The morning spray, like sea-born flowers.. 

With heap'd and glistening bells, 
Falls round her fast in ringing showers, 

With every wave that swells ; 
And, flaming o'er the midnight deep, 

In lurid fringes thrown, 
The living gems of ocean sweep 

Along her flashing zone. 

With clashing wheel, and lifting keel, 

And smoking torch on high, 
When winds are loud, and billows reel, 

She thunders foaming by ! 
When seas are silent and serene, 

With even beam she glides, 
The sunshine glimmering through the green 

That skirts her gleaming sides. 

Now, like a wild nymph, far apart 

She veils her shadowy form, 
The beating of her restless heart 

Still sounding through the storm ; 
Now answers, like a courtly dame, 

The reddening surges o'er, 
With flying scarf of spangled flame, 

The Pharos of the shore. 

To-night yon pilot shall not sleep, 
Who trims his narrow'd sail ; 

To-night yon frigate scarce shall keep 
Her broad breast to the gale ; 

And many a foresail, scoop'd and strain'd, 
Shall break from yard and stay, 

Before this smoky wreath has stain'd 
' The rising mist of day. 

Hark ! hark I I hear yon whistling shroud, 

I see yon quivering mast ; 
The black throat of the hunted cloud 

Is panting forth the blast ! 
An hour, and, whirl'd like winnowing chaff, 

The giant surge shall fling 
His tresses o'er yon pennon-staff, 

White as the sea-bird's wing ! 

Yet rest, ye wanderers of the deep ; 

Nor wind nor wave shall tire 
Those fleshless arms, whose pulses leap 

With floods of living fire ; 
Sleep on — and when the morning light 

Streams o'er the shining bay, 
0, think of those for whom the night 

Shall never wake in day ! 



Uf 



ALBERT PIKE. 



[Born, 1809.] 



Albert Pike was born in Boston, on the twen- 
ty-ninth day of December, 1809. When he was 
about four years old, his parents removed to New- 
bury port. His father, he informs me, "was a jour- 
neyman shoemaker, who worked hard, paid his 
taxes, and gave all his children the benefit of an 
education." The youth of the poet was passed 
principally in attending the district-schools at New- 
buryport, and an academy at Framingham, until 
he was sixteen years of age, when, after a rigid 
and triumphant examination, he was admitted to 
Harvard College. Not being able to pay the ex- 
penses of a residence at Cambridge, however, he 
soon after became an assistant teacher in the 
grammar-school at Newburyport, and, at the end 
of a year, its principal. He was induced to resign 
this office after a short time, and in the winter 
which followed was the preceptor of an academy at 
Faii-haven. He returned to INewburyport in the 
spring, on foot, and for one year taught there a 
private school. During all this time he had been 
a diligent student, intending to enter the uni- 
versity, in advance ; but in the spring of 1831 he 
changed his plans, and started on his travels to the 
west and south. 

He went first to Niagara, and then, through 
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Nashville, and Paducah. 
much of the way on foot, to Saint Louis. He left 
that city in August, with a company of forty per- 
sons, among whom were two young men besides 
himself from Newburyport, for Mexico ; and after 
much fatigue and privation, arrived at Santa Fe 
on the twenty-eighth of November. Here he re- 
mained nearly a year, passing a part of the time 
as a clerk in a store, and the residue in selling 
merchandise through the country. Near the close 
of September, 1832, he left Taos, with a trapping- 
party ; travelled around the sources of Red River 
to the head waters of the Brazos ; separated from 
the company, with four others, and came into Ar- 
kansas. — travelling the last five hundred miles on 
foot, and reaching Fort Smith, in November, " with- 
out a rag of clothing, a dollar in money, or know- 
ing a person in the territory." 

Near this place he spent the winter in teaching 
a few children, and in the following July he went 
further down the country, and opened a school 
under more favourable auspices ; but after a few 
weeks, being attacked by a fever, was compelled to 
abandon it. He had in the mean time written seve- 
ral poems for a newspaper printed at Little Rock, 
which pleased the editor so much that he sent for 
him to go there and become his partner. The 
proposition was gladly accepted, and in October he 
crossed the Arkansas and landed at Little Rock, 
paying his last cent for the ferriage of a poor old 
soldier, who had known his father in New England. 

Here commenced a new era in the life of Pike. 
47 



From this time his efforts appear to have been 
crowned with success. The "Arkansas Advo- 
cate" was edited by him until the autumn of 1834, 
when it became his property. Soon after his ar- 
rival at his new home he began to devote his leisure 
to the study of the law, and he was now admitted 
to the bar. He continued both to write for his 
paper and to practise in the courts, until the sum- 
mer of 1836, when he sold his printing establish- 
ment ; and since then he has successfully pursued 
his profession. He was married at Little Rock, in 
November, 1834. 

About this time he published at Boston a volume 
of prose sketches and poems, among which are an 
interesting account of his journeys over the prai- 
ries, and some fine poetry, written at Santa Fe and 
among the mountains and forests of Mexico. In 
the preface to it, he says : « What I have written 
has been a transcript of my own feelings — too much 
so, perhaps, for the purposes of fame. Writing 
has always been to me a communion with my own 
soul. These poems were composed in desertion 
and loneliness, and sometimes in places of fear 
and danger. My only sources of thought and 
imagery have been my own mind, and Nature, 
who has appeared to me generally in desolate 
guise and utter dreariness, and not unfrequently 
in sublimity." 

His "Hymns to the Gods," published afterward, 
were composed at an early age, in Fairhaven, and 
principally while he was surrounded by pupils, 
in the school-room. They are bold, spirited, 
scholarly and imaginative, and their diction is ap- 
propriate and poetical, though in some instances 
marred by imperfect and double rhymes. Of his 
minor pieces, "Spring" and "To the Mocking- 
bird," are the best. I have heard praise bestowed 
on "Ariel," a poem much longer than these, pub- 
lished in 1835, but as it appeared in a periodical 
which had but a brief existence, I have not been 
able to obtain a copy of it. In "Fantasma," in 
which, I suppose, he intended to shadow forth his 
own " eventful history," he speaks of one who 

"Was young, 
And had not known the hent of his own mind, 
Until the mighty spell of Coleridge woke 
Its hidden powers," 

and in some of his poems there is a cast of thought 
similar to that which pervades many of the works 
of this poet, though nothing that amounts to 
imitation. His early struggles, and subsequent 
wanderings and observations furnished him with 
the subjects, thoughts, and imagery of many of his 
pieces, and they therefore leave on the mind an 
impression of nature and truth. He still writes oc- 
casionally for the literary magazines, but none of 
his later poems seem to be equal to those which I 
have quoted in this work. 



370 



ALBERT PIKE. 



HYMNS TO THE GODS. 

NO. I. TO IfEPTUNE. 

God of the mighty deep ! wherever now 
The waves beneath thy brazen axles bow — 
Whether thy strong, proud steeds, wind-wing'd 

and wild, 
Trample the storm-vex'd waters round them piled, 
Swift as the lightning-flashes, that reveal 
The quick gyrations of each brazen wheel ; 
While round and under thee, with hideous roar, 
The broad Atlantic, with thy scourging sore, 
Thundering, like antique Chaos in his spasms, 
In heaving mountains and deep-yawning chasms, 
Fluctuates endlessly; while, through the gloom, 
Their glossy sides and thick manes fleck'd with foam, 
Career thy steeds, neighing with frantic glee 
In fierce response to the tumultuous sea, — 
Whether thy coursers now career below, 
Where, amid storm-wrecks, hoary sea-plants grow, 
Broad-leaved, and fanning with a ceaseless motion 
The pale, cold tenants of the abysmal ocean — 
0, come ! our altars waiting for thee stand, 
Smoking with incense on the level strand ! 

Perhaps thou lettest now thy horses roam 
Upon some quiet plain; no wind-toss'd foam 
Is now upon their limbs, but leisurely 
They tread with silver feet the sleeping sea, 
Fanning the waves with slowly-floating manes, 
Like mist in sunlight; haply, silver strains 
From clamorous trumpets round thy chariot ring, 
And, green-robed sea-gods unto thee, their king, 
Chant, loud in praise: Apollo now doth gaze 
With loving looks upon thee, and his rays 
Light up thy steeds' wild eyes : a pleasant warmth 
Is felt upon the sea, where fierce, cold storm 
Has just been rushing, and the noisy winds, 
That ^Eohjs now within their prison binds, 
Flying with misty wings: perhaps, below 
Thou liest in green caves, where bright things glow 
With myriad colours — many a monster cumbers 
The sand a-near thee, while old Triton slumbers 
As idly as his wont, and bright eyes peep 
Upon thee every way, as thou dost sleep. 

Perhaps thou liest on some Indian isle, 
Under a waving tree, where many a mile 
Stretches a sunny shore, with golden sands 
Hcap'd up in many shapes by naiads' hands, 
And, blushing as the waves come rippling on, 
Shaking the sunlight from them as they run 
And curl upon the beach — like molten gold 
Thick-set with jewellery most rare and old — 
And sea-nymphs sit, and, with small, delicate shells, 
Make thee sweet melody: as in deep dells 
We hear, of summer nights, by fairies made, 
The while they dance within some quiet shade, 
Sounding their silver flutes most low and sweet, 
In strange but beautiful tunes, that their light feet 
May dance upon the bright and misty dew 
In better time: all wanton airs that blew 
But lately over spice trees, now are here, 
Waving then wings, all odour-laden, near 
The bright and laughing sea. 0, wilt thou rise, 
And come with them to our new sacrifice ! 



-TO APOLLO. 



Bright-hair'd Apollo ! — thou who ever art 
A blessing to the world — whose mighty heart 
Forever pours out love, and light, and life : 
Thou, at whose glance all things of earth are rife 
With happiness ; to whom, in early spring, 
Bright flowers raise up their heads, where'er they 
On the steep mountain-side, or in the vale [cling 
Are nestled calmly. Thou at whom the pale 
And weary earth looks up, when winter flees, 
With patien t gaze : thou for whom wind-stripp'd trees 
Put on fresh 'leaves, and drink deep of the light 
That glitters i A thine eye: thou in whose bright 
And hottest rays the eagle fills his eye 
With quenchless fire, and far, far up on high 
Screams out his joy to thee: by all the names 
That thou dost bear — whether thy godhead claims 
Phoebus, or Sol, or golden-hair'd Apollo, 
Cynthian or Pythian — if thou dost follow 

The fleeing night, 0, hear 
Our hymn to thee, and smilingly draw near! 

O, most high poet ! thou whose great heart's swell 
Pours itself out on mountain and deep dell : 
Thou who dost touch them with thy golden feet, 
And make them for a poet's theme most meet: 
Thou who dost make the poet's eye perceive 
Great beauty everywhere — in the slow heave 
Of the unquiet sea, or in the war 
Of its unnumber'd waters ; on the shore 
Of pleasant streams, upon the jagged cliff 
Of savage mountain, where the black clouds drift 
Full of strange lightning; or upon the brow 
Of silent night, that solemnly and slow 
Comes on the earth ; 0, thou ! whose influence 
Touches all things with beauty, makes each sense 
Double delight, tinges with thine own heart 
Each thing thou meetest ; thou who ever art 
Living in beauty — nay, who art, in truth, 
Beauty imbodied — hear, while all our youth 

With earnest calling cry ! 
Answer our hymn, and come to us, most high! 

O, thou ! who strikest oft thy golden lyre 
In strange disguise, and with a wondrous fire 
Sweepest its strings upon the sunny glade, 
While dances to thee many a village maid, 
Decking her hair with wild flowers, or a wreath 
Of thine own laurel, while, reclined beneath 
Some ancient oak, with smiles at thy good heart, 
As though thou wert of this our world a part, 
Thou lookest on them in the darkening wood, 
While fauns come forth, and, with their dances rude 
Flit round among the trees with merry leap, 
Like their god, Pan; and from fir thickets deep 
Come up the satyrs, joining the wild crew, 
And capering for thy pleasure: from each yew, 
And oak, and beech, the wood-nymphs oft peep ou 
To see the revelry, while merry shout 
And noisy laughter rings about the wood, 
And thy lyre cheers the darken'd solitude — 

0, come ! while we do sound 
Our flutes and pleasant-pealing lyres around ! 

O, most high prophet ! — thou that showest men 
Deep-hidden knowledge: thou that from its den 



ALBERT PIKE. 



371 



Bringest futurity, that it comes by 
In visible shape, passing before the eye 
Shrouded in visions : thou in whose high power 
Are health and sickness : thou who oft dost shower 
Great plagues upon the nations, with hot breath 
Scorching away their souls, and sending death 
Like fiery mist amid them ; or again, 
Like the sweet breeze that comes with summer rain, 
Touching the soul with joy, thou sendest out 
Bright health among the people, who about 
With dewy feet and fanning wings doth step, 
And touch each poor, pale cheek with startling lip, 
Filling it with rich blood, that leaps anew 
Out from the shrivell'd heart, and courses through 
The long-forsaken veins ! — 0. thou, whose name 
Is sung by all, let us, too, dare to claim 

Thy holy presence here ! 
Hear us, bright god, and come in beauty near ! 

O, thou, the lover of the springing bow! 
Who ever in the gloomy woods dost throw 
Thine arrows to the mark, like the keen flight 
Of those thine arrows that with midday light 
Thou proudly pointest; thou from whom grim bears 
And lordly lions flee, with strange, wild fears, 
And hide among the mountains : thou whose cry 
Sounds often in the woods, where whirl and fly 
The time-worn leaves — when, with a merry train, 
Bacchus is on the hills, and on the plain 
The full-arm'd Ceres — when upon the sea 
The brine-gods sound their horns, and merrily 
The whole earth rings with pleasure : then thy voice 
Stills into silence every stirring noise, 
With utmost sweetness pealing on the hills, 
And in the echo of the dancing rills, 
And o'er the sea, and on the busy plain, 
And on the air, until all voices wane 

Before its influence — 
0, come, great god, be ever our defence ! 

By that most gloomy day, when with a cry 
Young Hyacinth fell down, and his dark eye 
Was fill'd with dimming blood — when on a bed 
Of his own flowers he laid his wounded head, 
Breathing deep sighs ; by those heart-cherish'd eyes 
Of long-loved Hyacinth — by all the sighs 
That thou, O, young Apollo, then didst pour 
On every gloomy hill and desolate shore, 
Weeping at thy great soul, and making dull 
Thy ever-quenchless eye, till men were full 
Of strange forebodings for thy lustre dimm'd, 
And many a chant in many a fane was hymn'd 
Unto the pale-eyed sun ; the satyrs stay'd 
Long time in the dull woods, then on the glade 
They came and look'd for thee ; and all in vain 
Poor Dian sought thy love, and did complain 
For want of light and life ; — by all thy grief, 
O, bright Apollo! hear, and give relief 

To us who cry to thee — 
O, come, and let us now thy glory see ! 



NO. III. TO VENUS. 

O, thou, most lovely and most beautiful ! 
Whether thy doves now lovingly do lull 



Thy bright eyes to soft slumbering upon 
j Some dreamy south wind : whether thou hast gone 
I Upon the heaven now, or if thou art 
' Within some floating cloud, and on its heart 

Pourest rich-tinted joy; whether thy wheels 
; Are touching on the sun-forsaken fields, 

And brushing off the dew from bending grass, 

Leaving the poor green blades to look, alas ! 
i With dim eyes at the moon — (ah! so dost thou 
j Full oft quench brightness !) — Venus, whether now 
! Thou passest o'er the sea, while each light wing 
! Of thy fair doves is wet, while sea-maids bring 

Sweet odours for thee — (ah! how foolish they! 
They have not felt thy smart !) — 

They know not, while in ocean-caves they play, 
How strong thou art. 

! Where'er thou art, 0, Venus ! hear our song — 

Kind goddess, hear ! for unto thee belong 

All pleasant offerings: bright doves coo to thee, 
j The while they twine their necks with quiet glee 
! Among the morning leaves ; thine are all sounds . 

Of pleasure on the earth ; and where abounds 
! Most happiness, for thee we ever look ; 
j Among the leaves, in dimly -lighted nook, 
! Most often hidest thou, where winds may wave 
j Thy sunny curls, and cool airs fondly lave 

Thy beaming brow, and ruffle the white wings 
| Of thy tired doves; and where his love-sonar sinjrs, 

With lightsome eyes, some little, strange, sweet bird, 
j With notes that never but by thee are heard — 

O, in such scene, most bright, thou liest now 
And, with half-open eye, 

Drinkest in beauty — O, most fair, that thou 
Wouldst hear our cry ! 

0, thou, through whom all things upon the earth 

Grow brighter: thou for whom even laughing mirth 

Lengthens his note; thou whom the joyous bird 

Singeth continuously; whose name is heard 

In every pleasant sound : at whose warm glance 

All things look brighter: for whom wine doth dance 

More merrily within the brimming vase. 

To meet thy lip: thou, at whose quiet pace 

Joy leaps on faster, with a louder laugh, 

And Sorrow tosses to the sea his staff, 

And pushes back the hair from his dim eyes, 

To look again upon forgotten skies ; 

While Avarice forgets to count his gold, 

Yea, unto thee his wither'd hand doth hold, 

Fill'd with that heart-blood: thou, to whose high 

All things are made to bow, [might 

Come thou to us, and turn thy looks of light 

Upon us now! 

O, hear, great goddess ! thou whom all obey; 
At whose desire rough satyrs leave their play, 
And gather wild-flowers, decking the bright hair 
Of her they love, and oft blackberries bear 
To shame them at her eyes : O, thou ! to whom 
They leap in awkward mood, within the gloom 
Of darkening oak trees, or at lightsome noon 
Sing unto thee, upon their pipes, a tune [power 
Of wondrous languishment : thou whose great 
Brings up the sea-maids fr^pn each ocean-bower, 
With many an idle song, to sing to thee, 
And bright locks flowing half above the sea 



ALBERT PIKE. 



And gleaming eyes, as if in distant caves 
They spied their lovers — (so among the waves 
Small bubbles flit, mocking the kindly sun, 

With little, laughing brightness) — 
O, come, and ere our festival be done, 

Our new loves bless ! 

0, thou who once didst weep, and with sad tears 
Bedew the pitying woods ! — by those gi-eat fears 
That haunted thee when thy beloved lay 
With dark eyes drown'd in death — by that dull day 
When poor Adonis fell, with many a moan, 
Among the leaves, and sadly and alone 
Breathed out his spirit — O, do thou look on 
All maidens who, for too great love, grow wan, 
A nd pity them : come to us when night brings 
Her first faint stars, and let us hear the wings 
Of thy most beauteous and bright-eyed doves 
Stirring the breathless air; let all thy loves 
Be flying round thy car, with pleasant songs 
Moving upon their lips: come! each maid longs 
For thy fair presence — goddess of rich love ! 

Come on the odorous air; 
And, as thy light wheels roll, from us remove 

All love-sick care ! 

Lo, we have many kinds of incense here 

To offer thee, and sunny wine and clear, 

Fit for young Bacchus : flowers we have here too, 

That we have gather'd when the morning dew 

Was moist upon them ; myrtle-wreaths we bear, 

To place upon thy bright, luxuriant hair, 

And shade thy temples too; 'tis now the time 

Of all fair beauty : thou who lovest the clime 

Of our dear Cyprus, where sweet flowers blow 

With honey in their cups, and with a glow 

Like thine own cheek, raising their modest heads 

To be refresh'd with the transparent beads 

Of silver dew: behold, this April night, 

Our altars burn for thee; lo, on the light 

We pour out incense from each golden vase; 

O, goddess, hear our words ! 
And hither turn, with thine own matchless grace, 

Thy white-wing'd birds. 

NO. IV. TO DIANA. 

Most graceful goddess ! — whether now thou art 
Hunting the dun deer in the silent heart 
Of some old, quiet wood, or on the side 
Of some high mountain, and, most eager-eyed, 
Dashing upon the chase, with bended bow 
And arrow at the string, and with a glow 
Of wondrous beauty on thy cheek, and feet 
Like thine own silver moon — yea, and as fleet 
As her best beams — and quiver at the back, 
Rattling to all thy steppings ; if some track 
In distant Thessaly thou followest up, 
Brushing the dews from many a flower-cup 
And quiet leaf, and listening to the bay 
Of thy good hounds, while in the deep woods they, 
feu ong-limb'd and swift, leap on with eager bounds, 
And with their long, deep note each hill resounds, 
Making thee music : — goddess, hear our cry, 
And let us worship %ee, while far and high 
Goes up thy brother — while his light is full 
Upon the earth ; for, when the night-winds lull 



The world to sleep, then to the lightless sky 
Dian must go, with silver robes of dew, 
And sunward eye. 

Perhaps thou liest on some shady spot 
Among the trees, while frighten'd beasts hear not 
The deep bay of thy hounds ; but, dropping down 
Upon green grass, and leaves all sere and brown, 
Thou pillowest thy delicate head upon 
Some ancient mossy root, where wood-winds run 
Wildly about thee, and thy fair nymphs point 
Thy death- wing'd arrows, or thy hair anoint 
With Lydian odours, and thy strong hounds lie 
Lazily on the earth, and watch thine eye, 
And watch thine arrows, while thou hast a dream. 
Perchance, in some deep-bosom'd, shaded stream 
Thou bathest now, where even thy brother sun 
Cannot look on thee — where dark shades and dun 
Fall on the water, making it most cool, 
Like winds from the broad sea, or like some pool 
In deep, dark cavern: hanging branches dip 
Their locks into the stream, or slowly drip 
With tear-drops of rich dew : before no eyes 
But those of flitting wind-gods, each nymph hies 

Into the deep, cool, running stream, and there 
Thou pillowest thyself upon its breast, 

O queen, most fair ! 

By all thine hours of pleasure — when thou wast 
Upon tall Latmos, moveless, still, and lost 
In boundless pleasure, ever gazing on 
Thy bright-eyed youth, whether the unseen sun 
Was lighting the deep sea, or at mid-noon 
Careering through the sky — by every tune 
And voice of joy that thrill'd about the chords 
Of thy deep heart, when thou didst hear his words 
In that cool, shady grot, where thou hadst brought 
And placed Endymion; where fair hands had taught 
All beauty to shine forth; where thy fair maids 
Had brought up shells for thee, and from the glades 
All sunny flowers, with precious stones and gems 
Of utmost beauty, pearly diadems 
Of many sea-gods ; birds were there, that sang 
Ever most sweetly; living waters rang 
Their changes to all time, to soothe the soul 
Of thy Endymion; 1 pleasant breezes stole 
With light feet through the cave, that they might 
His dewy lips ; — 0, by those hours of bliss [kiss 

That thou didst then enjoy, come to us, fair 
And beautiful Dtana — take us now 

Under thy care ! 



NO. it. — TO MERCCnr. 

0, winged messenger! if thy light feet 

Are in the star-paved halls where high gods meet, 

Where the rich nectar thou dost take and sip 

At idly-pleasant leisure, while thy lip 

Utters rich eloquence, until thy foe, 

Juno herself, doth her long hate forego, 

And hangs upon thine accents; Venus smiles, 

And aims her looks at thee with winning wiles ; 

And wise Minerva's cup stands idly by 

The while thou speakest. Whether up on high 

Thou wing'st thy way — or dost but now unfurl 

Thy pinions like the eagle, while a whirl 



ALBERT PIKE. 



378 



Of air takes place about thee — if thy wings 

Are over the broad sea, where Afric flings 

His hot breath on the waters ; by the shore 

Of Araby the blest, or in the roar 

Of crashing northern ice — O, turn, and urge 

Thy winged course to us ! Leave the rough surge, 

Or icy mountain-height, or city proud, 

Or haughty temple, or dim wood down bow'd 

With weaken'd age, 
And come to us, thou young and mighty sage ! 

Thou who invisibly dost ever stand 

Nea. each high orator; and, hand in hand 

With the gold-robed Apollo, touch the tongue 

Of every poet ; on whom men have hung 

With strange enchantment, when in dark disguise 

Thou hast descended from cloud-curtain'd skies, 

And lifted up thy voice, to teach bold men 

Thy world-arousing art : O, thou ! that, when 

The ocean was untrack'd, didst teach them send 

Great ships upon it: thou who dost extend 

In storm a calm protection to the hopes 

Of the fair merchant : thou who on the slopes 

Of Mount Cyllene first madest sound the lyre 

And many-toned harp with childish fire, 

And thine own beauty sounding in the caves 

A strange, new tune, unlike the ruder staves 

That Pan had utter'd — while each wondering 

nymph 
Came out from tree and mountain, and pure lymph 
Of mountain-stream, to drink each rolling note 
That o'er the listening woods did run and float 

With fine, clear tone, 
Like silver trumpets o'er still waters blown : 

0, matchless artist! thou of wondrous skill, 
Who didst in ages past the wide earth fill 
With every usefulness : thou who dost teach 
Quick-witted thieves the miser's gold to reach, 
And rob him of his sleep for many a night, 
Getting thee curses : 0, mischievous sprite ! 
Thou Rogue-god Merc cut ! ever glad to cheat 
All gods and men ; with mute and noiseless feet 
Going in search of mischief; now to steal 
The fiery spear of Mars, now clog the wheel 
Of bright Apollo's car, that it may crawl 
Most slowly upward : thou whom wrestlers call, 
Whether they strive upon the level green 
At dewy nightfall, under the dim screen 
Of ancient oak, or at the sacred games 
Iu fierce contest : thou whom each then names 
In half-thought prayer, when the quick breath is 

drawn 
For the last struggle : thou whom on the lawn 
The victor praises, making unto thee 
Offering for his proud honours — let us be 

Under thy care : 
0, winged messenger, hear, hear our prayer ! 

NO. VI. TO BACCHUS. 

Where art thou, B acchus 1 On the vine-spread hills 
Of some rich country, where the red wine fills 
The cluster'd grapes — staining thy lips all red 
With generous liquor — pouring on thy head 
The odorous wine, and ever holding up 
Unto the smiling sun thy brimming cup, 



| And filling it with light 1 Or doth thy car, 
1 Under the blaze of the far northern star, 
Roll over Thracia's hills, while all around 
Are shouting Bacchanals, and every sound 
j Of merry revelry, while distant men 
Start at thy noisings 1 Or in shady glen 
Reclinest thou, beneath green ivy leaves, 
i And idlest off the day, while each Faun weaves 
j Green garlands for thee, sipping the rich bowl 
That thou hast given him — while the loud roll 
j Of thy all-conquering wheels is heard no more, 
i And thy strong tigers have lain down before 
Thy grape-stain'd feet ? 
0, Bacchus ! come and meet 
Thy worshippers, the while, with merry lore 
Of ancient song, thy godhead they do greet ! 

1 0, thou who lovest pleasure ! at whose heart 

Rich wine is always felt ; who hast a part 
; In all air-swelling mirth ; who in the dance 
j Of merry maidens join'st, where the glance 
j Of bright black eyes, or white and twinkling feet 
i Of joyous fair ones, doth thy quick eyes greet 
Upon some summer-green : Maker of joy 
To all care-troubled men ! who dost destroy 
The piercing pangs of grief; for whom the maids 
Weave ivy garlands, and in pleasant glades 
Hang up thy image, and with beaming looks 
Go dancing round, while shepherds with their crooks 
Join the glad company, and pass about, 
With merry laugh and many a gieesome shout, 
Staining with rich, dark grapes each little cheek 
They most do love ; and then, with sudden freak, 
Taking the willing hand, and dancing on 
About the green mound : O, thou merry son 
Of lofty Jove ! 
Whpre thou dost rove 
Among the grape-vines, come, ere day is done, 
And let us too thy sunny influence prove ! 

Where art thou, conqueror 1 before whom fell 
The jewell'd kings of Ind, when the strong swell 
Of thy great multitudes came on them, and 
Thou hadst thy thyrsus in thy red, right hand, 
Shaking it over them, till every soul 
Grew faint as with wild lightning ; when the roll 
Of thy great chariot-wheels was on the neck 
Of many a conqueror , when thou didst check 
Thy tigers and thy lynxes at the shore 
Of the broad ocean, and didst still the roar, 
Pouring a sparkling and most pleasant wine 
Into its waters ; when the dashing brine 
Toss'd up new odours, and a pleasant scent 
Upon its breath, and many who were spent 
With weary sickness, breathed of life anew, 
When wine-inspired breezes on them blew ; — 
Bacchus ! who bringest all men to thy feet ! 
Wine-god ! with brow of light, and smiles most 

Make this our earth [sweet ! 

A sharer in thy mirth — 
Let us rejoice thy wine-dew'd hair to greet, 

And chant to thee, who gavest young Joy his 
birth. 

Come to our ceremony ! lo, we rear 
An altar of bright turf unto thee here 
21 



ALBERT PIKE. 



And crown it with the vine and pleasant leaf 

Of clinging ivy : Come, and drive sad Grief 

Far from us ! lo, we pour thy turf upon 

Full cups of wine, bidding the westering sun 

Fill the good air with odour ; see, a mist 

Is rising from the sun-touch'd wine ! — (ah ! hist ! — 

Alas ! 'twas not his cry !) — with all thy train 

Of laughing Satyrs, pouring out a strain 

Of utmost shrillness on the noisy pipe — 

O, come ! — with eye and lip of beauty, ripe 

And wondrous rare — ! let us hear thy wheels 

Coming upon the hills, while twilight steals 

Upon us quietly — while the dark night 

Is hinder'd from her course by the fierce light 

Of thy wild tigers' eyes ; — O ! let us see 

The revelry of thy wild company, 

With all thy train ; 

And, ere night comes again, 
We '11 pass o'er many a hill and vale with thee, 

Raising to thee a loudly-joyous strain. 

NO. VII. TO SOMXUS. 

O, thou, the leaden-eyed ! with drooping lid 
Hanging upon thy sight, and eye half-hid 
By matted hair: that, with a constant train 
Of empty dreams, all shadowless and vain 
As the dim wind, dost sleep in thy dark cave 
With poppies at the mouth,which night-winds wave, 
Sending their breathings downward — on thy bed, 
Thine only throne, with darkness overspread, 
And curtains black as are the eyes of night: 
Thou, who dost come at time of waning light 
And sleep among the woods, where night doth hide 
And tremble at the sun, and shadows glide 
Among the waving tree-tops; if now there 
Thou sleepest in a current of cool air, 
Within some nook, amid thick flowers and moss, 
Gray-colour'd as thine eyes, while thy dreams toss 

Their fantasies about the silent earth, 

In waywardness of mirth — 
O, come ! and hear the hymn that we are chanting 
Amid the star-light through the thick leaves slanting. 

Thou lover of the banks of idle streams 
OYrshaded by broad oaks, with scatter'd gleams 
From the few stars upon them ; of the shore 
Of the broad sea, with silence hovering o'er; 
The great moon hanging out her lamps to gild 
The murmuring waves with hues all pure and mild, 
Where thou dost lie upon the sounding sands, 
While winds come dancing on from southern lands 
With dreams upon their backs, and unseen waves 
Of odours in their hands : thou, in the caves 
Of the star-lighted clouds, on summer eves 
Reclining lazily, while Silence leaves 
Her influence about thee : in the sea 
That liest, hearing the monotony 
Of waves far-off above thee, like the wings 
Of passing dreams, while the great ocean swings 

His bulk above thy sand-supported head — 

(As chain'd upon his bed 
Some qriant, with an idleness of motion 
So swings the still and sleep-enthrall' d ocean.) 

Thou who dost bless the weary with thy touch, 
And makest Agony relax his clutch 



Upon the bleeding fibres of the heart ; 
Pale Disappointment lose her constant smart, 
And Sorrow dry her tears, and cease to weep 
Her life away, and gain new cheer in sleep: 
Thou who dost bless the birds, in every place 
Where they have sung their songs with wondrous 

grace 
Throughout the day, and now, with drooping wing, 
Amid the leaves receive thy welcoming : — 
Come with thy crowd of dreams, 0, thou ! to whom 
All noise is most abhorr'd, and in this gloom, 
Beneath the shaded brightness of the sky, 
Where are no sounds but as the winds go by, — 
Here touch our eyes, great Somxus ! with thy wand ; 
Ah ! here thou art, with touch most mild and bland, 

And we forget our hymn, and sink away; 

And here, until broad day 
Come up into the sky, with fire-steeds leaping, 
Will we recline, beneath the vine-leaves sleeping. 



KTO. VIII. TO CETtES. 

Goddess of bounty ! at whose spring-time call, 
When on the dewy earth thy first tones fall, 
Pierces the ground each young and tender blade, 
And wonders at the sun ; each dull, gray glade 
Is shining with new grass ; from each chill hole, 
Where they had lain enchain'd and dull of soul, 
The birds come forth, and sing for joy to thee 
Among the springing leaves ; and, fast and free, 
The rivers toss their chains up to the sun, 
And through their grassy banks leapingly run, 
When thou hast touch'd them : thou who ever art 
The goddess of all beauty : thou whose heart 
Is ever in the sunny meads and fields ; 
To whom the laughing earth looks up and yields 
Her waving treasuies: thou that in thy car, 
With winged dragons, when the morning star 
Sheds his cold light, touchest the morning trees 
Until they spread their blossoms to the breeze ; — 

O, pour thy light 

Of truth and joy upon our souls this night, 
And grant to us all plenty and good ease ! 

0, thou, the goddess of the rustling corn ! 
Thou to whom reapers sing, and on the lawn 
Pile up their baskets with the full-ear'd wheat; 
While maidens come, with little dancing feet, 
And bring thee poppies, weaving thee a crown 
Of simple beauty, bending their heads down 
To garland thy full baskets : at whose side, 
Among the sheaves of wheat, doth Bacchus ride 
With bright and sparkling eyes, and feet and mouth 
All wine-stain'd from the warm and sunny south: 
Perhaps one arm about thy neck he twines, 
While in his car ye ride among the vines, 
And with the other hand he gathers up 
The rich, full grapes, and holds the glowing cup 
Unto thy lips — and then he throws it by, 
And crowns thee with bright leaves to shade thine 
So it may gaze with richer love and light [eye, 
Upon his beaming brow: If thy swift flight 

Be on some hill 

Of vine-hung Thrace — O, come, while night is 
still, 
And greet with heaping arms our gladden'd sight! 



ALBERT PIKE. 



Lo ! the small stars, above the silver wave, 
Come wandering up the sky, and kindly lave 
The thin clouds with their light, like floating sparks 
Of diamonds in the air ; or spirit barks, 
With unseen riders, wheeling in the sky. 
Lo ! a soft mist of light is rising high, 
Like silver shining through a tint of red, 
And soon the queened moon her love will shed, 
Like pearl-mist, on the earth and on the sea, 
Where thou shalt cross to view our mystery. 
Lo ! we have torches here for thee, and urns, 
Where incense with a floating odour burns, 
And altars piled with various fruits and flowers, 
And ears of corn, gather'd at early hours, 
And odours fresh from India, with a heap 
Of many-colour'd poppies: — Lo! we keep 
Our silent watch for thee, sitting before 
Thy ready altars, till to our lone shore 

Thy chariot wheels 
Shall come, while ocean to the burden reels, 
And utters to the sky a stifled roar. 



TO THE PLANET JUPITER. 

Thou art, in truth, a fair and kingly star, 
Planet ! whose silver crest now gleams afar 
Upon the edge of yonder eastern hill, 
That, night-like, seems a third of heaven to fill. 
Thou art most worthy of a poet's lore, 
His worship — as a thing to bend before ; 
And yet thou smilest as if I might sing, 
Weak as I am — my lyre unused to ring 
Among the thousand harps which fill the world. 
The sun's last fire upon the sky has curl'd, 
And on the clouds, and now thou hast arisen, 
And in the east thine eye of love doth glisten — 
Thou, whom the ancients took to be a king, 
And that of gods ; and, as thou wert a spring 
Of inspiration, I would soar and drink, 
While yet thou art upon the mountain's brink. 
Who bid men say that thou, O silver peer, 
Wast to the moon a servitor, anear 
To sit, and watch her eye for messages, 
Like to the other fair and silver bees 
That swarm around her when she sits her throne] 
What of the moon'? She bringeth storm alone, 
At new, and full, and every other time ; [rhyme, 
She turns men's brains, and so she makes them 
And rave, and sigh away their weary life ; 
And shall she be of young adorers rife, 
And thou have none ] Nay, one will sing to thee, 
And turn his eye to thee, and bend the knee. 
Lo ! on the marge of the dim western plain, 
The star of love doth even yet remain — 
She of the ocean-foam — and watch thy look, 
As one might gaze upon an antique book, 
When he doth sit and read, at deep, dead night, 
Stealing from Time his hours. Ah, sweet delay ! 
And now she sinks to follow fleeting day, 
Contented with thy glance of answering love : 
And where she worships can I thoughtless prove] 
Now as thou risest higher into sight, 
Marking the water with a line of light, 
On wave and ripple quietly aslant, 



Thy influences steal upon the heart, 

With a sweet force and unresisted art, 

Like the still growth of some unceasing plant. 

The mother, watching by her sleeping child. 

Blesses thee, when thy light, so still and mild, 

Falls through the casement on her babe's pale face. 

And tinges it with a benignant grace, 

Like the white shadow of an angel's wing. 

The sick man, who has lain for many a day, 

And wasted like a lightless flower away, 

He blesses thee, Jote ! when thou dost shine 

Upon his face, with influence divine, 

Soothing his thin, blue eyelids into sleep. 

The child its constant murmuring will keep, 

Within the nurse's arms, till thou dost glad 

His eyes, and then he sleeps. The thin, and sad, 

And patient student closes up his books 

A space or so, to gain from thy kind looks 

Refreshment. Men, in dungeons pent, 

Climb to the window, and, with head upbent, 

Gaze they at thee. The timid deer awake, 

And, 'neath thine eye, their nightly rambles make, 

Whistling their joy to thee. The speckled trout 

From underneath his rock comes shooting out, 

And turns his eye to thee, and loves thy light, 

And sleeps within it. The gray water plant 

Looks up to thee beseechingly aslant, 

And thou dost feed it there, beneath the wave. 

Even the tortoise crawls from out his cave, 

And feeds wherever, on the dewy grass, 

Thy light hath linger'd. Thou canst even pass 

To water-depths, and make the coral-fly 

Work happier, when flatter'd by thine eye. 

Thou touchest not the roughest heart in vain ; 

Even the sturdy sailor, and the swain, 

Bless thee, whene'er they see thy lustrous eye 

Open amid the clouds, stilling the sky. 

The lover praises thee, and to thy light 

Compares his love, thus tender and thus bright ; 

And tells his mistress thou dost kindly mock 

Her gentle eye. Thou dost the heart unlock 

Which Care and Wo have render'd comfortless, 

And teachest it thy influence to bless, 

And even for a time its grief to brave. 

The madman, that beneath the moon doth rave, 

Looks to thy orb, and is again himself. 

The miser stops from counting out his pelf, 

When through the barred windows conies thy lull — 

And even he, he thinks thee beautiful. 

! while thy silver arrows pierce the air, 
And while beneath thee, the dim forests, where 
The wind sleeps, and the snowy mountains tall 
Are still as death — ! bring me back again 
The bold and happy heart that bless'd me, when 
My youth was green ; ere home and hope were veil'd 
In desolation ! Then my cheek was paled. 

But not with care. For, late at night, and long, 

1 toil'd, that I might gain myself among 
Old tomes, a knowledge ; and in truth I did : 
I studied long, and things the wise had hid 

In their quaint books, I learn'd ; and then I thought 
The poet's art was mine ; and so I wrought 
My boyish feelings into words, and spread 
Them out before the world — and I was fed 
With praise, and with a name. Alas ! to him, 



376 



ALBERT PIKE. 



Whose eye and heart must soon or late grow dim, 
Toiling with poverty, or evils worse, 
This gift of poetry is but a curse, 
Unfitting it amid the world to brood, 
And toil and jostle for a livelihood. 
The feverish passion of the soul hath been 
My bane. O Jove ! couldst thou but wean 
Me back to boyhood for a space, it were 
Indeed a gift. There was a sudden stir, 
Thousands of years ago, upon the sea; 
The waters foam'd, and parted hastily, 
As though a giant left his azure home, 
And Delos woke, and did to light up come 
Within that Grecian sea. Latona had, 
Till then, been wandering, listlessly and sad, 
About the earth, and through the hollow vast 
Of water, follow'd by the angry haste 
Of furious Juno. Many a weary day, 
Above the shaggy hills where, groaning, lay 
Enceladus and Typhon, she had roam'd, 
And over volcanoes, where fire upfoam'd ; 
And sometimes in the forests she had lurk'd, 
Where the fierce serpent through the herbage work'd, 
Over gray weeds, and tiger-trampled flowers, 
And where the lion hid in tangled bowers, 
And whe\ - e the panther, with his dappled skin, 
Made day like night with his deep moaning din : 
All things were there to fright the gentle soul — 
The hedgehog, that across the path did roll, 
Gray eagles, fang'd like cats, old vultures, bald, 
. Wild hawks and restless owls, whose cry appall'd, 
Black bats and speckled tortoises, that snap, 
And scorpions, hiding underneath gray stones, 
With here and there old piles of human bones 
Of the first men that found out what was war, 
Brass heads of arrows, rusted scimetar, 
Old crescent, shield, and edgeless battle-axe, 
And near them skulls, with wide and gaping cracks, 
Too old and dry for worms to dwell within ; 
Only the restless spider there did spin, 
And made his house. And then she down would lay 
Her restless head, among dry leaves, and faint, 
And close her eyes till thou wouldst come and paint 
Her visage with thy light ; and then the blood 
Would stir again about her heart, endued, 
By thy kind look, with life again, and speed ; 
And then wouldst thou her gentle spirit feed 
With new-wing'd hopes, and sunny fantasies, 
And, looking piercingly amid the trees, 
Drive from her path all those unwelcome sights. 
Then would she rise, and o'er the flower-blights, 
And through the tiger-peopled solitudes, 
And odorous brakes, and panther-guarded woods, 
Would keep her way until she reach'd the edge 
Of the blue sea, and then, on some high ledge 
Of thunder-blacken'd rocks, would sit and look 
Into thine eye, nor fear lest from some nook 
Should rise the hideous shapes that Juno ruled, 
And persecute her. Once her feet she cool'd 
Upon a long and narrow beach. The brine 
Had mark'd, as with an endless serpent-spine, 
The sanded shore with a long line of shells, 
Like those the Nereids weave, within the cells 
Of their queen Thetis — such they pile around 
The feet of cross old Nereus, having found 



That this will gain his grace, and such they bring 
To the quaint Proteus, as an offering, 
When they would have him tell their fate, and who 
Shall first embrace them with a lover's glow. 
And there Latona stepp'd along the marge 
Of the slow waves, and when one came more large, 
And wet her feet, she tingled, as when Jove 
Gave her the first, all-burning kiss of love. 
Still on she kept, pacing along the sand, 
And on the shells, and now and then would stand, 
And let her long and golden hair outfloat 
Upon the waves — when, lo ! the sudden note 
Of the fierce, hissing dragon met her ear. 
She shudder'd then, and, all-possess'd with fear, 
Rush'd wildly through the hollow-sounding vast 
Into the deep, deep sea ; and then she pass'd 
Through many wonders — coral-rafter'd caves, 
Deep, far below the noise of upper waves — 
Sea-flowers, that floated into golden hair, 
Like misty silk — fishes, whose eyes did glare, 
And some surpassing lovely — fleshless spine 
Of old behemoths — flasks of hoarded wine 
Among the timbers of old, shatter'd ships — 
Goblets of gold, that had not touch'd the lips 
Of men a thousand years. And then she lay 
Her down, amid the ever-changing spray, 
And wish'd, and begg'd to die ; and then it was 
That voice of thine the deities that awes, 
Lifted to light beneath the Grecian skies 
That rich and lustrous Delian paradise, 
And placed Latona there, while yet asleep, 
With parted lip, and respiration deep, 
And open palm ; and when at length she woke, 
She found herself beneath a shadowy oak, 
Huge and majestic ; from its boughs look'd out 
All birds, whose timid nature 't is to doubt 
And fear mankind. The dove, with patient eyes 
Earnestly did his artful nest devise, 
And was most busy under sheltering leaves ; 
The thrush, that loves to sit upon gray eaves 
Amid old ivy, she, too, sang and built ; [spilt 

And mock-bird songs rang out like hail-showers 
Among the leaves, or on the velvet grass ; 
The bees did all around their store amass, 
Or down depended from a swinging bough, 
In tangled swarms. Above her dazzling brow 
The lustrous humming-bird was whirling ; ahd, 
So near, that she might reach it with her hand, 
Lay a gray lizard — such do notice give 
When a foul serpent comes, and they do live 
By the permission of the roughest hind ; 
Just at her feet, with mild eyes up-inclined, 
A snowy antelope v..ropp'd off the buds 
From hanging limbs ; and in the solitudes 
No noise disturb'd the birds, except the dim 
Voice of a fount, that, from the grassy brim, 
Rain'd upon violets its liquid light, 
And visible love; also, the murmur slight 
Of waves, that softly sang their anthem, and 
Trode gently on the soft and noiseless sand, 
As gentle children in sick-chambers grieve, 
And go on tiptoe. Here, at call of eve, 
When thou didst rise above the barred east, 
Touching with light Latona's snowy breast 
And gentler eyes, and when the happy earth 



ALBERT PIKE. 



Sent up its dews to thee — then she gave birth 
Unto Apollo and the lustrous Dian ; 
And when the wings of morn commenced to fan 
The darkness from the east, afar there rose, 
Within the thick and odour-dropping forests, [est, 
Where moss was grayest and dim caves were hoar- 
Afar there rose the known and dreadful hiss 
Of the pursuing dragon. Agonies 
Grew on Latoxa's soul ; and she had fled, 
And tried again the ocean's pervious bed, 
Had not Apollo, young and bright Apollo, 
Restrained from the dim and perilous hollow, 
And ask'd what meant the noise. " It is, O child ! 
The hideous dragon that hath aye defiled 
My peace and quiet, sent by heaven's queen 
To slay her rival, me." Upon the green 
And mossy grass there lay a nervous bow, 
And heavy arrows, eagle-wing'd, which thou, 

Jove ! hadst placed within Apollo's reach. 
These grasping, the young god stood in the breach 
Of circling trees, with eye that fiercely glanced, 
Nostril expanded, lip press'd, foot advanced, 
And arrow at the string; when, lo ! the coil 

Of the fierce snake came on with winding toil, 
And vast gyrations, crushing down the branches, 
With noise as when a hungry tiger cranches 
Huge bones : and then Apollo drew his bow 
Full at the eye — nor ended with one blow : 
Dart after dart he hurl'd from off the string — 
All at the eye — until a lifeless thing 
The dragon lay. Thus the young sun-god slew 
Old Juno's scaly snake : and then he threw 
(So strong was he) the monster in the sea ; 
And sharks came round and ate voraciously, 
Lashing the waters into bloody foam, 
By their fierce fights. Latona, then, might roam 
In earth, air, sea, or heaven, void of dread ; 
For even Juno badly might have sped 
With her bright children, whom thou soon didst set 
To rule the sun and moon, as they do yet. 
Thou ! who didst then their destiny control, 

1 here would woo thee, till into my soul 

Thy light might sink. Jove ! I am full sure 
None bear unto thy star a love more pure 
Than I ; thou hast been, everywhere, to me 
A source. of inspiration. I should be 
Sleepless, could I not first behold thine orb 
Rise in the west; then doth my hearl. absorb, 
Like other withering flowers, thy light and life ; 
For that neglect, which cutteth like a knife, 
I never have from thee, unless the lake 
Of heaven be clouded. Planet ! thou wouldst make 
Me, as thou didst thine ancient worshippers, 
A poet ; but, alas ! whatever stirs 
My tongue and pen, they both are faint and weak : 
Apollo hath not, in some gracious freak, 
Given to me the spirit of his lyre, 
Or touch'd my heart with his ethereal fire 
And glorious essence : thus, whate'er I sing 
Is weak and poor, and may but humbly ring 
Above the waves of Time's far-booming sea. 
All I can give is small ; thou wilt not scorn 
A heart : I give no golden sheaves of corn ; 
I burn to thee no rich and odorous gums ; 
T offer up to thee no hecatombs, 
48 



And build no altars : 't is a heart alone ; 
Such as it is, I give it — 't is thy own. 



TO THE MOCKING-BIRD. 

Thott glorious mocker of the world ! I hear 
Thy many voices ringing through the glooms 
Of these green solitudes — and all the clear, 
Bright joyance of their song enthralls the ear 
And floods the heart. Over the sphered tombs 
Of vanish'd nations rolls thy music tide. 
No light from history's starlike page illumes 
The memory of those nations — they have died. 
None cares for them but thou, and thou may st sing, 
Perhaps, o'er me — as now thy song doth ring 
Over their bones by whom thou once wast deified. 

Thou scorner of all cities ! Thou dost leave 
The world's turmoil and never-ceasing din, 
Where one from others no existence weaves, 
Where the old sighs, the young turns gray and 

grieves, 
Where misery gnaws the maiden's heart within : 
And thou dost flee into the broad, green woods, 
And with thy soul of music thou dost win 
Their heart to harmony — no jar intrudes 
Upon thy sounding melody. O, where, 
Amid the sweet musicians of the air, 
Is one so dear as thee to these old solitudes ? 

Ha ! what a burst was that ! the iEolian strain 
Goes floating through the tangled passages 
Of the lone woods — and now it comes again — 
A multitudinous melody — like a rain 
Of glossy music under echoing trees, 
Over a ringing lake ; it wraps the soul 
With a bright harmony of happiness — 
Even as a gem is wrapt, when round it roll 
Their waves of brilliant flame — till we become, 
E'en with the excess of our deep pleasure, dumb, 
And pant like some swift runner clinging to the goal. 

I would, sweet bird, that I might live with thee, 

Amid the eloquent grandeur of the shades, 

Alone with nature — but it may not be ; 

I have to struggle with the tumbling sea 

Of human life, until existence fades 

Into death's darkness. Thou wilt sing and soar 

Through the thick woods and shadow-checker'd 

glades, 

While naught of sorrow casts a dimness o'er 

The brilliance of thy heart — but I must wear 

As now, my garmenting of pain and care — 

As penitents of old their galling sackcloth wore. 

Yet why complain 1 — What though fond hopes 
deferr'd [gloom ! 

Have overshadow'd Youth's green paths with 
Still, joy's rich music is not all unheard, — 
There is a voice sweeter than thine, sweet bird, 
To welcome me, within my humble home ; — 
There is an eye with love's devotion bright, 
The darkness of existence to illume ! [blight 

Then why complain? — When death shall cast his 
Over the spirit, then my bones shall rest 
Beneath these trees — and from thy^ swelling breast, 
O'er them thy song shall pour like arich flood of light. 
2i2 



ALBERT PIKE. 



TO SPRING. 

thou delicious Spring ! 
Nursed in the lap of thin and subtle showers, 

Which fall from clouds that lift their snowy wing 
From odorous beds of light-enfolded flowers, 
And from enmassed bowers, 
That over grassy walks their greenness fling, 
Come, gentle Spring! 

Thou lover of young wind, 
That cometh from the invisible upper sea [bind, 
Beneath the sky, which clouds, its white foam, 
nd, settling in the trees deliciously, 

Makes young leaves dance with glee, 
Even in the teeth of that old, sober hind, 
Winter unkind, 

Come to us ; for thou art 
Like the fine love of children, gentle Spring ! 

Touching the sacred feeling of the heart, 
Or like a virgin's pleasant welcoming ; 
And thou dost ever bring 
A tide of gentle but resistless art 
Upon the heart. 

Red Autumn from the south 
Contends with thee ; alas ! what may he show ? 

What are his purple-stain'd and rosy mouth, 
And browned cheeks, to thy soft feet of snow, 
And timid, pleasant glow, 
Giving earth-piercing flowers theirprimal growth, 
And greenest youth 1 

Gay Summer conquers thee ; 
And yet he has no beauty such as thine ; 

What is his ever-streaming, fiery sea, 
To the pure glory that with thee doth shine ? 
Thou season most divine, 
What may his dull and lifeless minstrelsy 
Compare with thee? 

Come, sit upon the hills, 
And bid the waking streams leap down their side, 
And green the vales with their slight-sounding 
And when the stars upon the sky shall glide, [rills ; 
And crescent Dian ride, 
I too will breathe of thy delicious thrills, 
On grassy hills. 

Alas ! bright Spring, not long 
Shall I enjoy thy pleasant influence; 

For thou shalt die the summer heat among, 
Sublimed to vapour in his fire intense, 
And, gone forever hence, 
Exist no more : no more to earth belong, 
Except in song. 

So I who sing shall die : 
Worn unto death, perchance, by care and sorrow; 

And, fainting thus with an unconscious sigh, 
Bid unto this poor body a good-morrow, 

Which now sometimes I borrow, 
And breathe of joyance keener and more high, 
Ceasing to sigh ! 



LINES WRITTEN ON THE ROCKY 

MOUNTAINS. 

The deep, transparent sky is full 

Of many thousand glittering lights — 
Unnumber'd stars that calmly rule 

The dark dominions of the night. 
The mild, bright moon has upward risen, 

Out of the gray and boundless plain, 
And all around the white snows glisten, 

Where frost, and ice, and silence reign, — 
While ages roll away, and they unchanged remain. 

These mountains, piercing the blue sky 

With their eternal cones of ice ; 
The torrents dashing from on high, 

O'er rock and crag and precipice ; 
Change not, but still remain as ever, 

Unwasting, deathless, and sublime, 
And will remain while lightnings quiver, 

Or stars the hoary summits climb, 
Or rolls the thunder-chariot of eternal Time. 

It is not so with all — I change, 

And waste as with a living death, 
Like one that hath become a strange, 

Unwelcome guest, and lingereth 
Among the memories of the past, 

Where he is a forgotten name ; 
For Time hath greater power to blast 

The hopes, the feelings, and the fame, 
To make the passions fierce, or their first strength 
to tame. 

The wind comes rushing swift by me, 

Pouring its coolness on my brow ; 
Such was I once — as proudly free, 

And yet, alas ! how alter'd now! 
Yet, while I gaze upon yon plain, 

These mountains, this eternal sky, 
The scenes of boyhood come again, 

And pass before the vacant eye, 
Still wearing something of their ancient brilliancy. 

Yet why complain'? — for what is wrong, 

False friends, cold-heartedness, deceit, 
And life already made too long, 

To one who walks with bleeding feet 
Over its paths ] — it will but make 

Death sweeter when it comes at last — 
And though the trampled heart may ache, 

Its agony of pain is past, 
And calmness gathers there, while life is ebbing 
fast. 

Perhaps, when I have pass'd away, 

Like the sad echo of a dream, 
There may be some one found to say 

A word that might like sorrow seem. 
That I would have — one sadden'd tear, 

One kindly and regretting thought — 
Grant me but that ! — and even here, 

Here, in this lone, unpeopled spot, 
To breathe away this life of pain, I murmur not. 



WILLIS GAYLORD CLARK. 



[Bom, 1810. Died, 1841.] 



Willis Gaylord Clark was born at Otisco, 
an agricultural town in central New York, in the 
year J 310. His father had been a soldier in the 
revolutionary army, and his services had won for 
him tributes of acknowledgment from the govern- 
ment. He had read much, and was fond of philo- 
sophical speculations; and in his son he found an 
earnest and ready pupil. The teachings of the 
father, and the classical inculcations of the Re- 
verend George Colton, a maternal relative, laid 
a firm foundation for the acquirements which after- 
ward gave grace and vigour to his writings. 

At an early age, stimulated by the splendid scenery 
outspread on every side around him, Clark began 
to feel the poetic impulse. He painted the beauties 
of Nature with singular fidelity, and in numbers 
most musical ; and as he grew older, a solemnity 
and gentle sadness of thought pervaded his verse, 
and evidenced his desire to gather from the scenes 
and images it reflected, lessons of morality. 

When he was about twenty years of age he 
repaired to Philadelphia, where his reputation as 
a poet had already preceded him, and under the 
auspices of his friend, the Reverend Doctor Ely, 
commenced a weekly miscellany similar in design 
to the " Mirror," then and now published in New 
York. This work was abandoned after a brief 
period, and Clark assumed, with the Reverend 
Doctor Brantley, an eminent Baptist clergyman, 
now President of the College of South Carolina, 
the charge of the " Columbian Star," a religious 
and literary periodical, of high character, in which 
he printed many brief poems of considerable merit, 
a few of which were afterward included in a small 
volume with a more elaborate work entitled "The 
Spirit of Life," originally prepared as an exercise 
at a collegiate exhibition, and distinguished for the 
melody of its versification and the rare felicity of 
its illustrations. 

After a long association with the reverend editor 
of the "Columbian Star," Clark was solicited to 
take charge of the "Philadelphia Gazette," one of 
the oldest and most respectable journals in Penn- 
sylvania. He ultimately became its proprietor, and 
from that time until his death continued to conduct 
it. In 1836 he was married to Asne Poyntell 
Caldcleugh, the daughter of one of the wealthiest 
citizens of Philadelphia, and a woman of great per- 
sonal beauty, rare accomplishments, and an affec- 
tionate disposition, who fell a victim to that most 
terrible disease of our climate, consumption, in 
the meridian of her youth and happiness, leaving 
her husband a prey to the deepest melancholy. 
In the following verses, written soon after this 
bereavement, his emotions are depicted with unaf- 
fected feeling: 

'T is an autumnal eve — the low winds, sighing 
To wet leaves, rustling as they hasten by ; 



The eddying gusts to tossing boughs replying, 

And ebon darkness filling all the sky, — 
The moon, pale mistress, pall'd in solemn vapour, 

The rack, swift-wandering through the void above, 
As I, a mourner by my lonely taper, 

Send back to faded hours the plaint of love. 

Blossoms of peace, once in my pathway springing, 

Where have your brightness and your splendour gone ? 
And thou, whose voice to me came sweet as singing, 

What region holds thee, in the vast unknown "? 
What star far brighter than the rest contains thee, 

Beloved, departed — empress of my heart ? 
What bond of full beatitude enchains thee, — 

In realms unveiFd by pen, or prophet's art? 

Ah ! loved and lost ! in these autumnal hours, 

When fairy colours deck the painted tree, 
When the vast woodlands seem a sea of flowers, 

O! then my soul, exulting, bounds to thee ! 
Springs, as to clasp thee yet in this existence, 

Yet to behold thee at my lonely side ; 
But the fond vision melts at once to distance, 

And my sad heart gives echo — she has died ! 

Yes ! when the morning of her years was brightest, 
That angel-presence into dust went down, — 

While yet with rosy dreams her rest was lightest, 
Death for the olive wove the cypress-crown, — 

Sleep, which no waking knows, o'ercarne her bosom, 
O'ercame her large, bright, spiritual eyes; 

Spared in her bower connubial one fair blossom- 
Then bore her spirit to the upper skies. 

There let me meet her, when, life's struggles over, 

The pure in love and thought their faith renew, — 
Where man's forgiving and redeeming Lover 

Spreads out his paradise to every view. 
Let the dim Autumn, with its leaves descending, 

Howl on the winter's verge! — yet spring will come: 
So my freed soul»no more 'gainst fate contending, 

With all it lovelh shall regain its home ! 

From this time his health gradually declined, 
and his friends perceived that the same disease 
which had robbed him of the "light of his exist- 
ence," would soon deprive them also of his fellow- 
ship. Though his illness was of long duration, he 
was himself unaware of its character, and when I 
last saw him, a few weeks before his death, he was 
rejoicing at the return of spring, and confident that 
he would soon be well enough to walk about the 
town or to go into the country. He continued to 
write for his paper until the last day of his life, 
the twelfth of June, 1841. 

His metrical writings are all distinguished for a 
graceful and elegant diction, thoughts morally 
and poetically beautiful, and chaste and appropri- 
ate imagery. The sadness which pervades them 
is not the gloom of misanthropy, but a gentle re- 
ligious melancholy; and while they portray the 
changes of life and nature, they point to another 
and a purer world, for which our affections are 
chastened, and our desires made perfect by suffer- 
ing in this. 

The qualities of his prose are essentially dif- 
ferent from those of his poetrv. Occasionally he 

379 



380 



WILLIS G. CLARK. 



poured forth grave thoughts in eloquent and fervent 
language, but far more often delighted his readers 
by passages of irresistible humour and wit. His 
perception of the ludicrous was acute, and his jests 
and " cranks and wanton wiles" evinced the fulness 
of his powers and the benevolence of his feelings. 
The tales and essays which he found leisure to write 
for the New York " Knickerbocker Magazine," — a 
monthly miscellany of high reputation edited by 
his only and twin brother, Mr. Lewis Gaylord 
Clark — and especially a series of amusing papers 



under the quaint title of " Ollapodiana," will long 
be remembered as affording abundant evidence of 
the qualities I have enumerated. 

In person Mr. Clark was of the middle height, 
his form was erect and manly, and his counte- 
nance pleasing and expressive. In ordinary in- 
tercourse he was cheerful and animated, and he 
was studious to conform to the conventional usages 
of society. Warm-hearted, confiding, and gene- 
rous, he was a true friend, and by those who knew 
him intimately he was much loved. 



A LAMENT. 

There is a voice I shall hear no more — 
There are tones whose music for me is o'er, 
Sweet as the odours of spring were they, — 
Precious and rich — but they died away ; 
They came like peace to my heart and ear — 
Never again will they murmur here ; 
They have gone like the blush of a summer morn, 
Like a crimson cloud through the sunset borne. 

There were eyes, that late were lit up for me, 
Whose kindly glance was a joy to see ; 
They reveal'd the thoughts of a trusting heart, 
Untouch'd by sorrow, untaught by art ; 
Whose affections were fresh as a stream of spring, 
When birds in the vernal branches sing ; 
They were fill'd with love that hath pass'd with them, 
And my lyre is breathing their requiem. 

I remember a brow, whose serene repose 
Seem'd to lend a beauty to cheeks of rose ; 
And lips, I remember, whose dewy smile, 
As I mused on their eloquent power the while, 
Sent a thrill to my bosom, and bless'd my brain 
With raptures that never may dawn again ; 
Amidst musical accents, those smiles were shed — 
Alas ! for the doom of the early dead ! 

Alas ! for the clod that is resting now 

On those slumbering eyes — on that fated brow, 

Wo for the cheek that hath ceased to bloom — 

For the lips that are dumb, in the noisome tomb; 

Their melody broken, their fragrance gone, 

Their aspect cold as the Parian stone ; 

Alas, for the hopes that with thee have died — 

O, loved one ! — would I were by thy side ! 

Yet the joy of grief it is mine to bear ; 

I hear thy voice in the twilight air ; 

Thy smile, of sweetness untold, I see 

When the visions of evening are borne to me ; 

Thy kiss on my dreaming lip is warm — 

My arm embraceth thy graceful form ; 

I wake in a world that is sad and drear, 

To feel in my bosom — thou art not here. 

! once the summer with thee was bright ; 
The day, like thine eyes, wore a holy light. 
There was bliss in existence when thou wert nigh, 
There was balm in the evening's rosy sigh ; 
Then earth was an Eden, and thou its guest — 
A Sabbath of blessings was in my breast; 
My heart was full of a sense of love, 
Likest of all things to heaven above. 



Now, thou art gone to that voiceless hall, 
Where my budding raptures have perish'd all ; 
To that tranquil and solemn place of rest, 
Where the earth lies damp on the sinless breast : 
Thy bright locks all in the vault are hid — 
Thy brow is conceal'd by the coffin lid ; — 
All that was lovely to me is there — 
Mournful is life, and a load to bear ! 



MEMORY. 

'T is sweet to remember ! I would not forego 
The charm which the past o'er the present can throw, 
For all the gay visions that Fancy may weave 
In her web of illusion, that shines to deceive. 
We know not the future — the past we have felt — 
Its cherish'd enjoyments the bosom can melt; 
Its raptures anew o'er our pulses may roll, 
When thoughts of the morrow fall cold on the soul. 

'T is sweet to remember ! when storms are abroad, 
To see in the rainbow the promise of Goo : 
The day may be darken'd, but far in the west, 
In vermilion and gold, sinks the sun to his rest; 
With smiles like the morning he passeth away : 
Thus the beams of delight on the spirit can play, 
When in calm reminiscence we gather the flowers 
Which love scatter'd round us in happier hours. 

'T is sweet to remember ! When friends are unkind, 
When their coldness and carelessness shadow the 

mind: 
Then, to draw back the veil which envelopes a land 
Where delectable prospects in beauty expand ; 
To smell the green fields, the fresh waters to hear 
Whose once fairy music enchanted the ear; 
To drink in the smiles that delighted us then, 
To list the fond voices of childhood again, — 
O, this the sad heart, like a reed that is bruised, 
Binds up, when the banquet of hope is refused. 

'Tis sweet to remember! And naught can destroy 
The balm-breathing comfort, the glory, the joy, 
Which spring from that fountain, to gladden our 

way, 
When the changeful and faithless desert or betray. 
I would not forget ! — though my thoughts should 

be dark, 
O'er the ocean of life I look back from my bark, 
And I see the lost Eden, where once I was blest, 
A type and a promise of heavenly rest. 



WILLIS G. CLARK. 



381 



SONG OF MAY. 

The spring's scented buds all around me are swell- 
ing: 
There are songs in the stream — there is health 
in the gale ; 
A sense of delight in each bosom is dwelling, 
As float the pure daybeams o'er mountain and 
vale; 
The desolate reign of old winter is broken — 

The verdure is fresh upon every tree ; 
Of Nature's revival the charm, and a token 
Of love, thou Spirit of Beauty, to thee ! 

The sun looketh forth from the halls of the morning, 

And flushes the clouds that begirt his career ; 
He welcomes the gladness and glory, returning 

To rest on the promise and hope of the year : 
He fills with delight all the balm-breathing flowers ; 

He mounts to the zenith and laughs on the wave ; 
He wakes into music the green forest-bowers, 

And gilds the gay plains which the broad rivers 
lave. 

The young bird is out on his delicate pinion — 

He timidly sails in the infinite sky ; 
A greeting to May, and her fairy dominion, 

He pours on the west-winds that fragrantly sigh ; 
Around and above, there are quiet and pleasure — 

The woodlands are singing, the heaven is bright; 
The fields are unfolding their emerald treasure, 

And man's genial spirit is soaring in light. 

Alas ! for my weary and care-haunted bosom ! 

The spells of the spring-time arouse it no more ; 
The song inthewildwood,the sheen in the blossom, 

The fresh-swelling fountain — their magic is o'er ! 
When I list to the stream, when I look on the flowers, 

They tell of the Past with so mournful a tone, 
That I call up the throngs of my long vanish'd hours, 

And sigh that their transports are over and gone. 

From the far-spreading earth and the limitlessheaven 

There have vanish'd an eloquent glory and gleam ; 
To my sad mind no more is the influence given, 

Which coloureth life with the hues of a dream ; 
The bloom-purpled landscape its loveliness keepeth; 

I deem that a light as of old gilds the wave ; 
But the eye of my spirit in weariness sleepeth, 

Or sees but my youth, and the visions it gave. 

Yet it is not that age on my years hath descended — 

'T is not that its snow-wreaths encircle my brow ; 

But the newness and sweetness of being are ended : 

I feel not their love-kindling witchery now; 
The shadows of death o'er my path have been 
sweeping — 
There are those who have loved me debarr'd 
from the day ; 
The green turf is bright where in peace they are 
sleeping, 
And on wings of remembrance my soul is away. 

It is shut to the glow of this present existence — 
It hears, from the Past, a funereal strain ; 

And it eagerly turns to the high-seeming distance, 
Where the last blooms of earth will be garner'd 
again : 



Where no mildew the soft damask-rose cheek shall 
nourish, 

Where grief bears no longer the poisonous sting; 
Where pitiless Death no dark sceptre can flourish, 

Or stain with his blight the luxuriant spring. 

It is thus that the hopes which to others are given 

Fall cold on my heart in this rich month of May ; 
I hear the clear anthems that ring through the 
heaven — 

I drink the bland airs that enliven the day ; 
And if gentle Nature, her festival keeping, 

Delights not my bosom, ah ! do not condemn ; 
O'er the lost and the lovely my spirit is weeping, 

For my heart's fondest raptures are buried with 
them. 



DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN. 

Yottxg mother, he is gone ! 
His dimpled cheek no more will touch thy breast; 

No more the music-tone 
Float from his lips, to thine all fondly press'd ; 
His smile and happy laugh are lost to thee : 
Earth must his mother and his pillow be. 

His was the morning hour, 
And he hath pass'd in beauty from the day, 

A bud, not yet a flower, 
Torn, in its sweetness, from the parent spray; 
The death-wind swept him to his soft repose, 
As frost, in spring-time, blights the early rose. 

Never on earth again 
Will his rich accents charm thy listening ear, 

Like some jEolian strain, 
Breathing at eventide serene and clear; 
His voice is choked in dust, and on his eyes 
The unbroken seal of peace and silence lies. 

And from thy yearning heart, 
Whose inmost core was warm with love for him, 

A gladness must depart, 
And those kind eyes with many tears be dim ; 
While lonely memories, an unceasing train, 
Will turn the raptures of the past to pain. 

Yet, mourner, while the day 
Rolls like the darkness of a funeral by, 

And hope forbids one ray 
To stream athwart the grief-discolour'd sky ; 
There breaks upon thy sorrow's evening gloom 
A trembling lustre from beyond the tomb. 

'T is from the better land ! 
There, bathed in radiance that around them springs, 

Thy loved one's wings expand ; 
As with the choiring cherubim he sings, 
And all the glory of that God can see, 
Who said, on earth, to children, « Come to me." 

Mother, thy child is bless'd : 
And though his presence may be lost to thee, 

And vacant leave thy breast, 
And miss'd, a sweet load from thy parent knee ; 
Though tones familiar from thine ear have pass'd, 
Thou 'It meet thy first-born with his Lord at last. 



382 



WILLIS G. CLARK. 



SUMMER. 

The Spring's gay promise melted into thee, 
Fair Summer ! and thy gentle reign is here ; 

The emerald robes are on each leafy tree ; 
In the blue sky thy voice is rich and clear; 

And the free brooks have songs to bless«thy reign — 

They leap in music midst thy bright domain. 

The gales, that wander from the unclouded west, 
Are burden'd with the breath of countless fields; 

They teem with incense from the green earth's breast 
That up to heaven its grateful odour yields ; 

Bearing sweet hymns of praise from many a bird, 

By nature's aspect into rapture stirr'd. 

In such a scene the sun-illumined heart 
Bounds like a prisoner in his narrow cell, 

When through its bars the morning glories dart, 
And forest-anthems in his hearing swell — 

And. like the heaving of the voiceful sea, 

His panting bosom labours to be free. 

Thus, gazing on thy void and sapphire sky, 
O, Summer! in my inmost soul arise 

Uplifted thoughts, to which the woods reply, 
And the bland air with its soft melodies ; — 

Till basking in some vision's glorious ray, 

I long for eagle's plumes to flee away. 

I long to cast this cumbrous clay aside, 

And the impure, unholy thoughts that cling 

To the sad bosom, torn with care and pride : 
I would soar upward, on unfetter'd wing, 

Far through the chambers of the peaceful skies, 

Where the high fount of Summer's brightness lies ! 



But should with rapture gaze upon the sky, [reers? 
Through whose far depths the spirit's wing ca- 
There gleams eternal o'er their ways are flung, 
Who fade from earth while yet their years are young! 



THE EARLY DEAD. 

If it be sad to mark the bow'd with age 
Sink in the halls of the remorseless tomb, 

Closing the changes of life's pilgrimage 

In the still darkness of its mouldering gloom: 

O ! what a shadow o'er the heart is flung. 

When peals the requiem of the loved and young ! 

They to whose bosoms, like the dawn of spring 
To the unfolding bud and scented rose, 

Comes the pure freshness age can never bring, 
And fills the spirit with a rich repose, 

How shall we lay them in their final rest, 

How pile the clods upon their wasting breast? 

Life openeth brightly to their ardent gaze ; 

A glorious pomp sits on the gorgeous sky ; 
O'er the broad world hope's smile incessant plays, 

And scenes of beauty win the enchanted eye: 
How sad to break the vision, and to fold 
Each lifeless form in earth's embracing mould ! 

Yet this is life ! To mark from day to day, 
Youth, in the freshness of its morning prime, 

Pass, like the anthem of a breeze away, 

Sinking in waves of death ere chill'd by time ! 

Ere yet dark years on the warm cheek had shed 

Autumnal mildew o'er the rose-like red ! 

And yet what mourner, though the pensive eye 
Be dimly thoughtful in its burning tears, 



THE SIGNS OF GOD. 

I ^iahtc'i) the Spring as she pass'd along, 
With her eye of light, and her lip of song; 
While she stole in peace o'er the green earth's breast, 
While the streams sprang out from their icy rest; 
The buds bent low to the breeze's sigh, 
And their breath went forth in the scented sky ; 
When the fields look'd fresh in their sweet repose, 
And the young dews slept on the new-born rose. 
The scene was changed. It was Autumn's hour: 
A frost had discolour'd the summer bower; 
The blast wail'd sad mid the wither'd leaves, 
The reaper stood musing by gather'd sheaves ; 
The mellow pomp of the rainbow woods 
Was stirr'd by the sound of the rising floods ; 
And I knew by the cloud — by the wild wind's strain 
That Winter drew near with his storms again ! 
I stood by the ocean ; its waters roll'd 
In their changeful beauty of sapphire and gold ; 
And day look'd down with its radiant smiles, 
Where the blue waves danced round a thousand 
The ships went forth on the trackless seas, [isles : 
Their white wings play'd in the joyous breeze ; 
Their prows rushed on mid the parted foam, 
While the wanderer was wrapp'd in adream of home! 
The mountain arose with its lofty brow, 
While its shadow was sleeping in vales below; 
The mist like a garland of glory lay, 
Where its proud heights soar'd in the air away ; 
The eagle was there on his tireless wing, 
And his shriek went up like an offering: 
And he seem'd, in his sunward flight, 10 raise 
A chant of thanksgiving — a hymn of praise ! 
I look'd on the arch of the midnight skies, 
With its deep and unsearchable mysteries: 
The moon, mid an eloquent multitude 
Of unnumber'd stars, her career pursued : 
A charm of sleep on the city fell, 
All sounds lay hush'd in that brooding spell ; 
By babbling brooks were the buds at rest, 
And the wild-bird dream' d on his downy nest. 
I stood where the deepening tempest pass'd. 
The strong trees groan'd in the sounding blast, 
The murmuring deep with its wrecks roll'd on ; 
The clouds o'ershadow'd the mighty sun ; 
The low reeds bent by the streamlet's side, 
And hills to the thunder-peal replied ; 
The lightning burst forth on its fearful way, 
While the heavens were lit in its red array ! 
And hath man the power, with his pride and his skill, 
To arouse all nature with storms at will ? 
Hath he power to colour the summer-cloud — 
To allay the tempest when the hills are bow'd ? 
Can he waken the spring with her festal wreath? 
Can the sun grow dim by his lightest breath? 
Will he come again when death's vale is trod ? 
Who then shall dare murmur "There is no Cod •'' 



WILLIS G. CLARK. 



383 



EUTHANASIA. 

Methinks, when on the languid eye 

Life's autumn scenes grow dim; 
When evening's shadows veil the sky, 

And Pleasure's syren hymn 
Grows fainter on the tuneless ear, 
Like echoes from another sphere, 

Or dream of seraphim, 
It were not sad to cast away 
This dull and cumbrous load of clay. 
It were not sad to feel the heart 

Grow passionless and cold ; 
To feel those longings to depart 

That cheer'd the good of old ; 
To clasp the faith which looks on high, 
Which fires the Christian's dying eye, 

And makes the curtain-fold 
That falls upon his wasting breast 
The door that leads to endless rest. 
It were not lonely thus to lie 

On that triumphant bed, 
Till the pure spirit mounts on high, 

By white-wing'd seraphs led : 
Where glories earth may never know 
O'er " many mansions" lingering glow, 

In peerless lustre shed ; 
It were not lonely thus to soar, 
Where sin and grief can sting no more. 

And, though the way to such a goal 

Lies through the clouded tomb, 
If on the free, unfetter'd soul 

There rest no stains of gloom, 
How should its aspirations rise 
Far through the blue, unpillar'd skies, 

Up, to its final home ! 
Beyond the journeyings of the sun, 
Where streams of living waters run. 



AN INVITATION. 
"They that seek me early shall find me." 

Coim e, while the blossoms of thy years are brightest, 
Thou youthful wanderer in a flowery maze, 

Come, while the restless heart is bounding lightest, 
And joy's pure sunbeams tremble in thy ways ; 

Come, while sweet thoughts, like summer-buds un- 
folding, 
Waken rich feelings in the careless breast, 

While yet thy hand the ephemeral wreath is hold- 
Come — and secure interminable rest ! [hrg, 

Soon will the freshness of thy days be over, 

And thy free buoyancy of soul be flown; 
Pleasure will fold her wing, and friend and lover 

Will to the embraces of the worm have gone ; 
Those who now love thee will have pass'd forever, 

Their looks of kindness will be lost to thee ; 
Thou wilt need balm to heal thy spirit's fever, 

As thy sick heart broods over yeai's to be ! 

Come, while the morning of thy life is glowing, 
Ere the dim phantoms thou art chasing die ; 

Ere the gay spell which earth is round thee throw- 
Fades, like the crimson from a sunset sky ; [ing 



Life hath but shadows, save a promise given, 
Which lights the future with a fadeless ray ; 

O, touch the sceptre ! — win a hope in Heaven ■ 
Come, turn thy spirit from the world away ! 

Then will the crosses of this brief existence 

Seem airy nothings to thine ardent soul ; — 
And, shining brightly in the forward distance, 

Will of thy patient race appear the goal : 
Home of the weary ! — where, in peace reposing, 

The spirit lingers in unclouded bliss, 
Though o'er its dust the curtain'd grave is closing, 

Who would not, early, choose a lot like this 1 



THE BURIAL-PLACE AT LAUREL HILL* 

Here the lamented dead in dust shall lie, 

Life's lingering languors o'er, its labours done, 

Where waving boughs, betwixt the earth and sky, 
Admit the farewell radiance of the sun. 

Here the long concourse from the murmuring town, 
With funeral pace and slow, shall enter in, 

To lay the loved in tranquil silence down, 
No more to suffer, and no more to sin. 

And in this hallow'd spot, where Nature showers 
Her summer smiles from fair and stainless skies, 

Affection's hand may strew her dewy flowers, 
Whose fragrant incense from the grave shall rise. 

And here the impressive stone, engraved with words 
Which grief sententious gives to marble pale, 

Shall teach the heart ; while waters, leaves, and birds 
Make cheerful music in the passing gale. 

Say, wherefore should we weep, and wherefore pour 
On scented airs the unavailing sigh — 

While sun-bright waves are quivering to the shore, 
And landscapes blooming — that the loved must 
die] 

There is an emblem in this peaceful scene ; 

Soon rainbow colours on the woods will fall, 
And autumn gusts bereave the hills of green, 

As sinks the year to meet its cloudy pall. 

Then, cold and pale, in distant vistas round, 
Disrobed and tuneless, all the woods will stand. 

While the chain'd streams are silent as the ground, 
As Death had numb'd them with his icy hand. 

Yet, when the warm, soft winds shall rise in spring, 
Like struggling daybeams o'er a blasted heath, 

The bird return' d shall poise her golden wing, 
And liberal Nature break the spell of Death. 

So, when the tomb's dull silence finds an end, 
The blessed dead to endless youth shall rise, 

And hear the archangel's thrilling summons blend 
Its tone with anthems from the upper skies. 

There shall the good of earth be found at last, 
Where dazzling streams and vernal fields expand ; 

Where Love her crown attains — her trials past — 
And, fill'd with rapture, hails the "better land!" 

* Near the city of Philadelphia. 



IS1 



WILLIS G. CLARK. 



A CONTRAST. 

It was the morning of a day in spring ; 
The sun look'd gladness from the eastern sky; 
Birds were upon the trees and on the wing, 
And all the air was rich with melody ; [high ; 

The heaven — the calm, pure heaven, was bright on 
Earth laugh'd beneath in all its freshening green, 
The free blue streams sang as they wandered by, 
And many a sunny glade and flowery scene 
Gleam'd ouc, like thoughts of youth, life's troubled 
years between. 

The rose's breath upon the south wind came, 
Oft as its whisperings the young branches stirr'd, 
And flowers for which the poet hath no name ; 
While, mid the blossoms of the grove, were heard 
The restless murmurs of the humming-bird ; 
Waters were dancing in the mellow light ; 
And joyous notes and many a cheerful word 
Stole on the charmed ear with such delight 
As waits on soft, sweet tones of music heard at night. 

The night-dews lay in the half-open'd flower, 
Like hopes that nestle in the youthful breast ; 
And ruffled by the light airs of the hour, 
Awoke the pure lake from its glassy rest : 
Slow blending with the blue and distant west, 
Lay the dim woodlands, and the quiet gleam 
Of amber-clouds, like islands of the blest — 
Glorious and bright, and changing like a dream, 
And lessening fast away beneath the intenser beam. 

Songs were amid the valleys far and wide, 
And on the green slopes and the mountains high: 
While, from the springing flowers on every side, 
Upon his painted wings, the butterfly 
Roam'd, a gay blossom of the sunny sky ; 
The visible smile of joy was on the scene ; 
'T was a bright vision, but too soon to die ! 
Spring may not linger in her robes of green — 
Autumn, in storm and shade shall quench the sum- 
mer sheen. 

I came again. 'Twas Autumn's stormy hour: 
The voice of winds was in the faded wood ; 
The sere leaves, rustling in deserted bower, 
Were hurl'd in eddies to the moaning flood : 
Dark clouds were in the west — and red as blood, 
The sun shone through the hazy atmosphere ; 
While torrent voices broke the solitude, 
Where, straying lonely, as with steps of fear, 
I mark'd the deepening gloom which shrouds the 
dying year. 

The ruffled lake heaved wildly; near the shore 
It bore the red leaves of the shaken tree, 
Shed in the violent north wind's restless roar, 
Emblems of man upon life's stormy sea ! 
Pale autumn leaves ! once to the breezes free 
They waved in spring and summer's golden prime ; 
Now, even as clouds or dew how fast they flee ; 
Weak, changing like the flowers in autumn's clime, 
As man sinks down in death, chill'd by the touch 
of time ! 

I mark'd the picture — 't was the changeful scene 
Which life holds up to the observant eye : 



Its spring, and summer, and its bowers of green, 
The streaming sunlight of its morning sky, 
And the dark clouds of death, which linger by; 
For oft, when life is fresh and hope is strong, 
Shall early sorrow breathe the unbidden sigh, 
While age to death moves peacefully along, 
As on the singer's lip expires the finish'd song 



THE FADED ONE. 

Goxe to the slumber which may know no waking 

Till the loud requiem of the world shall swell ; 
Gone ! where no sound thy still repose is breaking, 

In a lone mansion through long years to dwell; 
Where the sweet gales that herald bud and blossom 

Pour not their music nor their fragrant breath : 
A seal is set upon thy budding bosom, 

A bond of loneliness — a spell of death ! 

Yet 'twas but yesterday that all before thee 

Shone in the freshness of life's morning hours; 
Joy's radiant smile was playing briefly o'er thee, 

And thy light feet impress'd but vernal flowers. 
The restless spirit charm'd thy sweet existence, 

Making all beauteous in youth's pleasant maze, 
While gladsome hope illumed the onward distance, 

And lit with sunbeams thy expectant days. 

How have the garlands of thy childhood wither'd, 

And hope's false anthem died upon the air ! 
Death's cloudy tempests o'er thy way have gather'd, 

And his stern bolts have burst in fury there. 
On thy pale forehead sleeps the shade of even, 

Youth's braided wreath lies stain'd in sprinkled 
Yet looking upward in its grief to Heaven, [dust, 

Love should not mourn thee, save in hope and 
trust. 



A REMEMBRANCE. 

I see thee still ! thou art not dead, 

Though dust is mingling with thy form ; 
The broken sunbeam hath not shed 

The final rainbow on the storm : 
In visions of the midnight deep, 

Thine accents through my bosom thrill, 
Till joy's fond impulse bids me weep, — 

For, wrapt in thought I see thee still ! 

I sec thee still, — that cheek of rose, — 

Those lips, with dewy fragrance wet, 
That forehead in serene repose, — 

Those soul-lit eyes — I see them yet ! 
Sweet seraph ! Sure thou art not dead, — 

Thou gracest still this earthly sphere, 
An influence still is round me shed, 

Like thine, — and yet thou art not here ! 

Farewell, beloved ! To mortal sight, 

Thy vermeil cheek no more may bloom ; 
No more thy smiles inspire delight, 

For thou art garner'd in the tomb. 
Rich harvest for that ruthless power 

Which hath no bound to mar his will : — 
Yet, as in hope's unclouded hour, 

Throned in my heart, I see thee still. 



PARK BENJAMIN. 



[Born, 1809.] 



The paternal ancestors of Mr. Benjamin came 
to New England at an early period from Wales. 
His father, who was a merchant, resided many 
years at Demerara, in British Guiana, where he 
acquired a large fortune. There the subject of 
this notice was born in the year 1809. When he 
was about three years old, in consequence of a 
severe illness he was brought to this country, 
under the care of a faithful female guardian, and 
here, except during a few brief periods, he has 
since resided. The improper medical treatment to 
which he had been subjected in Demerara pre- 
vented his complete restoration under the more 
skilful physicians of New England, and he has 
been lame from his childhood ; but I believe his 
general health has been uniformly good for many 
years. 

While a boy he was sent to an excellent school 
in the rural village of Colchester, in Connecticut. 
At twelve he was removed to New Haven, where 
he resided three years in his father's family, after 
J which he was sent to a private boarding school 
near Boston, in which he remained until he en- 
tered Harvard College, in 1825. He left this 
venerable institution before the close of his second 
academic year, in consequence of a protracted and 
painful illness, and on his recovery entered Wash- 
ington College, at Hartford, then under the presi- 
dency of the Right Reverend Thomas C. Bhown- 
ell, now Bishop of Connecticut. He was gradu- 
ated in 1829, with the highest honours of his 
class. 

In 1830, Mr. Benjamin entered the Law 
School at Cambridge, at that time conducted by 
Mr. Justice Story and Professor Ashmttn. He 
pursued his legal studies with much industry for 
a considerable period at this seminary, but finished 
the acquirement of his profession at New Haven, 
under Chief Justice Daggett and Professor 
Hitchcock. He was admitted to the Connecti- 
cut bar in 1833, and removing soon after to Bos- 
ton, the residence of his relatives and friends, he 
was admitted to the courts of Massachusetts, as 
attorney and counsellor at law and solicitor in 
chancery. 

His disposition to devote his time to literature 
prevented his entering upon the practice of his 
profession, and on the death of En win Bccking- 
hax, one of its original editors, I believe he be- 
came connected with the '-'New England Maga- 
zine." In 1836 that periodical was joined to the 
"American Monthly Magazine," published in 
New Yerk, and edited by Charles F. Hoffman, 
and Mr. Benjamin was soon after induced to go 
to reside permanently in that city. B} r unfortu- 
nate investments, and the calamities in which so 
many were involved in that period, he had lost 
most of his patrimonial property, and the remainder 



of it he now invested in a publishing establish 
ment ; but the commercial distress of the time, by 
which many of the wealthiest houses were over- 
thrown, prevented the realization of his expecta- 
tions, and the business was abandoned. He pur- 
chased, I believe, near the close of the year 1837, 
the "American Monthly Magazine," and for 
about two years conducted it with much ability ; 
but by giving to some of the later numbers of it 
a political character, its prosperity was destroyed, 
and he relinquished it to become associated with 
Mr. Horace Greeley in the editorship of the 
"New Yorker," a popular weekly periodical, de- 
voted to literature and politics. In 1840 several 
weekly gazettes of unprecedented size were esta- 
blished in New York, and rapidly attained a great 
circulation. With the most prominent of these he 
was connected, and his writings contributed largely 
to its success. 

In both prose and verse Mr. Benjamin has 
been a very prolific author. His rhythmical com- 
positions would fill many volumes. They are 
generally short. " A Poem on the Contemplation 
of Nature," read before the classes of Washington 
College, on the day of his graduation ; " Poetry, a 
Satire," published in 1843, and "Infatuation, a 
Satire," published in 1845, are the longest of his 
printed works. He has written several dramatic 
pieces, of which only fragments have been given 
to the public. 

There have not been many successful American 
satires. Trumbull's « Progress of Durness" and 
" McFingal," are the best that had been produced 
at the close of the Revolution. Fbeneau, Hop- 
kins, Dwight, Alsop, Cliffton, and others, 
attempted this kind of writing with various suc- 
cess, but none of them equalled Trumbull. More 
recently Fessenden, Yerplanck, Pierfont, 
Halleck, Holmes, Ward, Osbobn, and Ben- 
jamin, have essayed it. Halleck's "Fanny" 
and "Epistles" are witty, spirited and playful, 
but local in their application. The "Yision of 
Rubeta" has felicitous passages, and shows that 
its author is a scholar, but it is cumbrous and oc- 
casionally coarse. Mr. Benjamin's satires are 
lively, pointed, and free from malignity or licen- 
tiousness. 

In some of his shorter poems, Mr. Benjamin" 
has shown a quick perception of the ridiculous; 
in others, warm affections and a meditative spirit ; 
and in more, gayety. His poems are adorned with 
apposite and pretty fancies, and seem generally to 
be expressive of actual feelings. Some of his hu- 
mourous pieces, as the sonnet entitled " Sport," 
which is quoted in the following pages, are happily 
expressed, but his style is generally more like that 
of an improvisator than an artist. He rarely 
makes use of the burnisher. 

2K 3S5 



386 



PARK BENJAMIN. 



GOLD. 

" Gold is, in its last analysis, the sweat of the poor and 
the blood of the brave." — Joseph Napoleon. 

AVaste treasure like water, ye noble and great ! 
Spend the wealth of the world to increase your es- 
Pile up your temples of marble, and raise [tate ; 
Columns and domes, that the people may gaze 
And wonder at beauty, so gorgeously shown 
By subjects more rich than the king on his throne. 
Lavish and squander — for why should ye save 
" The sweat of the poor and the blood of the brave 1 ?" 

Pour wine into goblets, all crusted with gems — 

Wear pearls on your collars and pearls on your 

Let diamonds in splendid profusion outvie [hems ; 

The myriad stars of a tropical sky ! 

Though from the night of the fathomless mine 

These may be dug at your banquet to shine, 

Little care ye for the chains of the slave, 

" The sweat of the poor and the blood of the brave." 

Behold, at your gates stand the feeble and old, 
Let them burn in the sunshine and freeze in the cold ; 
Let them starve : though a morsel, a drop will impart 
New vigour and warmth to the limb and the heart : 
You taste not their anguish, you feel not their pain, 
Your heads are not bare to the wind and the rain — 
Must wretches like these of your charity crave 
" The sweat of the poor and the blood of the brave 1" 

An army goes out in the morn's early light, 
Ten thousand gay soldiers equipp'd for the fight ; 
An army comes home at the closing of day ; 
O, where are their banners, their goodly array] 
Ye widows and orphans, bewail not so loud — 
Your groans may imbitter the feast of the proud ; 
To win for their store, did the wild battle rave, 
" The sweat of the poor and the blood of the brave." 

Gold ! gold ! in all ages the curse of mankind, 
Thy fetters are forged for the soul and the mind: 
The limbs may be free as the wings of a bird, 
And the mind be the slave of a look and a word. 
To gam thee, men barter eternity's crown, 
Yield honour, affection, and lasting renown, 
And mingle like foam with life's swift-rushing wave 
" The sweat of the poor and the blood of the brave." 



UPON SEEING A PORTRAIT 

OF A LADY, PAT.Vi'ED BV GIOVANNI C. THOMPSON. 

There is a sweetness in those upturn'd eyes, 
A tearful lustre — such as fancy lends 
To the Madonna — and a soft surprise, 

As if they saw stra.ige beauty in the air ; 
Perchance a bird, whose little pinion bends 

To the same breeze that lifts that flowing hair. 

And, 0, that lip. and cheek, and forehead fair, 
Reposing on the canvass ! — that bright smile, 

Casting a mellow radiance over all ! 
Say, didst thou strive, young artist, to beguile 

The gazer of his reason, and to thrall 
His every sense in meshes of delight — 
When thou,uncon:~'ious,mad'st this phantom bright? 
Sure nothing real lives, which thus can charm the 
siffht ! 



THE STORMY PETREL. 

This is the bird that sweeps o'er the sea — 

Fearless and rapid and strong is he ; 

He never forsakes the billowy roar, 

To dwell in calm on the tranquil shore, 

Save when his mate from the tempest's shocks 

Protects her young in the splinter'd rocks. 

Birds of the sea, they rejoice in storms ; 
On the top of the wave you may see their forms; 
They run and dive, and they whirl and fly, 
Where the glittering foam spray breaks on high ; 
And against the force of the strongest gale, 
Like phantom ships they soar and sail. 

All over the ocean, far from land, 
When the storm-king rises dark and grand, 
The mariner sees the petrel meet 
The fathomless waves with steady feet, 
And a tireless wing and a dauntless breast, 
Without a home or a hope of rest. 

So, mid the contest and toil of life, 
My soul ! when the billows of rage and strife 
Are tossing high, and the heavenly blue 
Is shrouded by vapours of sombre hue — 
Like the petrel wheeling o'er foam and spray, 
Onward and upward pursue thy way ! 



THE NAUTILUS. 

The Nautilus ever loves to glide 

Upon the crest of the radiant tide. 

When the sky is clear and the wave is bright, 

Look over the sea for a lovely sight ! 

You may watch, and watch for many a mile, 

And never see Nautilus all the while, 

Till, just as your patience is nearly lost, 

Lo ! there is a bark in the sunlight toss'd ! 

" Sail ho ! and whither away so fast ?" 

What a curious thing she has rigg'd for a mast ! 

" Ahoy ! ahov ! don't you hear our hail 1" 

How the breeze is swelling her gossamer sail ! 

The good ship Nautilus — yes, 'tis she ! 

Sailing over the gold of the placid sea ; 

And though she will never deign reply, 

I could tell her hull with the glance of an eye. 

Now, I wonder where Nautilus can be bound ; 
Or does she always sail round and round, 
With the fairy queen and her court on board, 
And mariner-sprites, a glittering horde? 
Does she roam and roam till the evening light? 
And where does she go in the deep midnight ? 
So crazy a vessel could hardly sail, 
Or weather the blow of " a fine, stiff gale." 

O, the selfsame hand that holds the chain 
Which the ocean binds to the rocky main — 
Which guards from the wreck when the tempest 

raves, 
And the stout ship reels in the surging waves — 
Directs the course of thy little bark, 
And in the light or the shadow dark, 
And near the shore or far at sea, 
Makes safe a billowy path for thee! 



PARK BENJAMIN. 387 


TO ONE BELOVED. 


And when the moon, of fairy stars the queen, 


i. 


Waves her transparent wand o'er all the scene ; 


Years, years have pass'd, 


I seek the vale, 


My sweetest, since I heard thy voice's tone, 


And, while inhaling the moss-rose's breath, — 


Saying thou wouldst be mine and mine alone ; 


(Less sweet than thine, unmatch'd Elizabeth!) 


Dark years have cast 


A vision, pale 


Their shadows on me, and my brow no more 


As the far robes of seraphs in the night, 


Smiles with the happy light that once it wore. 


Rises before me with supernal light. 


My heart is sere, 


I seek the mount, 


As a leaf toss'd upon the autumnal gale; 


And there, in closest commune with the blue, 


The early rose-hues of my life are pale, 


Thy spiritual glances meet my view. 


Its garden drear, 


I seek the fount : 


Its bower deserted, for my singing bird 


And thou art my Egeria, and the glade 


Among its dim retreats no more is heard. 


Encircling it around is holier made. 


0, trust them not 


I seek the brook : 


Who say that I have long forgotten thee, 


And, in the silver shout of waters, hear 


Or even now thou art not dear to me ! 


Thy merry, melting tones salute mine ear : 


Though far my lot 


And, in the look 


From thine, and though Time's onward rolling tide 


Of lilies floating from the flowery land, 


May never bear me, dearest, to thy side. 


See something soft and stainless as thy hand. 


I would forget, 


All things convey 


Alas ! I strive in vain — in dreams, in dreams 


A likeness of my early, only love — 


The radiance of thy glance upon me beams : — 


All fairest things around, below, above : 


No star has met 


The foamy spray 


My gaze for years whose beauty doth not shine, 


Over the billow, and the bedded pearls, 


Whose look of speechless love is not like thine ! 


And the light flag the lighter breeze unfurls. 


The evening air — 


For, in the grace 


Soft witness of the floweret's fragrant death — 


As well as in the beauty of the sea, 


Strays not so sweetly to me as thy breath ; 


I find a true similitude to thee ; 


The moonlight fair 


And I can trace 


On snowy waste sleeps not with sweeter ray, 


Thine image in the loveliness that dwells 


Than thy clear memory on my heart's decay. 


Mid inland forests and scquester'd dells. 


I love thee still — 


I am thine own, 


And I shall love thee ever, and above 


My dearest, though thou never mayst be mine ; 


All earthly objects with undying love. 


I would not if I could the band untwine 


The mountain-rill 


Around me thrown — 


Seeks, with no surer flow, the far, bright sea, 


Since first I breathed to thee that word of fire — 


Than my unchanged affection flows to thee. 


Re-echo'd now, how feebly ! by my lyre. 


it. 


Love, constant love ! 


A year has flown, 


Age cannot quench it — like the primal ray 


My heart's best angel, since to thee I strung 


From the vast fountain that supplies the day, 


My frail, poetic lyre — since last I sung, 


Far, far above 


In faltering tone, 


Our cloud-encircled region, it will flow 


My love undying: though in all my dreams 


As pure and as eternal in its glow. 


Thy smiles have linger'd, like the stars in streams. 


0, when I die 


On ruffled wing, 


(If until then thou mayst not drop a tear) 


Like storm-toss'd bird, that year has sped away 


Weep then for one to whom thou wert most dear; 


Into the shadovv'd past, and not a day 


To whom thy sigh, 


To me could bring 


Denied in life, in death, if fondly given, 


Familiar joys like those I knew of yore, 


Will seem the sweetest incense-air of heaven ! 


But morn, and noon, and night, a sorrow bore. 


■ 
in. 


Alas, for Time ! 


Dost thou not turn, 


For me his sickle reaps the harvest fair 


Fairest and sweetest, from the flowery way 


Of hopes that blossom'd in the summer air 


On which thy feet are treading every day, 


Of youth's sweet clime ; 


And seek to learn 


But leaves to bloom the deeply-rooted tree 


Tidings, sometimes, of him who loved thee well — 


Which thou hast planted, deathless Memory ! 


More than his pen can write or tongue can tell 1 


Beneath its shade 


Gaze not thine eyes 


I muse, and muse alone — while dajdight dies, 


(0, wild and lustrous eyes, ye were my fate !) 


Changing its dolphin hues in western skies, 


Upon the lines he fashion'd not of late, 


And when they fade. 


But when the skies 



388 



PARK BENJAMIN. 



Of joy were over him, and he was bless'd 
That he could sing of treasures he possess'd ? 

Treasures more dear 
Than gold in ingots, or barbaric piles 
Of pearls and diamonds, thy most precious smiles ! 

Bring, bring me here, 
0, ruthless Time, some of those treasures now, 
And print a hundred wrinkles on my brow. 

Make me grow old 
Before my years are many — take away 
Health, youth, ambition — let my strength decay, 

My mind be sold 
To be the slave of some strange, barren lore — 
Only those treasures to my heart restore ! 

Ah ! I implore 
A boon that cannot be, a blessing flown 
Unto a realm so distant from my own, 

That, could I soar 
On eagle's wings, it still would be afar, 
As if I strove by flight to reach a star ! 

The future vast 
Before me lifts majestic steeps on high, 
Which I must stand upon before I die ! 

For, in the past 
Love buried lies ; and nothing lives but fame 
To speak unto the coming age my race and name. 



THE TIRED HUNTER. 

Rest thee, old hunter ! the evening cool 

Will sweetly breathe on thy heated brow, 
Thy dogs will lap of the shady pool ; 

Thou art very weary — 0, rest thee now ! 
Thou hast wander' d far through mazy woods, 

Thou hast trodden thebright-plumed birds' retreat, 
Thou hast broken in on their solitudes, — 

O, give some rest to thy tired feet ! 

There's not a nook in the forest wide 

Nor a leafy dell unknown to thee ; 
Thy step has been where no sounds, beside 

The rustle of wings in the sheltering tree, 
The sharp, clear cry of the startled game, 

The wind's low murmur, the tempest's roar, 
The bay that follow'd thy gun's sure aim, 

Or thy whistle shrill, were heard before. 

Then rest thee ! — thy wife in her cottage-door, 

Shading her eyes from thp sun's keen ray, 
Peers into the forest beyond the moor, 

To hail thy coming ere fall of day; — 
But thou art a score of miles from home, 

And the hues of the kindling autumn leaves 
Grow brown in the shadow of evening's dome, 

And swing to the rush of the freshening breeze. 

Thou must even rest ! for thou canst not tread 

Till yon star in the zenith of midnight glows, 
And a sapphire light over earth is spread, 

The place where thy wife and babes repose. 
Rest thee a while — and then journey on 

Through the wide forest, and over the moor: 
Then call to thy dogs, and fire thy gun, 

And a taper will gleam from thy cottage-door! 



THE DEPARTED. 

The departed ! the departed ! 

They visit us in dreams, 
And they glide above our memories 

Like shadows over streams ; 
But where the cheerful lights of home 

In constant lustre burn, 
The departed, the departed 

Can never more return ! 

The good, the brave, the beautiful, 

How dreamless is their sleep, 
Where rolls the dirge-like music 

Of the ever-tossing deep ! 
Or where the hurrying night-winds 

Pale winter's robes have spread 
Above their narrow palaces, 

In the cities of the dead ! 

I look around and feel the awe 

Of one who walks alone 
Among the wrecks of former days, 

In mournful ruin strown ; 
I start to hear the stirring sounds 

Among the cypress trees, 
For the voice of the departed 

Is borne upon the breeze. 

That solemn voice ! it mingles with 

Each free and careless strain; 
I scarce can think earth's minstrelsy 

Will cheer my heart again. 
The melody of summer waves, 

The thrilling notes of birds, 
Can never be so dear to me 

As their remember'd words. 

I sometimes dream their pleasant smiles 

Still on me sweetly fall, 
Their tones of love I faintly hear 

My name in sadness call. 
I know that they are happy, 

With their angel-plumage on, 
But my heart is very desolate 

To think that they are gone. 



I AM NOT OLD. 

I aivt not old — though years have cast 

Their shadows on my way; 
I am not old — though youth has pass'd 

On rapid win^s away. 
For in my heart a fountain flows, 
And round it pleasant thoughts repose; 
And sympathies and feelings high, 
Spring like the stars on evening's sky. 

I am not old — Time may have set 

" His signet on my brow," 
And some faint furrows there have met, 

Which care may deepen now : 
Yet love, fond love, a chaplct weaves 
Of fresh, young buds and verdant leaves; 
And still in fancy I can twine 
Thoughts, sweet as flowers, that once were mine. 



PARK BENJAMIN. 



389 



THE DOVE'S ERRAND. 

Under cover of the night, 
Feather'd darling, take your flight ! 
Lest some cruel archer fling 
Arrow at your tender wing, 
And your white, unspotted side 
Be with ci'imson colour died : — 
For with men who know not love 
You and I are living, Dove. 

Now I bind a perfumed letter 
Round your neck with silken fetter; 
Bear it safely, bear it well, 
Over mountain, lake, and dell. 
While the darkness is profound 
You may fly along the ground, 
But when morning's herald sings, 
Mount ye on sublimer wings ; 
High in heaven pursue your way 
Till the fading light of day, 
From the palace of the west, 
Tints with fleckering gold your breast, 
Shielded from the gaze of men, 
You may stoop to earth again. 

Stay, then, feather'd darling, stay, 
Pause, and look along your way : 
Well I know how fast you fly, 
And the keenness of your eye. 
By the time the second eve 
Comes, your journey you'll achieve, 
And above a gentle vale 
Will on easy pinion sail. 
In that vale, with dwellings strown, 
One is standing all alone : 
White it rises mid the leaves, 
Woodbines clamber o'er its eaves, 
And the honeysuckle falls 
Pendant on its silent walls. 
'T is a cottage, small and fair 
As a cloud in summer air. 

By a lattice, wreathed with flowers 
Such as link the dancing hours, 
Sitting in the twilight shade, 
Envied dove, behold a maid ! 
Locks escaped from sunny band, 
Cheeks reclined on snowy hand, 
Looking sadly to the sky, 
Sh» will meet your searching eye. 
Fear not, doubt not, timid dove, 
You have found the home of love ! 
She will fold you to her breast — 
Serar us have not purer rest ; 
She your weary plumes will kiss — 
Seraphs have not sweeter bliss ! 
Tremble not, my dove, nor start, 
Should you feel her throbbing heart ; 
Joy has made her bright eye dim — 
Well she knows you came from him, 
Him she loves. O, luckless star ! 
He from her must dwell afar. 

From your neck her fingers fine 
Will the silken string untwine ; 
Reading then the words I trace, 
Blushes will suffuse her face : 



To her lips the lines she '11 press, 
And again my dove caress. 
Mine, yes, mine — O, would that I 
Could on rapid pinions fly ! 
Then I should not send you, dove, 
On an errand to my love : 
For I 'd brave the sharpest gale, 
And along the tempest sail ; 
Caring not for danger near, 
Hurrying heedless, void of fear, 
But to hear one tender word, 
Breathed for me, my happy bird ! 

At the early dawn of day, 
She will send you on your way, 
Twining with another fetter 
Round your neck another letter. 
Speed ye, then, 0, swiftly speed, 
Like a prisoner newly freed : 
O'er the mountain, o'er the vale, 
Homeward, homeward, swiftly sail ! 
Never, never poise a plume, 
Though beneath you Edens bloom: 
Never, never think of rest, 
Till night's shadow turns your breast 
From pure white to mottled gray, 
And the stars are round your way, — 
Love's bright beacons, they will shine, 
Dove, to show your home and mine ! 



HOW CHEERY ARE THE MARINERS !' 

How cheery are the mariners — 

Those lovers of the sea ! 
Their hearts are like its yesty waves, 

As bounding and as free. 
They whistle when the storm-bird wheels 

In circles round the mast; 
And sing when deep in foam the ship 

Ploughs onward to the blast. 

What care the mariners for gales 1 

There's music in their roar. 
When wide the berth along the lee, 

And leagues of room before. 
Let billows toss to mountain heights, 

Or sink to chasms low, 
The vessel stout will ride it out, 

Nor reel beneath the blow. 

With streamers down and canvass furl'd, 

The gallant hull will float 
Securely, as on inland lake 

A silken-tassell'd boat ; 
And sound asleep some mariners, 

And some with watchful eyes, 
Will fearless be of dangers dark 

That roll along the skies. 

God keep those cheery mariners ! 

And temper all the gales 
That sweep against the rocky coast 

To their storm-shatter'd sails ; 
And men on shore will bless the ship 

That could so guided be, 
Safe in the hollow of His hand, 

To brave the mightv sea ! 



390 PARK BENJAMIN. 


LINES SPOKEN BY A BLIND BOY. 


And though I never long'd to view 




The earth so green, the sky so blue, 


The bird, that never tried his wing, 


I thought I'd give the world to look 


Can blithely hop and sweetly sing, 


Along the pages of a book. 


Though prison'd in a narrow cage, 


Now, since I've learn'd to read and write, 


Till his bright feathers droop with age. 


JVIy heart is fill'd with new delight ; 
And music too, — can there be found 


So I, while never bless'd with sight, 


Shut out from heaven's surrounding light, 


A sight so beautiful as sound 1 


Life's hours, and days, and years enjoy, — 


Tell me, kind friends, in one short word, 


Though blind, a merry -hearted boy. 


Am I not like a captive bird 1 


That captive bird may never float 


I live in song, and peace, and joy, — 


Through heaven, or pour his thrilling note 


Though blind, a merry-hearted boy. 


Mid shady groves, by pleasant streams 
That sparkle in the soft moonbeams ; 






But he may gayly flutter round 


THE ELYSIAN ISLE. 


Within his prison's scanty bound, 





And give his soul to song, for he 


" It arose before them, the most beautiful island in the 


Ne'er longs to taste sweet liberty. 


world."— Irving' s Columbus. 


! may I not as happy dwell 


It was a sweet and pleasant isle — 
As fair as isle could be ; 


Within my unillumined cell ? 


May I not leap, and sing, and play, 


And the wave that kiss'd its sandy shore 
Was the wave of the Indian sea. 


And turn my constant night to day 1 


I never saw the sky, the sea, 




The earth was never green to me : 


It seem'd an emerald set by Heaven 


Then why, 0, why should I repine 


On the ocean's dazzling brow — 


For blessings that were never mine ! 


And where it glow'd long ages past, 


Think not that blindness makes me sad, 


It glows as greenly now. 


My thoughts, like yours, are often glad. 


I've wander'd oft in its valleys bright, 


Parents I have, who love me well, 


Through the gloom of its leafy bowers, 


Their different voices I can tell. 


And breathed the breath of its spicy gales 


Though far away from them, I hear, 


And the scent of its countless flowers. 


In dreams, their music meet my ear. 




Is there a star so dear above 


I 've seen its bird with the crimson wing 


As the low voice of one you love 1 


Float under the clear, blue sky ; 




I've heard the notes of its mocking-bird 


I never saw my father's face, 


On the evening waters die. 


Yet on his forehead when I place 




My hand, and feel the wrinkles there, 


In the starry noon of its brilliant night, 


Left less by time than anxious care, 


When the world was hush'd in sleep — 


I fear the world has sights of wo, 


I dream'd of the shipwreck'd gems that lie 


To knit the brows of manhood so, — 


On the floor of the soundless deep. 


I sit upon my father's knee : 
He 'd love me less if I could see. 




And I gather'd the shells that buried were 




In the heart of its silver sands, 


I never saw my mother smile : 


And toss'd them back on the running wave, 


Her gentle tones my heart beguile. 


To be caught by viewless hands. 


They fall like distant melody, 




They are so mild and sweet to me. 


There are sister-spirits that dwell in the sea, 


She murmurs not — my mother dear ! 


Of the spirits that dwell in the air ; 


Though sometimes I have kiss'd the tear 


And they never visit our northern clime, 


From her soft cheek, to tell the joy 


Where the coast is bleak and bare : 


One smiling word would give her boy. 


But around the shores of the Indian isles 


Right merry was I every day ! 


They revel and sing alone — 


Fearless to run about and play 


Though I saw them not, I heard by night 


With sisters, brothers, friends, and all, — 


Their low, mysterious tone. 


To answer to their sudden call, 




To join the ring, to speed the chase, 


Elysian isle ! I may never view 


To find each playmate's hiding-place, 


Thy birds and roses more, 


And pass my hand across his brow, 


Nor meet the kiss of thy loving breeze 


To tell him I could do it now ! 


As it seeks thy jewell'd shore. 


Yet though delightful flew the hours, 


Yet thou art treasured in my heart 


So pass'd in childhood's peaceful bowers, 


As in thine own deep sea ; 


When all were gone to school but I, 


And, in all my dreams of the spirits' home 


I used to sit at home and sigh ; 


Dear isle, I picture thee ! 



PARK BENJAMIN. 



391 



A GREAT NAME. 

Time ! thou destroyest the relics of the past, 
And hidest all the footprints of thy march 
On shatter'd column and on crumbled arch, 

By moss and ivy growing green and fast. 

Hurl'd into fragments by the tempest-blast, 
The Rhodian monster lies ; the obelisk, 
That with sharp line divided the broad disc 

Of Egypt's sun, down to the sands was cast: 

And where these stood, no remnant-trophy stands, 
And even the art is lost by which they rose : 

Thus, with the monuments of other lands, 

The place that knew them no-.v no longer knows. 

Yet triumph not, O, Time ; strong towers decay, 

But a great name shall never pass away ! 



INDOLENCE. 

There is no type of indolence like this: — 

A ship in harbour, not a signal flying, 

The wave unstirr'd about her huge sides lying, 

No breeze her drooping pennant-flag to kiss, 

Or move the smallest rope that hangs aloft : 

Sailors recumbent, listless, stretch'd around 
Upon the polish'd deck or canvass — soft 

To his tough limbs that scarce have ever found 
A bed more tender, since his mother's knee 
The stripling left to tempt the changeful sea. 
Some are asleep, some whistle, try to sing, 
Some gape, and wonder when the ship will sail, 
Some 'damn' the calm and wish it was a gale; 
But every lubber there is lazy as a king. 

SPORT. 

To see a fellow of a summer's morning, 
With a large foxhound of a slumberous eye 
And a slim gun, go slowly lounging by, 

About to give the feather'd bipeds warning, 
That probably they may be shot hereafter, 
Excites in me a quiet kind of laughter; 

For, though I am no lover of the sport 
Of harmless murder, yet it is to me 
Almost the funniest thing on earth to see 

A corpulent person, breathing with a snort, 

Go on a shooting frolic all alone ; 

For well I know that when he's out of town, 
He and his dog and gun will all lie down, 

And undestructive sleep till gameand light are flown. 



M. I. 



Born in the north, and rear'd in tropic lands : 

Her mind has all the vigour of a tree, 

Sprung from a rocky soil beside the sea, 
And all the sweetness of a rose that stands 

In the soft sunshine on some shelter'd lea. 

She seems all life, and light, and love to me P* 
No winter lingers in her glowing smile, 

No coldness in her deep, melodious words, 
But all the warmth of her dear Indian isle, 

And all the music of its tuneful birds. 
With her conversing of my native bowers, 

In the far south, I feel the genial air 
Of some delicious morn, and taste those flowers, 

Which, like herself, are bright above compare. 



TO MY SISTER. 

Sister ! dear sister, I am getting old : 
My hair is thinner, and the cheerful light 
That glisten'd in mine eyes is not as bright, 

Though while on thee I look, 'tis never cold. 

My hand is not so steady while I pen 

These simple words to tell how warm and clear 
Flows my heart's fountain toward thee, sister dear! 

For years I 've lived among my fellow-men, [joys, 
Shared their deep passions, known their griefs and 
And found Pride, Power, and Fame but gilded 

And, sailing far upon Ambition's waves, [toys; 
Beheld brave mariners on a troubled sea, [graves. 

Meet, what they fear'd not — shipwreck and their 
My spirit seeks its haven, dear, with thee ! 



TO 



'T is Winter now — but Spring will blossom soon, 
And flowers will lean to the embracing air — 
And the young buds will vie with them to share 

Each zephyr's soft caress ; and when the Moon 
Bends her new silver bow, as if to fling 
Her arrowy lustre through some vapour's wing, 

The streamlets will return the glance of night 
From their pure, gliding mirrors, set by Spring 

Deep in rich frames of clustering chiysolite, 

Instead of Winter's crumbled sparks of white. 
So, dearest! shall our loves, though frozen now*' 

By cold unkindness, bloom like buds and flowers, 
Like fountain's flash, for Hope with smilingbrow 

Tells of a Spring, whose sweets shall all be ours ! 
♦ 



TO 



Lady, farewell ! my heart no more to thee 
Bends like the Parsee to the dawning sun ; 

No more thy beauty lights the world for me, 
Or tints with gold the moments as they run. 

A cloud is on the landscape, and the beams 
That made the valleys so divinely fair, 

And scatter'd diamonds on the gliding streams, 
And crown'd the mountains in their azure air — 

Are veil'd forever ! — Lady, fare thee well ! 
Sadly as one who longeth for a sound 
To break the stillness of a deep profound, 

I turn and strike my frail, poetic shell: — 
Listen ! it is the last ; for thee alone 
My heart no more shall wake its sorrowing tone. 



TO A LADY WITH A BOUQUET. 

Flowers are love's truest language ; they betray, 
Like the divining rods of Magi old, 
Where priceless wealth lies buried, not of gold, 

But love — strong love, that never can decay ! 

I send thee flowers, dearest ! and I deem 

That from their petals thou wilt hear sweet words, 
Whose music, clearer than the voice of birds, 

When breathed to thee alone, perchance, may seem 
All eloquent of feelings unexpress'd. 

0, wreathe them in those tresses of dark hair ! 

Let them repose upon thy forehead fair, 

And on thy bosom's yielding snow be press'd ! 

Thus shall thy fondness for my flowers reveal 

The love that maiden coyness would conceal ! 



RALPH HOYT. 



[Born about 1810.J 



Rev. Ralph Hott was born in the city of 

New York, of which he is a resident, in the se- 
cond lustrum of the present century. After pass- 
ing several years as a teacher, and as a writer for 
the gazettes, he studied theology, and was ordained 
a presbyter of the Protestant Episcopal church in 
1842. Verse is but an episode, though a natural 
one, in the life of a clergyman devoted to the active 
pursuit of good. Mr. Hott may have written 
much, but he has acknowledged little. He is 
known chiefly by " The Chaunt of Life and other 
Poems," published in 1844, and by the second 
portion of "The Chaunt of Life," etc., which 



appeared in the summer of 1845. The « Chaunt 
of Life" is chiefly occupied with passages of per- 
sonal sentiment and reflection. The pieces entitled 
« Snow" and « The World for Sale," in his first 
volume, attracted more attention, and the author 
was led to pursue the vein, in « New" and « Old," 
which were subsequently written. A simple, na- 
tural current of feeling runs through them; the 
versification grows out of the subject, and the whole 
clings to us as something written from the heart 
of the author. A few such pieces have often 
prolonged a reputation, while writers of greater 
effort have been forgotten. 



OLD. 

Bt the wayside, on a mossy stone, 
Sat a hoary pilgrim sadly musing ; 

Oft I marked him sitting there alone, 
All the landscape like a page perusing; 
Poor, unknown — 

By the wayside, on a mossy stone. 

Buckled knee and shoe, and broad-rimm'd hat, 
Coat as ancient as the form 'twas folding, 

Silver buttons, queue, and crimpt cravat, 
Oaken staff, his feeble hand upholding, 
There he sat ! 

Buckled knee and shoe, and broad-rimm'd hat. 

Seem'd it pitiful he should sit there, 
No one sympathising, no one heeding, 

None to love him for his thin gray hair, 
And the furrows all so mutely pleading, 
Age, and care : 

Seem'd it pitiful he should sit there. 

It was summer, and we went to school, 
Dapper country lads, and little maidens. 

Taught the motto of the " Dunce's Stool," 
Its grave import still my fancy ladens, 
" Here's a fool !" 

It was summer, and we went to school. 

When the stranger seem'd to mark our play, 

Some of us were joyous, some sad-hearted, 
I remember well, — too well, that day ! 

Oftentimes the tears unbidden started, 
Would not stay ! 
When the stranger seemed to mark our play. 
One sweet spirit broke the silent spell, 

Ah ! to me her name was always heaven ! 
She besought him all his grief to tell, 

(I was then thirteen, and she eleven,) 
Isabel ! 
One sweet spirit broke the silent spell. 



Angel, said he sadly, I am old ; 

Earthly hope no longer hath a morrow, 
Yet, why I sit here thou shalt be told, 

Then his eye betray'd a pearl of sorrow, 
Down it roll'd ! 
Angel, said he sadly, I am old ! 

I have totter'd here to look once more 
On the pleasant scene where I delighted 

In the careless, happy days of yore, 

Ere the garden of my heart was blighted 
To the core ! 

I have totter'd here to look once more ! 

All the picture now to me how dear! 

E'en this gray old rock where I am seated, 
Is a jewel worth my journey here ; 

Ah, that such a scene must be completed 
With a tear ! 
All the picture now to me how dear ! 

Old stone school-house ! — it is still the same! 

There's the very step I so oft' mounted ; 
There's the window creaking in its frame, 

And the notches that I cut and counted 

For the game ; 

Old stone school-house ! — it is still the same ! 

In the cottage, yonder, I was born ; 

Long my happy home — that humble dwelling ; 
There the fields of clover, wheat, and corn, 

There the spring, with limpid nectar swelling ; 
Ah, forlorn ! 
In the cottage, yonder, I was born. 

Those two gate-way sycamores you see, 

Then were planted, just so far asunder 
That long well-pole from the path to free, 
And the wagon to pass safely under ; 
Ninety-three ! 
Those two gate-way sycamores you see ! 

392 



RALPH HOYT. 



393 



There's the orchard where we used to climb 
When my mates and I were boys together, 

Thinking nothing of the flight of time, 

Fearing naught but work and rainy weather ; 
Past its prime ! 

There's the orchard where we used to climb ! 

There, the rude, three-corner'd chestnut rails, 
Round the pasture where the flocks were graz- 
ing, 
Where, so sly, I used to watch for quails 
In the crops of buckwheat we were raising, 
Traps and trails, — 
There, the rude, three-corner'd chestnut rails. 

There's the mill that ground our yellow grain ; 

Pond, and river still serenely flowing ; 
Cot, there nestling in the shaded lane, 

Where the lily of my heart was blowing, 
Mart Jane ! 
There's the mill that ground our yellow grain ! 

There's the gate on which I used to swing, 

Brook, and bridge, and barn, and old red stable ; 

But alas ! no more the morn shall bring 
That dear group around my father's table ; 
Taken wing! 

There's the gate on which I used to swing ! 

I am fleeing! — all I loved are fled ! 

Yon green meadow was our place for playing ; 
That old tree can tell of sweet things said, 

When around it Jane and I were straying: 
She is dead ! 
I am fleeing ! — all I loved are fled ! 

Yon white spire, a pencil on the sky, 
Tracing silently life's changeful story, 

So familiar to my dim old eye, 

Points me to seven that are now in glory 
There on high ! 

Yon white spire, a pencil on the sky ! 

Oft the aisle of that old church we trod, 
Guided thither by an angel mother ; 

Now she sleeps beneath its sacred sod, 
Sire and sisters, and my little brother ; 
Gone to God ! 

Oft the aisle of that old church we trod ! 

There I heard of wisdom's pleasant ways, 
Bless the holy lesson ! — but, ah, never 

Shall I hear again those songs of praise, 
Those sweet voices, — silent now for ever ! 
Peaceful days ! 

There I heard of wisdom's pleasant ways ! 

There my Mary blest me with her hand, 

When our souls drank in the nuptial blessing, 

Ere she hasten'd to the spirit-land ; 

Yonder turf her gentle bosom pressing ; 
Broken band ! 

There my Mary blest me with her hand ! 

I have come to see that grave once more, 

And the sacred place where we delighted, 
Where we worshipp'd in the days of yore, 

50 



Ere the garden of my heart was blighted 
To the core! 
I have come to see that grave once more. 

Angel, said he sadly, I am old ! 

Earthly hope no longer hath a morrow ; 
Now, why I sit here thou hast been told : 

In his eye another pearl of sorrow, 
Down it rolled ! 
Angel, said he sadly, I am old ! 

By the wayside, on a mossy stone, 
Sat the hoary pilgrim, sadly musing ; 

Still I marked him, sitting there alone, 
All the landscape, like a page, perusing ; 
Poor, unknown, 

By the wayside, on a mossy stone ! 



NEW. 



Still sighs the world for something new, 

For something new ; 
Imploring me, imploring you, 

Some Will-o'-wisp to help pursue ; 
Ah, hapless world, what will it do ! 
Imploring me, imploring you, 
For something new ! 

Each pleasure, tasted, fades away, 

It fades away ; 
Nor you, nor I can bid it stay, 

A dew-drop trembling on a spray ; 
A rainbow at the close of day ; 
Nor you, nor I can bid it stay ; 
It fades away. 

Fill up life's chalice to the brim ; 

Up to the brim ; 
'Tis only a capricious whim ; 

A dreamy phantom, flitting dim, 
Inconstant still for Her, or Him ; 
'Tis only a capricious whim, 
Up to the brim ! 



She, young and fair, expects delight ; 

Expects delight ; 
Forsooth, because the morn is bright, 

She deems it never will be night, 
That youth hath not a wing for flight, 
Forsooth, because the morn is bright, 
Expects delight ! 

The rose, once gather'd, cannot please, 

It cannot please ; 
Ah, simple maid, a rose to seize, 

That only blooms to tempt and tease : 
With thorns to rob the heart of ease ; 
Ah, simple maid, a rose to seize ; 
It cannot please ! 

'Tis winter, but she pines for spring ; 

She pines for spring ; 
No bliss its frost and follies bring ; 
A bird of passage on the wing ; 



394 



RALPH HOYT. 



Unhappy, discontented tiling ; 

No bliss its frost and follies bring ; 
She pines for spring ! 

Delicious May, and azure skies ; 

And azure skies ; 
With flowers of paradisial dyes ; 

Now, maiden, happy be and wise: 
Ah, June can only charm her eyes 
With flowers of paradisial dyes, 
And azure skies ! 

The glowing, tranquil summertime ; 

The summertime ; 
Too listless in a maiden's prime, 
Dull, melancholy pantomime ; 
Oh, for a gay autumnal clime : 
Too listless in a maiden's prime, 
The summertime ! 

October ! with earth's richest store ; 

Earth's richest store ; 
Alas ! insipid as before ; 

Days, months, and seasons, o'er and o'er, 
Remotest lands their treasures pour ; 
Alas, insipid as before, 
Earth's richest store ! 

Love nestles in that gentle breast; 

That gentle breast ; 
Ah, love will never let it rest ; 

The cruel, sly, ungrateful guest ; 
A viper in a linnet's nest, 

Ah, love will never let it rest ; 
That gentle breast ! 

Could she embark on Fashion's tide ; 

On fashion's tide ; 
How gaily might a maiden glide ; — 

Contentment, innocence, and pride, 
All stranded upon either side ; — 
How gaily might a maiden glide, 
On fashion's tide ! 

Ah, maiden, time will make thee smart: 

Will make thee smart ; 
Some new, and keen, and poison'd dart, 
Will pierce at last that restless heart ; 
Youth, friends, and beauty will depart; 
Some new, and keen, and poisoned dart, 
Will make thee smart! 

So pants for change the fickle fair ; 

The fickle fair ; 
A feather, floating in the air, 

Still wafted here, and wafted there, 
No charm, no hazard worth her care ; 
A feather floating in the air, 
The fickle fair! 



How sad his lot, the hapless swain ; 

The hapless swain ; 
With care, and toil, in heat and rain, 
To speed the plough or harvest-wain ; 



Still reaping only fields of grain, 

With care, and toil, in heat and rain; 
The hapless swain ! 

Youth, weary youth, 'twill soon be past ; 

'Twill soon be past ; 
His manhood's happiness shall last; 

Renown, and riches, far and fast, 
Their potent charms shall round him cast, 

His Manhood's happiness shall last : — 
'Twill soon be past! 

Now toiling up ambition's steep ; 

Ambition's steep ; 
The rugged path is hard to keep ; 

The spring how far ! the well how deep ! 
Ah me ! in folly's bower asleep ! 
The rugged path is hard to keep ; 
Ambition's steep ! 

The dream fulfilled ! rank, fortune, fame ; 

Rank, fortune, fame ; 
Vain fuel for celestial flame ! 

He wins and wears a glittering name, 
Yet sighs his longing soul the same ; 
Vain fuel for celestial flame, 
Rank, fortune, fame ! 

Sweet beauty aims with Cupid's bow ; 

With Cupid's bow ; 
Can she transfix him now ? — ah, no ! 

Amid the fairest flowers that blow, 
The torment but alights — to go : 

Can she transfix him now ! — ah, no, 
With Cupid's bow ! 

Indulgent heav'n, O grant but this, 

O grant but this, 
The boon shall be enough of bliss, 

A home, with true affection's kiss, 
To mend whate'er may hap amiss, 

O grant but this ! 

The Eden won: — insatiate still; 

Insatiate still ; — 
A wider, fairer range, he will ; 

Some mountain higher than his hill ; 
Some prospect fancy's map to fill ; 
A wider, fairer range, he will; 
Insatiate still ! 

From maid to matron, son to sire ; 

From son to sire, 
Each bosom burns with quenchless fire, 

Where life's vain phantasies expire 
In some new phoenix of desire ; 

Each bosom burns with quenchless fire, 
From son to sire ! 

Still sighs the world for something new ; 

For something new ; 
Imploring me, imploring you 

Some Will-o'-wisp to help pursue . 
Ah hapless world, what will it do ; 

Imploring me, imploring you, 

Foil SOMETHING NEW ! 



RALPH HOYT. 



395 



SALE. 

The world for sale ! — Hang out the sign; 

Call every traveller here to me ; 
Who'll buy this brave estate of mine, 

And set me from earth's bondage free : — 
'Tis going ! — Yes, I mean to fling 

The bauble from my soul away ; 
I'll sell it, whatsoe'r it bring ; — 

The World at Auction here to-day ! 

It is a glorious thing to see, — 

Ah, it has cheated me so sore ! 
It is not what it seems to be : 

For sale ! It shall be mine no more. 
Come, turn it o'er and view it well ; — 

I would not have you purchase dear ; 
'Tis going — going ! — I must sell ! 

Who bids ]— Who'll buy the Splendid Tear 1 

Here's Wealth in glittering heaps of gold, — 

Who bids] — But let me tell you fair, 
A baser lot was never sold ; — 

Who'll buy the heavy heaps of care 1 
And here, spread out in broad domain, 

A goodly landscape all may trace ; 
Hall — cottage — tree — field — hill and plain ; 

Who'll buy himself a burial place ! 

Here's Love, the dreamy potent spell 

That beauty flings around the heart ; 
I know its power, alas ! too well ; — 

'Tis going — Love and I must part ! 
Must part ! — Wbat can I more with Love ! 

All over the enchanter's reign ; 
Who'll buy the plumeless, dying dove, — 

An hour of bliss, — an age of pain ! 

And Friendship, — rarest gem of earth, — 

(Who e'er hath found the jewel his]) 
Frail, fickle, false and little worth, — 

Who bids for Friendship — as it is ! 
'Tis going — going ! — Hear the call : 

Once, twice, and thrice ! — 'Tis very low ! 
'Twas once my hope, my stay, my all, — 

But now the broken staff must go! 

Fatwe ! hold the brilliant meteor high ; 

How dazzling ever}- gilded name ! 
Ye millions, now's the time to buy ! — 

How much for Fame ! How much for Fame ! 
Hear how it thunders ! — Would you stand 

On high Olympus, far renown'd, — 
Now purchase, and a world command ! — 

And be with a world's curses crown'd ! 

Sweet star of Hope ! with ray to shine 

In every sad foreboding breast, 
Save tins desponding one of mine, — 

Who bids for man's last friend and best ' 
Ah, were not mine a bankrupt life, 

This treasure should my soul sustain ; 
But Hope and I are now at strife, 

Nor ever may unite again. 

And Soxg ! — For sale my tuneless lute ; 

Sweet solace, mine no more to hold ; 
The chords that charmed my soul are mute, 

I cannot wake the notes of old ! 



Or e'en were mine a wizard shell, 

Could chain a world in raptures high ; 

Yet now a sad farewell ! — farewell ! — 
Must on its last faint echoes die. 

Ambition, fashion, show, and pride, — 

I part from all for ever now ; 
Grief, in an overwhelming tide, 

Has taught my haughty heart to bow. 
Poor heart ! distracted, ah, so long, — 

And still its aching throb to bear ; — 
How broken, that was once so strong ; 

How heavy, once so free from care. 

No more for me life's fitful dream ; — 

Bright vision, vanishing away ! 
My bark requires a deeper stream ; 

My sinking soul a surer stay. 
By Death, stern sheriff! all bereft, 

I weep, yet humbly kiss the rod , 
The best of all I still have left,— 

My Faith, my Bible, and my God. 



SNOW. 

The blessed morn is come again ; 

The early gray 
Taps at the slumberer's window-pane, 

And seems to say 
« Break, break from the enchanter's chain, 

Aw ay , — aw ay ! ' ' 

'Tis winter, yet there is no sound 

Along the air, 
Of winds upon their battle-ground, 

But gently there, 
The snow is falling, — all around 

How fair — how fair ! 

The jocund fields would masquerade ; 

Fantastic scene ! 
Tree, shrub, and lawn, and lonely glade 

Have cast their green, 
And join'd the revel, all array 'd 

So wliite and clean. 

E'en the old posts, that hold the bars 

And the old gate, 
Forgetful of their wintry wars 

And age sedate, 
High-capp'd, and plumed, like white hussars, 

Stand there in state. 

The drifts are hanging by the sill, 

The eaves, the door ; 
The hay -stack has become a hill ; 

All cover'd o'er 
The wagon, loaded for the mill 

The eve before. 

Maria brings the water-pail, — 

But where's the well! 
Like magic of a fairy tale, 

Most strange to tell, 
All vanish'd, — curb, and crank, and rail ;— 

How deep it fell ! 



396 



RALPH HOYT. 



The wood-pile too is playing hide ; 

The axe — the log — 
The kennel of that friend so tried — 

(The old watch-dog,) 
The grindstone standing by its side, 

All now incog. 

The bustling cock looks out aghast 

From his high shed ; 
No spot to scratch him a repast, 

Up curves his head, 
Starts the dull hamlet with a blast, 

And back to bed. 

The barn-yard gentry, musing, chime 

Their morning moan ; 
Like Memnon's music of old time — 

That voice of stone ! 
So marbled they — and so sublime 

Their solemn tone. 

Good Ruth has called the yo linker folk 

To dress below ; 
Full welcome was the word she spoke, 

Down, down they go, 
The cottage quietude is broke, — 

The snow ! — the snow ! 

Now rises from around the fire 

A pleasant strain ; 
Ye giddy sons of mirth, retire ! 

And ye profane ! — 
A hymn to the Eternal Sire 

Goes up again. 

The patriarchal Book divine, 

Upon the knee, 
Opes where the gems of Judah shine, — 

(Sweet minstrelsie !) 
How soars each heart with each fair line, 

God ! to Thee ! 

Around the altar low they bend, 

Devout in prayer.; 
As snows upon the roof descend, 

So angels there 
Guard o'er that household, to defend 

With gentle care. 

Now sings the kettle o'er the blaze ; 

The buckwheat heaps ; 
Rare Mocha, worth an Arab's praise, 

Sweet Susan steeps ; 
The old round stand her nod obeys, 

And out it leaps. 

Unerring presages declare 
The banquet near ; 
Soon, busy appetites are there ; 



And disappear 
The glories of the ample fare, 
With thanks sincere. 

Now let the busy day begin : — 

Out rolls the churn ; 
Forth hastes the farm-boy, and brings in 

The brush to burn ; — 
Sweep, shovel, scour, sew, knit, and spin, 

Till night's return. 

To delve his threshing John must hie ; 

His sturdy shoe 
Can all the subtle damp defy : 

How wades he through ! 
While dainty milkmaids, slow and shy, 

His track pursue. 

Each to the hour's allotted care : 

To shell the corn ; 
The broken harness to repair ; 

The sleigh t'adorn : 
So cheerful — tranquil — snowy — fair, 

The Winter Morn. 



EXTRACT FROM THE CHAUNT OF 
LIFE. 

Give me to love my fellow, and in love, 

If with none other grace to chaunt my strain, 
Sweet key-note of soft cadences above, 

Sole star of solace in life's night of pain. 
Chief gem of Eden, fractured in that fall 

That ruin'd two fond hearts, and tarnish'd all ! 
Redeemer ! be thy kindly spirit mine ; 

That pearl of Paradise to me restore, 
Pure, fervent, fearless, lasting, love divine, 

Profound as ocean, broad as sea and shore. 
While Man I sing, free, subject, and supreme, 

O ! for a soul, as ample as the theme ! 

Sad prelude I have sung, by Sorrow led 

Along the mournful shades that own her sway, 
Where, by a stream that weeping eyes have shed, 

Low chaunted I my melancholy lay, 
In pensive concord with the sootheless wail 

Of sighing wanderers in that lonely vale. 
Ah, chide not those whose wo seems hard to bear, 

The heart must hover where its treasures sleep, 
I saw the great, the wise, the gifted there, 

With humbler multitudes compell'd to weep ; 
No penury, no wealth commands relief! 

No serf, no sovereign in the realms of grief! 



JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. 



[Born about 1810.] 



Mr. Clarke is a native of Boston. He is a 
grandson of the Reverend James Freeman, D. D., 
for many years minister of King's Chapel, in that 
city, and was from his childhood designed for the 
church. He was educated in the university and 
in the divinity-school at Cambridge, and on being 



admitted to orders, went to Louisville, Kentucky, 
where he resided several years, and conducted 
with much ability a monthly miscellany of reli- 
gion and letters, entitled " The Western Messen- 
ger." In 1846 he published a poem delivered be- 
fore the Phi Beta Kappa Society 



HYMN AND PRAYER. 

Infinite Spirit! who art round us ever, 
In whom we float, as motes in summer-sky, 

May neither life nor death the sweet bond sever, 
Which joins us to our unseen Friend on high. 

Unseen — yet not unfelt — if any thought 

Has raised our mind from earth, or pure desire, 

A generous act, or noble purpose brought, 
It is thy breath, Lord, which fans the fire. 

To me, the meanest of thy creatures, kneeling, 
Conscious of weakness, ignorance, sin, and shame, 

Give such a force of holy thought and feeling, 
That I may live to glorify thy name ; 

That I may conquer base desire and passion, 
That I may rise o'er selfish thought and will, 

O'ercome the world's allurement, threat, and fashion, 
Walk humbly, softly, leaning on thee still. 

I am unworthy. Yet, for their dear sake 
I ask, whose roots planted in me are found ; 

For precious vines are propp'd by rudest stake, 
And heavenly roses fed in darkest ground. 

Beneath my leaves, though early fallen and faded, 
Young plants are warm'd, — they drink my 
branches' dew: 

Let them not, Lord, by me be Upas-shaded ; 
Make me, for their sake, firm, and pure, and true. 

For their sake, too, the faithful, wise, and bold, 
Whose generous love has been my pride and stay, 

Those who have found in me some trace of gold, 
For their sake purify my lead and clay. 

And let not all the pains and toil be wasted, 
Spent on my youth by saints now gone to rest ; 

Nor that deep sorrow my Redeemer tasted, 

When on his soul the guilt of man was press'd. 

Tender and sensitive, he braved the storm, 
That we might fly a well-deserved fate, 

Pour'd out his soul in supplication warm, 
Look'd with his eyes of love on eyes of hate. 

Let all this goodness by my mind be seen, 
Let all this mercy on my heart be seal'd ! 

Lord, if thou wilt, thy power can make me clean : 
O, speak the word — thy servant shall be heal'd. 



THE POET. 

He touch'd the earth, a soul of flame, 
His bearing proud, his spirit high ; 

Fill'd with the heavens from whence he came, 
He smiled upon man's destiny. 

Yet smiled as one who knows no fear, 

And felt a secret strength within, 
Who wonder'd at the pitying tear 

Shed over human loss and sin. 

Lit by an inward, brighter light 

Than aught that round about him shone, 

He walk'd erect through shades of night ; 
Clear was his pathway — but how lone ! 

Men gaze in wonder and in awe 

Upon a form so like to theirs, 
Worship the presence, yet withdraw 

And carry elsewhere warmer prayers. 

Yet when the glorious pilgrim-guest, 

Forgetting once his strange estate, 
Unloosed the lyre from off his breast, 

And strung its chords to human fate ; 

And, gayly snatching some rude air, 

Caroll'd by idle, passing tongue, 
Gave back the notes that linger'd there, 

And in Heaven's tones earth's low lay sung; 

Then warmly grasp'd the hand that sought 
To thank him with a brother's soul, 

And when the generous wine was brought, 
Shared in the feast and quafT'd the bowl ; 

Men laid their hearts low at his feet, 
And sunn'd their being in his light, 

Press'd on his way his steps to greet, 
And in his love forgot his might. 

And when, a wanderer long on earth, 

On him its shadow also fell, 
And dimm'd the lustre of a birth 

Whose day-spring was from Heaven's own well; 

They cherish'd e'en the tears he shed, 
Their woes were hallow'd by his wo, 

Humanity, half cold and dead, 

Had been revived in genius' glow. 

2L 397 



898 



JAMES F. CLARKE. 



JACOB'S WELL.* 

Here, after Jacob parted from his brother, 

His daughters linger'd round this well, new-made; 

Here, seventeen centuries after, came another, 
And talk'd with Jesus, wondering and afraid. 

Here, other centuries past, the emperor's mother 
Shelter'd its waters with a temple's shade. 

Here, mid the fallen fragments, as of old, 

The girl her pitcher dips within its waters cold. 

And Jacob's race grew strong for many an hour, 
Then torn beneath the Roman eagle lay ; 

The Roman's vast and earth-controlling power 
Has crumbled like these shafts and stones away ; 

But still the waters, fed by dew and shower, 
Come up, as ever, to the light of day, 

And still the maid bends downward with her urn, 

Well pleased to see its glass her lovely face return. 

And those few words of truth, first utter'd here, 
Have sunk into the human soul and heart ; 

A spiritual faith dawns bright and clear, 
Dark creeds and ancient mysteries depart ; 

The hour for God's true worshippers draws near ; 
Then mourn not o'er the wrecks of earthly art : 

Kingdoms may fall, and human" works decay, 

Nature moves on unchanged — Truths never pass 
away. 

♦ 

THE VIOLET.t 

Wiiex April's warmth unlocks the clod, 

Soften'd by gentle showers, 
The violet pierces through the sod, 

And blossoms, first of flowers ; 
So may I give my heart to God 

In childhood's early hours. 

Some plants, in gardens only found, 

Are raised with pains and care : 
God scatters violets all around, 

They blossom everywhere; 
Thus may my love to all abound, 

And all my fragrance share. 

Some scentless flowers stand straight and high, 

With pride and haughtiness : 
But violets perfume land and sky, 

Although they promise less. 
Let me, with all humility, 

Do more than I profess. 

Sweet flower, be thou a type to me 

Of blameless joy and mirth, 
Of widely -scatter' d sympathy, 

Embracing all God's earth — 
Of early-blooming piety, 

And unpretending worth. 

* Suggested by a sketch of Jacob's Well, and Mount 
Gerizim. 

■J- Written for a little girl to speak on May-day, in the 
character of the Violet. 



TO A BUNCH OF FLOWERS. 

Little firstlings of the year ! 
Have you come my room to cheer 1 
You are dry and parch'd, I think ; 
Stand within this glass and drink ; 
Stand beside me on the table, 
'Mong my books — if I am able, 
I will find a vacant space 
For your bashfulness and grace ; 
Learned tasks and serious duty 
Shall be lighten'd by your beauty. 
Pure affection's sweetest token, 
Choicest hint of love unspoken, 
Friendship in your help rejoices, 
Uttering her mysterious voices. 
You are gifts the poor may offer — 
Wealth can find no better proffer: 
For you tell of tastes refined, 
Thoughtful heart and spirit kind. 
Gift of gold or jewel-dresses 
Ostentatious thought confesses ; 
Simplest mind this boon may give, 
Modesty herself receive. 
For lovely woman you were meant 
The just and natural ornament, 
Sleeping on her bosom fair, 
Hiding in her raven hair, 
Or, peeping out mid golden curls, 
You outshine barbaric pearls ; 
Yet you lead no thought astray, 
Feed not pride nor vain display, 
Nor disturb her sisters' rest, 
Waking envy in their breast. 
Let the rich, with heart elate, 

Pile their board with costly plate ; 

Richer ornaments are ours, 

We will dress our homes with flowers , 

Yet no terror need we feel 

Lest the thief break through to steal. 

Ye are playthings for the child, 

Gifts of love for maiden mild, 

Comfort for the aged eye, 

For the poor, cheap luxury. 

Though your life is but a day, 

Precious things, dear flowers, you say, 

Telling that the Being good 

Who supplies our daily food, 

Deems it needful to supply 

Daily food for heart and eye. 

So, though your life is but a day, 

We grieve not at your swift decay ; 

He, who smiles in your bright faces, 

Sends us more to take your places ; > 

'T is for this ye fade so soon, 

That He may renew the boon ; 

That kindness often may repeat 

These mute messages so sweet : 

That Love to plainer speech may get, 

Conning oft his alphabet; 

That beauty may be rain'd from heaven, 

New with every morn and even, 

With freshest fragrance sunrise greeting: 

Therefore are ye, flowers, so fleeting. 



JAMES ALDRICH. 



James Aldrick was bom near the Hudson, in 
the county of Suffolk, on the tenth of July, 1810. 
He received his education partly in Orange county, 
and partly in the city of New York, where, early 
in life, he became actively engaged in mercantile 
business. In 18JG he was married to Matilda, 



daughter of Mr. Johx B. Ltok, of Newport, Rhode 
Island, and in the same year relinquished the oc- 
cupation of a merchant. He has since devoted 
his attention entirely to literature ; and has edited 
two or three popular periodicals. He resides in 
New York. 



MORN AT SEA. 

Clearly, with mental eye, 
Where the first slanted ray of sunlight springs, 
I see the morn with golden-fringed wings 

Up-pointed to the sky. 

In youth's divinest glow, 
She stands upon a wandering cloud of dew, 
Whose skirts are sun-illumed with every hue 

Worn by God's covenant bow! 

The child of light and air ! 
O'er land or wave, where'er her pinions move, 
The shapes of earth are clothed in hues of love 

And truth, divinely fair. 

Athwart this wide abyss, 
On homeward way impatiently I drift; 
0, might she bear me now where sweet flowers lift 

Their eyelids to her kiss ! 

Her smile hath overspread 
The heaven-reflecting sea, that evermore 
Is tolling solemn knells from shore to shore 

For its uncoffin'd dead. 

Most like an angel-friend, 
With noiseless footsteps, which no impress leave, 
She comes in gentleness to those who grieve, 

Bidding the long night end. 

How joyfully will hail, 
With reenliven'd hearts, her presence fair, 
The hapless shipwreck'd, patient in despair, 

Watching a far-off sail. 

Vain all affection's arts 
To cheer the sick man through the night have been: 
She to his casement goes, and, looking in, 

Death's shadow thence departs. 

How many, far from home, 
Wearied, like me, beneath unfriendly skies, 
And mourning'o'er affection's broken ties, 

Have pray'd for her to come. 

Lone voyager on time's sea ! 
When my dull night of being shall be past, 
0, may I waken to a morn, at last, 

Welcome as this to me ! 



A DEATH-BED. 

Her suffering ended with the day, 

Yet lived she at its close, 
And breathed the long, long night away, 

In statue-like repose. 

But when the sun, in all his state, 

Illumed the eastern skies, 
She pass'd through Glory's morning-gate, 

And walk'd in Paradise ! 



MY MOTHER'S GRAVE. 

Ix beauty lingers on the hills 

The death-smile of the dying day; 
And twilight in my heart instils 

The softness of its rosy ray. 
I watch the river's peaceful flow, 

Here, standing by my mother's grave, 
And feel my dreams of glory go, 

Like weeds upon its sluggish wave. 

God gives us ministers of love, 

Which we regard not, being near ; 
Death takes them from us — then we feel 

That angels have been with us here ! 
As mother, sister, friend, or wife, 

They guide us, cheer us, soothe our pain ; 
And when the grave has closed between 

Our hearts and theirs, we love — in vain ! 

Would, mother ! thou couldst hear me tell 

How oft, amid my brief career, 
For sins and follies loved too well, 

Hath fallen the free, repentant tear. 
And, in the waywardness of youth, 

How better thoughts have given to me 
Contempt for error, love for truth, 

Mid sweet remembrances of thee. 

The harvest of my youth is done, 

And manhood, come with all its cares, 
Finds, garner'd up within my heart, 

For every flower a thousand tares. 
Dear mother ! couldst thou know my thoughts, 

Whilst bending o'er this holy shrine, 
The depth of feeling in my breast, 

Thou wouldst not blush to call me thine ! 



400 JAMES ALDRICH. 


A SPRING-DAY WALK. 


LINES. 


Adieu, the city's ceaseless hum, 


Underneath this marble cold, 


The haunts of sensual life, adieu ! 


Lies a fair girl turn'd to mould ; 


Green fields, and silent glens ! we come, 


One whose life was like a star, 


To spend this bright spring-day with you. 


Without toil or rest to mar 


Whether the hills and vales shall gleam 


Its divinest harmony, 


With beauty, is for us to choose ; 


Its God -given serenity. 


For leaf and blossom, rock and stream, 


One, whose form of youthful grace, 


Are colour'd with the spirit's hues. 


One, whose eloquence of face 


Here, to the seeking soul, is brought 


Match'd the rarest gem of thought 


A nobler view of human fate, 


By the antique sculptors wrought : 


And higher feeling, higher thought, 


Yet her outward charms were less 


And glimpses of a higher state. 


Than her winning gentleness, 


Through change of time, on sea and shore, 


Her maiden purity of heart, 


Serenely nature smiles away; 


Which, without the aid of art, 


Yon infinite blue sky bends o'er 


Did in coldest hearts inspire 


Our world, as at the primal day. 


Love, that was not all desire. 




Spirit forms with starry eyes, 


The self-renewing earth is moved 


That seem to come from Paradise, 


With youthful life each circling year; 


Beings of ethereal birth, 


And flowers that Ceres' daughter loved 


Near us glide sometimes on earth, 


At Enna, now are blooming here. 
Glad nature will this truth reveal, 


Like glimmering moonbeams dimly seen 
Glancing down through alleys green ; 


That God is ours and we are His ; 


Of such was she who lies beneath 


0, friends, my friends ! what joy to feel 


This silent effigy of grief. 
Wo is me ! when I recall 


That He our loving father is ! 


4 


One sweet word by her let fall — 


TO ONE FAR AWAY. 


One sweet word but half-express'd — 


Swifter far than swallow's flight, 


Downcast eyes told all the rest, 


Homeward o'er the twilight lea; 


To think beneath this marble cold, 


Swifter than the morning light, 


Lies that fair girl turn'd to mould. 


Flashing o'er the pathless sea, 




' 


Dearest ! in the lonely night 


THE DREAMING GIRL. 


Memory flies away to thee ! 
Stronger far than is desire; 

Firm as truth itself can be ; 
Deeper than earth's central fire ; 

Boundless as the circling sea; 
Yet as mute as broken lyre, 

Is my love, dear wife, for thee ! 


She floats upon a sea of mist, 

In fancy's boat of amethyst ! 

A dreaming girl, with her fair cheek 

Supported by a snow-white arm, 
In the calm joy of innocence, 

Subdued by some unearthly charm. 


Sweeter far than miser's gain, 


The clusters of her dusky hair 


Or than note of fame can be 


Are floating on her bosom fair, 


Unto one who long in vain 


Like early darkness stealing o'er 


Treads the paths of chivalry^— 


The amber tints that daylight gave, 


Are my dreams, in which again 


Or, like the shadow of a cloud 


My fond arms encircle thee ! 


Upon a fainting summer-wave. 
Is it a spirit of joy or pain 


' 


BEATRICE. 


Sails on the river of her brain 1 


Untottch'd by mortal passion, 
Thou seem'st of heavenly birth, 

Pure as the effluence of a star 
Just reach'd our distant earth ! 


For, lo ! the crimson on her cheek 
Faints and glows like a dying flame; 

Her heart is beating loud and quick — 
Is not love that spirit's name 1 


Gave Fancy's pencil never 


Up-waking from her blissful sleep, 


To an ideal fair 


She starts with fear too wild to weep; 


Such spiritual expression 


Through the trailing honeysuckle, 


As thy sweet features wear. 


All night breathing odorous sighs, 


An inward light to guide thee 


Which her lattice dimly curtains, 


Unto thy soul is given, 


The morn peeps in with his bright eyes. 


Pure and serene as its divine 


Perfume loved when it is vanish'd, 


Original in heaven. 


Pleasure hardly felt ere banish'd, 


Type of the ransom'd Psyche ! 


Is the happy maiden's vision, 


How gladly, hand in hand, 


That doth on her memory gleam, 


To some new world I'd fly with thee 


And her heart leaps up with gladness — 


From off this mortal strand. 


That bliss was nothing but a dream ! 



WILLIAM H. C. HOSMER. 



[Born about 1810.] 



Mr. Hosmer is a native of Avon, in Western 
New York. His maternal ancestors were the first 
settlers ' among the Senecas, whose language he 
learned in infancy, and with whose mythology, 
traditions and customs he has ever since been fami- 
liar. His principal poetical works are, « Yonnon- 
dio, or the Warriors of the Genessee, a Tale of 
the Seventeenth Century," and " Legends of the 
Senecas," in both of which he has given striking 
and authentic sketches of Indian life and character, 



and fresh and natural descriptions of American 
scenery. Mr. Hosmer's poems are not well con- 
structed ; his narrative sometimes moves heavily ; 
and his verse is not always harmonious ; but in all 
he has written there are signs of careful study and 
genuine enthusiasm. The subjects and the spirit 
of his song are American, and his works are of the 
small number that could not have been produced 
in another country. Mr. Hosmer is a lawyer, and 
resides in Avon. 



EXTRACTS FROM « YONNONDIO. 



A FOREST SCENE. 

The devious way on which they march'd 
By braided boughs was overarch'd ; 
And right and left spread far away 
Fens only lit by fire-fly's ray : 
Dark with a tangled growth of vine, 
Black ash, huge water-oak and pine, 
Mix'd with red cedar, moss'd and old, 
Set firmly in the watery mould. 
Here, cover'd with a slime of green. 
Stagnant and turbid pools were seen, 
Edged round with wild aquatic weeds, 
Long-bladed flag and clustering reeds, 
Pond lilies, oily-leaved and pale, 
Red willow, and the alder frail; 
There, skeletons of groves gone by — 
Sad objects to poetic eye ! — 
Like monarchs by the battle-blast 
Assail'd and overthrown at last, 
Wasted and worn in bough and stem, 
And robb'd of leaf-wrought diadem, 
Lay rotting in their barky mail, 
Indifferent to sun and gale. 
Deep hollows in the miry clay 
Mark'd where their roots once spread away, 
Now mix'd with many a rugged mound, 
Form'd when their fastenings were unbound, 
Or wrench'd, like gossamer, in twain, 
By the wild rushing hurricane. 



WOODS BY MOONLIGHT. 

Above, the overhanging banks 
Were lined by trees in broken ranks, 
And moonlight falling gently down, 
Set with rich pearls each emerald crown ; 
There tower'd, majestical and old, 
The dark-leaved hemlock from the mould ; 
The spruce, unstirr'd by breath of air, 
Shaped like a parasol, was there, 
51 



And the huge pine full proudly bore 
His honours like a regal thing, 
His trunk, with mossy velvet hoar, 
Fit ermine for so wild a king. 



MOCK INDIAN FIGHT. 

Like cougar, mad with taste of blood, 

A warrior darted from the throng, 
While the dim arches of the wood 

Rang with their gathering song, — 
High overhead his hatchet raised, 
While lightning from his eye-balls blazed, 
Then buried in the solid oak 
Its glittering blade with rending stroke. 
Changed was the scene from measure slow, 

To frantic leap and deafening yell, 
And on imaginary foe 

A hundred weapons fell, 
Till hacked and splinter'd to the ground, 
In fragments lay the post around. 

Wild and more wild the tumult grew 
Amid the crazed, demoniac crew ; 
Knives flash'd, and man to man opposed ; 
Dark forms in mimic combat closed ; 
Upwhirl'd in clouds the summer dust ; 
Quick blows were aim'd, and furious thrust, 
With face convulsed the fallen gasp'd, 
And murderous hands the scalp-lock graspVi; 
Some from the swathing board cut loose 
With seeming hate, the swart pappoose, 
Then raised it, struggling, by the heel, 
And pointed at its throat the steel ; 
While others on the trampled ground, 
Limbs of the frantic mother bound, 
And her shrill cry with laughter drown'd. 
Feign'd was base flight and bold advance , 
Poised was the long, bone-headed lance ; 
Stout arms the heavy war-club sway'd ; 
Elastic bows sharp twanging made ; 
And mock'd, with modulated tone, 
Was victor shout and dying groan. 

2 h 2 401 



402 



WILLIAM H. C. HOSMER. 



AN INDIAN MARCH. 

Beneath tall branches, gray with eld 
Their labyrinthine course they held, 
While well the hindmost of the line, 
From view conceal'd betraying sign ; 
Sending keen glances in the rear, 
Lifting bow'd herb and grassy spear, 
Or, doubling, when the oozy ground 

Yielded beneath the slightest foot, 
Like hunted foxes when the hound 

And hunter are in hot pursuit. 
The red-breast perch'd in arbour green, 
Sad minstrel of the quiet scene, 
While hymning, for the dying sun, 
Strains like a broken-hearted one, 
Raised not her mottled wing to fly, 
As swept those silent warriors by ; 
The woodcock, in his moist retreat, 
Heard not the falling of their feet ; 
On his dark roost the gray owl slept ; 
Time with his drum the partridge kept ; 
Nor left the deer his watering-place, 
So hush'd, so noiseless was their pace. 



A DESERTED HALL. 

Under the neglected arbour 
Foxes in the night-time bark, 
And the bat and spider harbour 
In its chambers drear and dark. 
Weeds, about the door-stone growing, 
Whisper of decay and blight — 
On the hearth no ember glowing 
Sheds a warm and cheerful light. 

Near the ruin is a river, 
And the waves while flowing on, 
From their lips of crystal, ever 
Breathe that word of mourning — Gone! 
Round the place old poplars cluster, 
And the leaves give out strange tones 
When the moon flings pallid lustre 
On the roof and basement stones. 



THE ERRAND OF WAN-NUT-HAY. 

The at> txg upon the grassy sod 
As if her feet with moss were shod, 
Fled on her errand, Wan-nut-hay ; 
Nor paused to list or look behind, 
While groves of outline undefined 

Before her darkly lay: 
Boldly she plunged their depths within, 
Though thorns pierced through her moccasin, 
And the black clouds, unseal'd at last, 
Discharged their contents, thick and fast, 
Drenching her locks and vesture slight, 
And blinding with large drops her sight. 



The grizzly wolf was on the tramp 

To gain the covert of his lair ; 
Fierce eyes glared on her from the swamp, 

As if they ask'd her errand there ; 
The feather'd hermit of the dell, 
Flew, hooting, to his oaken cell ; 
And grape-vines, tied in leafy coil 
To gray-arm'd giants of the soil, 
Swung, like a vessel's loosen'd shrouds, 
Drifting beneath a bank of clouds. 
From the pine's huge and quaking cone 
Came sobbing and unearthly tone, 
While trunks decay'd, of measure vast, 
Fought for the last time with the blast, 
And near her fell with crashing roar, 
That shook the cumber' d forest floor. 



A FLORIDIAN SCENE. 

Where Pablo to the broad St. John 

His dark and briny tribute pays, 
The wild deer leads her dappled fawn, 

Of graceful limb and timid gaze ; 
Rich sunshine falls on wave and land, 

The gull is screaming overhead, 
And on a beach of whiten'd sand 

Lie wreathy shells with lips of red. 

The jessamine hangs golden flowers 

On ancient oaks in moss array'd, 
And proudly the palmetto towers, 

While mock-birds warble in the shade ; 
Mounds, built by mortal hand, are near, 

Green from the summit to the base, 
Where, buried with the bow and spear, 

Rest tribes, forgetful of the chase. 

Cassado,* nigh the ocean shore, 

Is now a ruin, wild and lone, 
And on her battlements no more 

Is banner waved or trumpet blown ; 
Those doughty cavaliers are gone 

Who hurl'd defiance there to France, 
While the bright waters of St. John 

Reflected flash of sword and lance. 

But when the light of dying day 

Falls on the crumbling wrecks of time 
And the wan features of decay 

Wear soften'd beauty, like the clime, 
My fancy summons from the shroud 

The knights of old Castile again, 
And charging thousands shout aloud — 

" St. Jago strikes to-day for Spain !" 

When mystic voices, on the breeze 

That fans the rolling deep, sweep by, 
The spirits of the Yemassees, 

Who ruled the land of yore, seem nigh : 
For mournful marks, around where stood 

Their palm-roof 'd lodges, yet are seen, 
And in the shadows of the wood 

Their tall, funereal mounds are green. 

* An old Spanish fort. 



ISAAC McLELLAN, JR. 



[Born about 1810.] 



Mr. McLellax is a native of the city of Port- 
land. He was educated at Bowdoin College, in 
Maine, where he was graduated in 182G. He 
subsequently studied the law, and for a few years 
practised his profession in Boston. He has re- 
cently resided in the country, and devoted his 



attention principally to agricultural pursuits. In 
the spring of 1830 he published » The Fall of the 
Indian ;" in 1832, " The Year, and other Poems;" 
and in 1844 a third volume, comprising his later 
miscellaneous pieces in verse. His best composi- 
tions are lyrical. 



NEW ENGLAND'S DEAD. 

New England's dead ! New England's dead! 

On every hill they lie ; 
On every field of strife, made red 

By bloody victory. 
Each valley, where the battle pour'd 

Its red and awful tide, 
Beheld the brave New England sword 

With slaughter deeply dyed. 
Their bones are on the northern hill, 

And on the southern plain, 
By brook and river, lake and rill, 

And by the roaring main. 

The land is holy where they fought, 

And holy where they fell ; 
For by their blood that land was bought, 

The land they loved so well. 
Then glory to that valiant band, 
The honour'd saviours of the land ! 
0, few and weak their numbers were — 

A handful of brave men ; 
But to their God they gave their prayer, 

And rush'd to battle then. 
The God of battles heard their cry, 
And sent to them the victory. 

They left the ploughshare in the mould, 

Their flocks and herds without a fold, 

The sickle in the unshorn grain, 

The corn, half-garner'd, on the plain, 

And muster'd, in their simple dress, 

For wrongs to seek a stern redress, 

To right those wrongs, come weal, come wo, 

To perish, or o'ercome their foe. 

And where are ye, fearless men ] 

And where are ye to-day ] 
I call : — the hills reply again 

That ye have pass'd away ; 
That on old Bunker's lonely height, 

In Trenton, and in Monmouth ground, 
The grass grows green, the harvest bright 

Above each soldier's mound. 
The bugle's wild and warlike blast 

Shall muster them no more ; 
An army now might thunder past, 

And they heed not its roar. 
The starry flag, 'neath which they fought, 

In many a bloody day, 
From their old graves shall rouse them not, 

For they have pass'd away. 



THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON.* 

Wild was the night; yet a wilder night 

Hung round the soldier's pillow; 
In his bosom there waged a fiercer fight 

Than the fight on the wrathful billow. 

A few fond mourners were kneeling by, 
The few that his stern heart cherish'd ; 

They knew, by his glazed and unearthly eye, 
That life had nearly perish'd. 

They knew by his awful and kingly look, 

By the order hastily spoken, 
That he dream'd of days when the nations shook, 

And the nations' hosts were broken. 

He dream'd that the Frenchman's sword still slew, 
And triumph'd the Frenchman's "eagle;" 

And the struggling Austrian fled anew, 
Like the hare before the beagle. 

The bearded Russian he scourged again, 

The Prussian's camp was routed, 
And again, on the hills of haughty Spain, 

His mighty armies shouted. 

Over Egypt's sands, over Alpine snows, 

At the pyramids, at the mountain, 
Where the wave of the lordly Danube flows, 

And by the Italian fountain, 

On the snowy cliffs, where mountain-streams 

Dash by the Switzer's dwelling, 
He led again, in his dying dreams, 

His hosts, the broad earth quelling. 

Again Marengo's field was won, 

And Jena's bloody battle ; 
Again the world was overrun, 

Made pale at his cannons' rattle. 

He died at the close of that darksome day, 

A day that shall live in story : 
In the rocky land they placed his clay, 

"And left him alone with his glory." 

* "The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Na- 
poleon's passing spirit was deliriously engaged in a 
strife more terrible than the elements around. The 
words c tite d'armee,' (head of the army,) the last which 
escaped from his lips, intimated that his thoughts were 
watching the current of a heady fight. About eleven 
minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon expired." 
—Scott's Life of Napoleon. 

40^ 



404 



ISAAC McLELLAN, JR. 



THE NOTES OF THE BIRDS. 

Well do I love those various harmonies 
That ring so gayly in spring's budding woods, 
And in the thickets, and green, quiet haunts, 
And lonely copses of the summer-time, 
And in red autumn's ancient solitudes. 

If thou art pain'd with the world's noisy stir, 
Or crazed with its mad tumults, and weigh'd down 
With any of the ills of human life; 
If thou art sick and weak, or mournest at the loss 
Of brethren gone to that far distant land 
To which we all do pass, gentle and poor, 
The gayest and the gravest, all alike ; — 
Then turn into the peaceful woods, and hear 
The thrilling music of the forest-birds. 

How rich the varied choir ! The unquiet finch 
Calls from the distant hollows, and the wren 
Uttereth her sweet and mellow plaint at times, 
And the thrush mourneth where the kalmia hangs 
Its crimson-spotted cups, or chirps half-hid 
Amid the lowly dogwood's snowy flowers, 
And the blue jay flits by, from tree to tree, 
And, spreading its rich pinions, fills the ear 
With its shrill-sounding and unsteady cry. 

With the sweet airs of spring, the robin comes ; 
And in her simple song there seems to gush 
A strain of sorrow when she visiteth 
Her last year's wither'd nest. But when the gloom 
Of the deep twilight falls, she takes her perch 
Upon the red-stemm'd hazel's slender twig, 
That overhangs the brook, and suits her song 
To the slow rivulet's inconstant chime. 

In the last days of autumn, when the corn 
Lies sweet and yellow in the harvest-field, 
And the gay company of reapers bind 
The bearded wheat in sheaves, — then peals abroad 
The blackbird's merry chant. I love to hear, 
Bold plunderer, thy mellow burst of song 
Float from thy watch-place on the mossy tree 
Close at the corn-field edge. 

Lone whip-poor-will, 
There is much sweetness in thy fitful hymn, 
Heard in the drowsy watches of the night. 
Ofttimes, when all the village lights are out, 
And the wide air is still, I hear thee chant 
Thy hollow dirge, like some recluse who takes 
His lodging in the wilderness of woods, 
And lifts his anthem when the world is still: 
And the dim, solemn night, that brings to man 
And to the herds, deep slumbers, and sweet dews 
To the red roses and the herbs, doth find 
No eye, save thine, a watcher in her halls. 
I hear thee oft at midnight, when the thrush 
And the green, roving linnet are at rest, 
A nd the blithe, twittering swallows have long ceased 
Their noisy note, and folded up their wings. 

Far up some brook's still course, whose current 
mines 
The forest's blacken'd roots, and whose green 

marge 
Is seldom visited by human foot, 
The lonely heron sits, and harshly breaks 
The Sabbath-silence of the wilderness : 
And you may find her by some reedy pool, 



Or brooding gloomily on the time-stain'd rock, 
Beside some misty and far-reaching lake. 

Most awful is thy deep and heavy boom, 
Gray watcher of the waters ! Thou art king 
Of the blue lake ; and all the winged kind 
Do fear the echo of thine angry cry. 
How bright thy savage eye ! Thou lookest down 
And seest the shining fishes as they glide ; 
And, poising thy gray wing, thy glossy beak 
Swift as an arrow strikes its roving prey. 
Ofttimes I see thee, through the curling mist, 
Dart, like a spectre of the night, and hear 
Thy strange, bewildering call, like the wild scream 
Of one whose life is perishing in the sea. 

And now, wouldst thou, O man, delight the ear 
With earth's delicious sounds, or charm the eye 
With beautiful creations ? Then pass forth, 
And find them midst those many-colour'd birds 
That fill the glowing woods. The richest hues 
Lie in their splendid plumage, and their tones 
Are sweeter than the music of the lute, 
Or the harp's melody, or the notes that gush 
So thrillingly from Beauty's ruby lip. 



LINES, 

SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE BY WASHINGTON ALLSTON. 

The tender Twilight with a crimson cheek 
Leans on the breast of Eve. The wayward Wind 
Hath folded her fleet pinions, and gone down 
To slumher by the darken'd woods — the herds 
Have left their pastures, where the sward grows 

green 
And lofty by the river's sedgy brink, 
And slow are winding home. Hark, from afar 
Their tinkling bells sound through the dusky glade 
And forest-openings, with a pleasant sound ; 
While answering Echo, from the distant hill, 
Sends back the music of the herdsman's horn. 
How tenderly the trembling light yet plays 
O'er the far-waving foliage ! Day's last blush 
Still lingers on the billowy waste of leaves, 
With a strange beauty — like the yellow flush 
That haunts the ocean, when the day goes by. 
Methinks, whene'er earth's wearying troubles pass 
Like winter shadows o'er the peaceful mind, 
'Twere sweet to turn from life, and pass abroad, 
With solemn footsteps, into Nature's vast 
And happy palaces, and lead a life 
Of peace in some green paradise like this. 

The brazen trumpet and the loud war-drum 
Ne'er startled these green woods: — the raging 

sword 
Hath never gather' d its red harvest here ! 
The peaceful summer-day hath never closed 
Around this quiet spot, and caught the gleam 
Of War's rude pomp : — the humble dweller heie 
Hath never left his sickle in the field, 
To slay his fellow with unholy hand; 
The maddening voice of battle, the wild groan, 
The thrilling murmuring of the dying man, 
And the shrill shriek of mortal agony, 
Have never broke its Sabbath-solitude. 



JONES VERY. 



[Born about 1810.] 



JoifES Vert is a native of the city of Salem. 
In his youth he accompanied his father, who was 
a sea-captain, on several voyages to Europe ^rand 
he wrote his " Essay on Hamlet" with the more 
interest from having twice seen Elsineur. After 
his father's death, he prepared himself to enter 
college, and in 1832 became a student at Cam- 
bridge. He was graduated in 1836, and in the 
same year was appointed Greek tutor in the uni- 
versity. While he held this office, a religious en- 
thusiasm took possession of his mind, which gra- 
dually produced so great a change in him, that his 



friends withdrew him from Cambridge, and he 
returned to Salem, where he wrote most of the 
poems in the small collection of his writings pub- 
lished in 1839. His essays entitled "Epic Poet- 
ry," " Shakspeare," and "Hamlet," are fine spe- 
cimens of learned and sympathetic criticism ; and 
his sonnets, and other pieces of verse, are chaste, 
simple, and poetical, though they have little range 
of subjects and illustration. They are religious, 
and some of them are mystical, but they will be 
recognised by the true poet as the overflowings 
of a brother's soul. 



TO THE PAINTED COLUMBINE. 

Bright image of the early years 

When glow'd my cheek as red as thou, 
And life's dark throng of cares and fears 
Were swift-wing'd shadows o'er my sunny brow ! 

Thou blushest from the painter's page, 

Robed in the mimic tints of art ; 
But Nature's hand in youth's green age 
With fairer hues first traced thee on my heart. 

The morning's blush, she made it thine, 

The morn's sweet breath, she gave it thee ; 
And in thy look, my Columbine ! 
Each fond-remember'd spot she bade me see. 

I see the hill's far-gazing head, 

Where gay thou noddest in the gale ; 
I hear light-bounding footsteps tread 
The grassy path that winds along the vale. 

I hear the voice of woodland song 

Break from each bush and well-known tree, 
And, on light pinions borne along, 
Comes back the laugh from childhood's heart of glee. 

O'er the dark rock the dashing brook, 

With look of anger, leaps again, 
And, hastening to each flowery nook, 
Its distant voice is heard far down the glen. 

Fair child of art ! thy charms decay, 

Touch'd by the wither'd hand of Time ; 
And hush'd the music of that day, 
When my voice mingled with the streamlet's chime ; 

But on my heart thy cheek of bloom 

Shall live when Nature's smile has fled ; 
And, rich with memory's sweet perfume, 
Shall o'er her grave thy tribute incense shed. 

There shalt thou live and wake the glee 

That echoed on thy native hill ; 
And when, loved flower ! I think of thee, 
Mv infant feet will seem to seek thee still. 



LINES TO A WITHERED LEAF SEEN 
ON A POET'S TABLE. 

Poet's hand has placed thee there, 
Autumn's brown and wither'd scroll ! 
Though to outward eye not fair, 
Thou hast beauty for the soul ; 

Though no human pen has traced 
On that leaf its learned lore, 
Love divine the page has graced, — 
What can words discover more ? 

Not alone dim autumn's blast 
Echoes from yon tablet sear, — 
Distant music of the past 
Steals upon the poet's ear. 

Voices sweet of summer-hours, 
Spring's soft whispers murmur by ; 
Feather'd songs from leafy bowers 
Draw his listening soul on high. 



THE HEART. 

There is a cup of sweet or bitter drink, 
Whose waters ever o'er the brim must well, 
Whence flow pure thoughts of love as angels 

think, 
Or of its demon depths the tongue will tell ; 
That cup can ne'er be cleansed from outward 

stains 
While from within the tide forever flows : 
And soon it wearies out the fruitless pains 
The treacherous hand on such a task bestows ; 
But ever bright its crystal sides appear, 
While runs the current from its outlet pure; 
And pilgrims hail its sparkling waters near, 
And stoop to drink the healing fountain sure. 
And bless the cup that cheers their fainting soui 
While through this parching waste they seek their 

heavenly goal. 



406 



JONES VERY. 



TO THE CANARY-BIRD. 

I canbtot hear thy voice with others' ears, 
Who make of thy lost liberty a gain ; 
And in thy tale of blighted hopes and fears 
Feel not that every note is born with pain. 
Alas ! that with thy music's gentle swell [throng, 
Past days of joy should through thy memory 
And each to thee their words of sorrow tell, 
While ravish'd sense forgets thee in thy song. 
The heart that on the past and future feeds, 
And pours in human words its thoughts divine, 
Though at each birth the spirit inly bleeds, 
Its song may charm the listening ear like thine, 
And men with gilded cage and praise will try 
To make the bard, like thee, forget his native sky. 

♦ 

THY BEAUTY FADES. 

Thy beauty fades, and with it too my love, 
For 'twas the selfsame stalk that bore its flower; 
Soft fell the rain, and breaking from above 
The sun look'd out upon our nuptial hour ; 
And I had thought forever by thy side 
With bursting buds of hope in youth to dwell; 
But one by one Time strew'd thy petals wide, 
And every hope's wan look a grief can tell : 
For I had thoughtless lived beneath his sway, 
Who like a tyrant dealeth with us all, 
Crowning each rose, though rooted on decay, 
With charms that shall the spirit's love enthrall, 
And for a season turn the soul's pure eyes [defies. 
From virtue's changeless bloom, that time and death 

♦ 

THE WIND-FLOWER. 

Thou lookest up with meek, confiding eye 
Upon the clouded smile of April's face, 
Unharm'd though Winter stands uncertain by, 
Eyeing with jealous glance each opening grace. 
Thou trustest wisely ! in thy faith array'd, 
More glorious thou than Israel's wisest king ; 
Such faith was His whom men to death betray'd, 
As thine who hearest the timid voice of Spring, 
While other flowers still hide them from her call 
Along the river's brink and meadow bare. 
Thee will I seek beside the stony wall, 
And in thy trust with childlike heart would share, 
O'erjoy'd that in thy early leaves I find 
A lesson taught by Him who loved all human kind. 



ENOCH. 



I lootc'd to find a man who walk'd with God, 
Like the translated patriarch of old ; — 
Though gladden'd millions on his footstool trod, 
Yet none with him did such sweet converse hold; 
I heard the wind in low complaint go by, 
That none its melodies like him could hear ; 
Day unto day spoke wisdom from on high, 
Yet none like David turn'd a willing ear; 
God walk'd alone unhonour'd through the earth; 
For him no heart-built temple open stood, 
The soul, forgetful of her nobler birth, 
Had hewn him lofty shrines of stone and wood, 
And left unfinish'd and in ruins still 
The only temple he delights to fill. 



MORNING. 

The light will never open sightless eyes, 
It comes to those who willingly would see ; 
And every object, — hill, and stream, and skies, 
Rejoice within the encircling line to be ; 
'Tis day, — the field is fill'd with busy hands, 
The shop resounds with noisy workmen's din, 
The traveller with his staff already stands 
His yet unmeasured journey to begin ; 
The light breaks gently too within the breast,— 
Yet there no eye awaits the crimson mora, 
The forge and noisy anvil are at rest, 
Nor men nor oxen tread the fields of corn, 
Nor pilgrim lifts his staff, — it is no day 
To those who find on earth their place to stay. 



NIGHT. 



I thank thee, Father, that the night is near 
When I this conscious being may resign ; 
Whose only task thy words of love to hear, 
And in thy acts to find each act of mine ; 
A task too great to give a child like me, 
The myriad-handed labours of the day, 
Too many for my closing eyes to see, 
Thy words too frequent for my tongue to say; 
Yet when thou seest me burden'd by thy love, 
Each other gift more lovely then appears, 
For dark-robed night comes hovering from above, 
And all thine other gifts to me endears ; 
And while within her darken'd couch I sleep, 
Thine eyes untired above will constant vigils keep. 

THE SPIRIT-LAND. 

Father ! thy wonders do not singly stand, 
Nor far removed where feet have seldom stray'd; 
Around us ever lies the enchanted land, 
In marvels rich to thine own sons display'd ; 
In finding thee are all things round us found; 
In losing thee are all things lost beside ; 
Ears have we, but in vain strange voices sound, 
And to our eyes the vision is denied ; 
We wander in the country far remote, 
Mid tombs and ruin'd piles in death to dwell ; 
Or on the records of past greatness dote, 
And for a buried soul the living sell ; 
While on our path bewilder'd falls the night 
That ne'er returns us to the fields of light. 

♦ 

THE TREES OF LIFE. 

Fou those who worship Tuee there is no death, 
For all they do is but with Thee to dwell ; 
Now, while I take from Thee this passing breath, 
It is but of Thy glorious name to tell ; 
Nor words nor measured sounds have I to find, 
But in them both my soul doth ever flow; 
They come as viewless as the unseen wind, 
And tell thy noiseless steps where'er I go ; 
The trees that grow along thy living stream, 
And from its springs refreshment ever drink, 
Forever glittering in thy morning beam, 
They bend them o'er the river's grassy brink ; 
And as more high and wide their branches grow, 
They look more fair within the depths below. 



JONES VERY. 



407 



THE ARK. 

There is no change of time and place with Thee ; 
Where'er I go, with me 'tis still the same; 
Within thy presence I rejoice to be, 
And always hallow thy most holy name ; 
The world doth ever change ; there is no peace 
Among the shadows of its storm-vex'd breast ; 
With every breath the frothy waves increase, 
They toss up mire and dirt, they cannot rest ; 
I thank Thee that within thy strong-built ark 
My soul across the uncertain sea can sail, 
And, though the night of death be long and dark, 
My hopes in Christ shall reach within the veil; 
And to the promised haven steady steer, 
Whose rest to those who love is ever near. 



NATURE. 

The bubbling brook doth leap when I come by, 
Because my feet find measure with its call ; 
The birds know when the friend they love is nigh, 
For I am known to them, both great and small ; 
The flower that on the lovely hill-side grows 
Expects me there when spring its bloom has given ; 
And many a tree and bush my wanderings knows, 
And e'en the clouds and silent stars of heaven ; 
For he who with his Maker walks aright, 
Shall be their lord as Adam was before ; 
His ear shall catch each sound with new delight, 
Each object wear the dress that then it wore ; 
And he, as when erect in soul he stood, 
Hear from his Father's lips that all is good. 



THE TREE. 

I love thee when thy swelling buds appear, 
And one by one their tender leaves unfold, 
As if they knew that warmer suns were near, 
Nor longer sought to hide from winter's cold ; 
And when with darker growth thy leaves are seen 
To veil from view the early robin's nest, 
I love to lie beneath thy waving screen, 
With limbs by summer's heat and toil oppress'd; 
And when the autumn winds have stript thee bare, 
And round thee lies the smooth, untrodden snow, 
When naught is thine that made thee once so fair, 
I love to watch thy shadowy form below, 
And through thy leafless arms to look above 
On stars that brighter beam when most we need 
their love. 



THE SON. 

Father, T wait thy word. The sun doth stand 
Beneath the mingling line of night and day, 
A listening servant, waiting thy command 
To roll rejoicing on its silent way ; 
The tongue of time abides the appointed hour, 
Till on our ear its solemn warnings fall ; 



The heavy cloud withholds the pelting shower, 
Then every drop speeds onward at thy call ; 
The bird reposes on the yielding bough, 
With breast unswollen by the tide of song; 
So does my spirit wait thy presence now 
To pour thy praise in quickening life along, 
Chiding with voice divine man's lengthen'd sleep, 
While round the unutter'd word and love their 
vigils keep. 



THE ROBIN. 

Thou need'st not flutter from thy half-built nest, 
Whene'er thou hear'st man's hurrying feet go by, 
Fearing his eye for harm may on thee rest, 
Or he thy young unfinish'd cottage spy ; 
All will not heed thee on that swinging bough, 
Nor care that round thy shelter spring the leaves, 
Nor watch thee on the pool's wet margin now, 
For clay to plaster straws thy cunning weaves; 
All will not hear thy sweet out-pouring joy, 
That with morn's stillness blends the voice of song, 
For over-anxious cares their souls employ, 
That else upon thy music borne along 
And the light wings of heart-ascending prayer 
Had learn'd that Heaven is pleased thy simple joys 
to share. 



THE RAIL-ROAD. 

Thott great proclaimer to the outward eye 
Of what the spirit too would seek to tell, 
Onward thou goest, appointed from on high 
The other warnings of the Lord to swell ; 
Thou art the voice of one that through the world 
Proclaims in startling tones, "Prepare the way ;" 
The lofty mountain from its seat is hurl'd, 
The flint}' rocks thine onward march obey; 
The valleys, lifted from their lowly bed, 
O'ertop the hills that on them frown'd before, 
Thou passest where the living seldom tread, 
Through forests dark,where tides beneath thee roar, 
And bidd'st man's dwelling from thy track remove, 
And would with warning voice his crooked paths 
reprove. 

♦ 

THE LATTER RAIN. 

The latter rain, — it falls in anxious haste 
Upon the sun-dried fields and branches bare, 
Loosening with searching drops the rigid waste 
As if it would each root's lost strength repair ; 
But not a blade grows green as in the spring, 
No swelling twig puts forth its thickening leaves; 
The robins only mid the harvests sing, 
Pecking the grain that scatters from the sheaves* 
The rain falls still, — the fruit all ripen'd drops, 
It pierces chestnut-burr and walnut-shell, 
The furrow'd fields disclose the yellow crops, 
Each bursting pod of talents used can tell, 
And all that once received the early rain 
Declare to man it was not sent in vain. 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



[Born, 1811.] 



Mr. Street was born in Poughkeepsie, one 
of the most beautiful of the many large towns 
upon the Hudson, on the eighteenth of December, 
1811. General Randall S. Street, his father, 
was an officer in active service during our second 
war with England, and subsequently several years 
a representative in Congress ; and his paternal 
grandfather was a direct and lineal descendant of 
the Reverend Nicholas Street, who came to 
this country soon after the landing of John Car- 
ter, and was ordained minister of the first church 
in New Haven, in 1659. His mother's father 
was Major Andrew Billings, of the revolution- 
ary army, who was connected by marriage with 
the influential and wealthy family of the Liv- 
ingstons, which has furnished for some two 
centuries so many eminent citizens of the State 
of New York. 

When the poet was about fourteen years of age 
his father removed to Monticello, in the county of 
Sullivan. Up to this period he had been in an 
academy at Poughkeepsie, and had already writ- 
ten verses in which is exhibited some of that pe- 
culiar taste, and talent for description, for which 
his later works are so much distinguished. Sulli- 
van is what is called a " wild county," though it is 
extremely fertile where well cultivated. Its scenery 
is magnificent, and its deep forests, streams as clear 
as dew-drops, gorges of piled rock and black shade, 
mountains and valleys, could hardly fail to waken 
into life all the faculties that slumbered in the brain 
of a youthful poet. 

Mr. Street studied law in the office of his 
father, and, in the first years after his admission 
to the bar, attended the courts of Sullivan comity ; 
but in the winter of 1839 he removed to Albany, 
and has since successfully practised his profession 
in that city. 

His "Nature," a poem read before the literary 
societies of the college at Geneva, appeared in 
1840; "The Burning of Schenectady and other 
Poems," in 1843, and "Drawings and Tintings," 
a collection of pieces chiefly descriptive, in 1844. 
The last and most complete edition of his poems 
was published by Clark and Austin, of New York, 
in 1845. 

Mr. Street, as has been intimated above, is a 
descriptive poet, and in his particular department 
he has, perhaps, no superior in this country. He 
has a hearty love of rural sports and pastimes, a 
quick perception of the grand and beautiful, and 
he writes with apparent ease and freedom, from 
the impulses of his own heart, and from actual 
observations of life and nature. 

t^* 1 TPaiftst merits of any style of writing are 
clearness, directness and condensation. Diffuse- 



ness is even more objectionable in verse than in 
prose, and in either is avoided by men of taste. A 
needless word is worse than one ill chosen, and 
scarcely any thing is more offensive than a line, 
though never was other one so musical, which 
could be omitted without affecting the transpa- 
rency or force of the attempted expression. The 
beauty of Mr. Street's poems would sometimes 
be greater but for the use of epithets which serve 
no other purpose than to fill his lines, and his sin- 
gular minuteness, though the most extreme par- 
ticularity is a fault in description only when it 
lessens the distinctness and fidelity of the general 
impression. Occasionally his pictures of still na- 
ture remind us of the daguerreotype, and quite as 
often of the masterly landscapes of our Cole and 
Doughty. Some of his exhibitions of the ordi- 
nary phenomena of the seasons have rarely been 
equalled. What, for example, could be finer than 
these lines on a rain in June] — 

Wafted up, 
The stealing cloud with soft gray blinds the sky, 
And, in its vapoury mantle, onward steps 
The summer shower; over the shivering grass 
It merrily dances, rings its tinkling bells 
Upon the dimpling stream, and moving on, 
It treads upon the leaves with pattering feet 
And softly niurmur'd music. Off it glides, 
' And as its misty robe lifts up, and melts, 
The sunshine, darting, with a sudden burst, 
Strikes o'er the scene a magic brilliancy. 

His works are full of passages not less picturesque 
and truthful. The remarkable fidelity of Mr. 
Street's description and narrative is best appre- 
ciated by persons who are familiar with new set- 
tlements in our northern latitudes. To others he 
may seem always lashing himself into excitement, 
to be extravagant, and to exaggerate beyond the 
requirements of art. But within a rifle-shot of the 
little village where nearly all his life has been 
passed, are ccnturial woods, from which the hovvl- 
ings of wolves have disturbed bis sleep, and in 
which he has tracked the bear and the deer, and 
roused from their nests their winged inhabitants. 
In the spring time he has looked from his window 
upon fallow fires, and in the summer upon fields 
of waving grain, spotted by undecayed stumps of 
forest giants, and on trees that stand, charred and 
black, in mournful observation of the settler's inva- 
sion. Scenes and incidents which the inhabitant 
of the city might regard as extraordinary have been 
to him common and familiar, and his writings are 
valuable as the fruits of a genuine American ex- 
perience, to which the repose, of which it is com- 
plained that they are deficient, does not belong. 
They are on some accounts among the most pecu- 
liarly national works in our literature. 

408 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



409 



THE GRAY FOREST-EAGLE. . 

With storm-daring pinion and sun-gazing eye, 
The gray forest-eagle is king of the sky ! 
O, little he loves the green valley of flowers, 
Where sunshine and song cheer the bright sum- 
mer hours, 
For he hears in those haunts only music, and sees 
Only rippling of waters and waving of trees ; 
There the red robin warbles, the honey-bee hums, 
The timid quail whistles, the sly partridge drums ; 
And if those proud pinions, perchance, sweep along, 
There 's a shrouding of plumage, a hushing of song ; 
The sunlight falls stilly on leaf and" on moss, 
And there's naught but his shadow black gliding 

across ; 
But the dark, gloomy gorge, where down plunges 

the foam 
Of the fierce, rock-lash'd torrent, he claims as his 

home : 
There he blends his keen shriek with the roar of 

the flood, 
And the many-voiced sounds of the blast-smitten 

wood ; 
From the crag-grasping fir-top, where morn hangs 

its wreath, 
He views the mad waters white writhing beneath : 
On a limb of that moss-bearded hemlock far down, 
With bright azure mantle and gay mottled crown, 
The kingfisher watches, where o'er him his foe, 
The fierce hawk, sails circling, each moment more 

low: 
Now poised are those pinions and pointed that beak, 
His dread swoop is ready, when, hark ! with a shriek, 
His eye-balls red-blazing, high bristling his crest, 
His snake-like neck arch'd, talons drawn to his 

breast, 
With the rush of the wind-gust, the glancing of light, 
The gray forest-eagle shoots down in his flight ; 
One blow of those talons, one plunge of that neck, 
The strong hawk hangs lifeless, a blood-dripping 

wreck ; 
And as dives the free kingfisher, dart-like on high 
With his prey soars the eagle, and melts in the sky. 

A fitful red glaring, a low, rumbling jar, 
Proclaim the storm demon yet raging afar : [red, 
The black cloud strides upward, the lightning more 
And the roll of the thunder more deep and more 
A thick pall of darkness is cast o'er the air, [dread; 
And on bounds the blast with a howl from its lair: 
The lightning darts zig-zag and fork'd through the 

gloom, 
And the bolt launches o'er with crash, rattle, and 

boom ; 
The gray forest-eagle, where, where has he sped ? 
Does he shrink to his eyrie, and shiver with dread? 
Does the glare blind his eye ? Has the terrible blast 
On the wing of the sky-king a fear-fetter cast? 
No, no, the brave eagle! he thinks not of fright; 
The wrath of the tempest but rouses delight; 
To the flash of the lightning his eye casts a gleam, 
To the shriek of the wild blast he echoes his scream, 
And with front like a warrior that speeds to the fray, 
And a clapping of pinions, he 's up and away ! 



Away, 0, away, soars the fearless and free ! 
What recks he the sky's strife ? — its monarch is he ! 
The lightning darts round him, undaunted his sight ; 
The blast sweeps against him, unwaver'd his flight ; 
High upward, still upward, he wheels, till his form 
Is lost in the black, scowling gloom of the storm. 

The tempest sweeps o'er with its terrible train, 
And the splendour of sunshine is glowing again ; 
Again smiles the soft, tender blue of the sky, 
Waked bird-voices warble, fann'd leaf-voices sigh; 
On the green grass dance shadows, streams sparkle 

and run, 
The breeze bears the odour its flower-kiss has won, 
And full on the form of the demon in flight 
The rainbow's magnificence gladdens the sight ! 
The gray forest-eagle ! O, where is he now, 
While the sky wears the smile of its God on its 

brow? 
There's a dark, floating spot by yon cloud's 

pearly wreath, 
With the speed of the arrow 't is shooting beneath ! 
Down, nearer and nearer it draws to the gaze, 
Now over the rainbow, now blent with its blaze, 
To a shape it expands, still it plunges through air, 
A proud crest, a fierce eye, a broad wing are there ; 
'Tis the eagle — the gray forest-eagle — once more 
He sweeps to his eyrie : his journey is o'er ! 

Time whirls round his circle, his years roll away, 
But the gray forest-eagle minds little his sway ; 
The child spurns its buds for youth's thorn-hid- 
den bloom, 
Seeks manhood's bright phantoms, finds age and 

a tomb ; 
But the eagle's eye dims not, his wing is unbow'd, 
Still drinks he the sunshine, still scales he the cloud ! 
The green, tiny pine-shrub points up from the moss, 
The wren's foot would cover it, tripping across ; 
The beech-nut down dropping would crush it be- 
neath, 
But 'tis warm'd with heaven's sunshine, and 

fann'd by its breath ; 
The seasons fly past it, its head is on high, 
Its thick branches challenge each mood of the sky ; 
On its rough bark the moss a green mantle creates, 
And the deer from his antlers the velvet-down grates ; 
Time withers its roots, it lifts sadly in air 
A trunk dry and wasted, a top jagg'd and bare, 
Till it rocks in the soft breeze, and crashes to earth, 
Its blown fragments strewing the place of its birth. 
The eagle has seen it up-struggling to sight, 
He has seen it defying the storm in its might, 
Then prostrate, soil-blended, with plants sprouting 
But the gray forest-eagle is still as of yore, [o'er, 
His flaming eye dims not, his wing is unbow'd, 
Still drinks he the sunshine, still scales he the cloud ! 
He has seen from his eyrie the forest below 
In bud and in leaf, robed with crimson and snow. 
The thickets, deep wolf-lairs.the high crag his throne, 
And the shriek of the panther has answer'd his own. 
He has seen the wild red man the lord of the shades, 
And the smoke of his wigwams curl thick in the 

glades ; 
He has seen the proud forest melt breath-like away, 
And the breast of the earth lying bare to the day ; 
2M 



410 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



He sees the green meadow-grass hiding the lair, 
And his crag-throne spread naked to sun and to air ; 
And his shriek is now answer'd, while sweeping 

along, 
By the low of the herd and the husbandman's song ; 
He has seen the wild red man off-swept by his foes, 
And he sees dome and roof where those smokes 

once arose ; 
But his flaming eye dims not, his wing is unbow'd, 
Still drinks he the sunshine, still scales he the cloud ! 

An emblem of Freedom, stern, haughty, and high, 
Is the gray forest-eagle, that king of the sky ! 
It scorns the bright scenes, the gay places of earth — 
By the mountain and torrent it springs into birth ; 
There rock'd by the wild wind, baptized in the foam, 
It is guarded and cherish'd, and there is its home ! 
When its shadow steals black o'er the empires of 

kings, 
Deep terror, deep heart-shaking terror it brings ; 
Where wicked Oppression is arm'd for the weak, 
Then rustles its pinion, then echoes its shriek ; 
Its eye flames with vengeance, it sweeps on its way, 
And its talons are bathed in the blood of its prey. 
O, that eagle of Freedom ! when cloud upon cloud 
Swathed the sky of my own native land with a 

shroud, 
When lightnings gleam'd fiercely, and thunder- 
bolts rung, 
How proud to the tempest those pinions were flung! 
Though the wild blast of battle swept fierce 

through the air 
With darkness and dread, still the eagle was there ; 
Unquailing, still speeding, his swift flight was on, 
Till the rainbow of Peace crown'd the victory won. 
0, that eagle of Freedom! age dims not his eye, 
He has seen Earth's mortality spring, bloom, and die! 
He has seen the strong nations rise, flourish, and fall, 
He mocks at Time's changes, he triumphs o'er all: 
He has seen our own land with wild forests o'er- 

spread, 
He sees it with sunshine and joy on its head ; 
And his presence will bless this, his own, chosen 
Till the archangel's fiat is set upon time, [clime, 



FOWLING. 

A morx in September, the east is yet gray ; 
Come, Carlo ! come, Jupe ! we '11 try fowling to-day: 
The fresh sky- is bright as the bright face of one, 
A sweeter than whom the sun shines not upon ; 
And those wreathed clouds that melt to the breath 

of the south, 
Are white as the pearls of her beautiful mouth : 
My hunting-piece glitters, and quick is my task 
In slinging around me my pouch and my flask ; 
Cease, dogs, your loud yelpings, you'll deafen my 

brain ! 
Desist from your rambles, and follow my train. 

Here, leave the geese, Carlo, to nibble their grass, 
Though they do stretch their long necks, and hiss 

as we pass ; 
And the fierce little bantam, that flies your attack, 
Then struts, flaps, and crows, with such airs, at 

your back ; 



And the turkey, too, smoothing his plumes in your 

face, 
Then ruffling so proud, as you bound from the place 
Ha ! ha ! that old hen, bristling up mid her brood, 
Has taught you a lesson, I hope, for your good ; 
By the wink of your eye, and the droop of your crest, 
I see your maraudings are now put at rest. 

The rail-fence is leap'd, and the wood-boughs are 

round, 
And a moss-couch is spread for my foot on the ground: 
A shadow has dimm'd the leaves' amethyst glow, 
The first glance of Autumn, his presence to show : 
The beech-nut is ripening above in its sheath, 
Which will burst with the black frost, and drop it 

beneath. 
The hickory hardens, snow-white, in its burr, [fir ; 
And the cones are full grown on the hemlock and 
The hopple's red berries are tinging with brown, 
And the tips of the sumach havedarken'd their down; 
The white, brittle Indian-pipe lifts up its bowl, 
And the wild turnip's leaf curls out broad like a 

scroll ; 
The cohosh displays its white balls and red stems, 
And the braid of the mullen is yellow with gems ; 
While its rich, spangled plumage the golden-rod 

shows, 
And the thistle yields stars to each air-breath that 

blows. 

A quick, startling whirr now bursts loud on my ear, 
The partridge ! the partridge ! swift pinion'd by fear, 
Low onward he whizzes, Jupe yelps as he sees, 
And we dash through the brushwood, to note 

where he trees ; 
I see him ! his brown, speckled breast is display'd 
On the branch of yon maple, that edges the glade ; 
My fowling-piece rings, Jupe darts forward so fleet, 
While loading, he drops the dead bird at my feet: 
I pass by the scaurberries' drops of deep red, 
In their green, creeping leaves, where he daintily fed, 
And his couch near the root, in the warm forest- 
mould, 
Where he wallow'd, till sounds his close danger 
foretold. 

On yon spray, the bright oriole dances and sings, 
With his rich, crimson bosom, and glossy black 

wings ; 
And the robin comes warbling, then flutters away, 
For I harm not God's creatures so tiny as they ; 
But the quail, whose quick whistle has lured me 

along, 
No more will recall his stray'd mate with his song, 
And the hawk that is circling so proud in the blue, 
Let him keep a look-out, or he '11 tumble down too ! 
He stoops — the gun echoes — he flutters beneath, 
His yellow claws curl'd, and fierce eyes glazed in 

death : 
Lie there, cruel Arab! the mocking-bird now 
Can rear her young brood, without fear of thy blow; 
And the brown wren can warble his sweet little lay, 
Nor dread more thy talons to rend and to slay ; 
And, with luck, an example I '11 make of that crow, 
For my green,sprouting wheat knew no hungrier foe; 
But the rascal seems down from his summit to scoff, 
And as I creep near him, he croaks, and is off. 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



411 



The woods shrink away, and wide spreads the 

morass, 
With junipers cluster'd, and matted with grass ; 
Trees, standing like ghosts, their arms jagged and 

bare, 
And hung with gray lichens, like age-whiten'd hair. 
The tamarack here and there rising between, 
Its boughs clothed with rich, star-like fringes of 

green, 
And clumps of dense laurels, and brown-headed 

flags, 
And thick, slimy basins, black dotted with snags : 
Tread softly now, Carlo ! the woodcock is here, 
He rises — his long bill thrust out like a spear ; 
The gun ranges on him — his journey is sped; 
Quick scamper, my spaniel ! and bring in the dead ! 

"We plunge in the swamp — the tough laurels are 

round; 
No matter ; our shy prey not lightly is found ; 
Another up-darts, but unharm'd is his flight; 
Confound it! the sunshine then dazzled my sight; 
But the other my shot overtakes as he flies : 
Come, Carlo! come, Carlo! I wait for my prize; 
One more — still another — till, proofs of my sway, 
From my pouch dangle heads, in a ghastly array. 

From this scene of exploits, now made birdless, I 

pass; 
Pleasant Pond gleams before me, a mirror of glass : 
The boat's by the marge, with green branches 

supplied, 
From the keen-sighted duck my approaches to 

hide; 
A flock spots the lake ; now crouch, Carlo, below ! 
And I move with light paddle, on softly and slow, 
By that wide lily-island, its meshes that weaves 
Of rich yellow globules, and green oval leaves. 
I watch them ; how bright and superb is the sheen 
Of their plumage, gold blended with purple and 

green ; 
How graceful their dipping — how gliding their 

way ! 
Are they not all too lovely to mark as a prey 1 
One flutters, enchain'd, in those brown, speckled 

stems, 
His yellow foot striking up bubbles, like gems, 
While another, with stretch'd neck, darts swiftly 

across 
To the grass, whose green points dot the mirror- 
like gloss. 
But I pause in my toil ; their wise leader, the drake, 
Eyes keen the queer thicket afloat on the lake ; 
Now thev group close together — both barrels ! — 

O, dear ! 
What a diving, and screaming, and splashing are 

here ! 
The smoke-curls melt off, as the echoes rebound, 
Hurrah ! five dead victims are floating around ! 

But "cloud-land" is tinged now with sunset, and 

bright 
On the water's smooth polish stretch long lines 

of light; 
The headlands their masses of shade, too, have 

lain, 
A id I pull with my spoil to the margin again. 



A FOREST WALK. 

A loteit sky, a cloudless sun, 

A wind that breathes of leaves and flowers, 
O'er hill, through dale, my steps have won, 

To the cool forest's shadowy bowers ; 
One of the paths all round that wind, 

Traced by the browsing herds, I choose, 
And sights and sounds of human kind 

In nature's lone recesses lose ; 
The beech displays its marbled bark, 

The spruce its green tent stretches wide, 
While scowls the hemlock, grim and dark, 

The maple's scallop'd dome beside : 
All weave on high a verdant roof, 
That keeps the very sun aloof, 
Making a twilight soft and green, 
Within the column'd, vaulted scene. 

Sweet forest-odours have their birth 

From the clothed boughs and teeming earth ; 

Where pine-cones dropp'd, leaves piled and dead, 
Long tufts of grass, and stars of fern, 
With many a wild flower's fairy urn, 

A thick, elastic carpet spread ; 
Here, with its mossy pall, the trunk, 
Resolving into soil, is sunk ; 
There, wrench'd but lately from its throne, 

By some fierce whirlwind circling past, 
Its huge roots mass'd with earth and stone, 

One of the woodland kings is cast. 

Above, the forest-tops are bright 
With the broad blaze of sunny light: 
But now a fitful air-gust parts 

The screening branches, and a glow 
Of dazzling, startling radiance darts 

Down the dark stems, and breaks below; 
The mingled shadows off are roll'd, 
The sylvan floor is bathed in gold : 
Low sprouts and herbs, before unseen, 
Display their shades of brown and green : 
Tints brighten o'er the velvet moss, 
Gleams twinkle on the laurel's gloss ; 
The robin, brooding in her nest, 
Chirps as the quick ray strikes her breast ; 
And, as my shadow prints the ground, 
I see the rabbit upward bound, 
With pointed ears an instant look, 
Then scamper to the darkest nook, 
Where, with crouch'd limb, and staring eye, 
He watches while I saunter by. 

A narrow vista, carpeted 

With rich green grass, invites my tread ; 

Here showers the light in golden dots, 

There sleeps the shade in ebon spots, 

So blended, that the very air 

Seems network as I enter there. 

The partridge, whose deep-rolling drum 

Afar has sounded on my ear, 
Ceasing his beatings as I come, , 

Whirrs to the sheltering branches near ; 
The little milk-snake glides away, 
The brindled marmot dives from day; 
4nd now, between the boughs, a space 
Of the blue, laughing sky I trace : 



412 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



On each side shrinks the bowery shade ; 
Before me spreads an emerald glade ; 
The sunshine steeps its grass and moss, 
That couch my footsteps as I cross ; 
Merrily hums the tawny bee, 
The glittering humming-bird I see ; 
Floats the bright butterfly along, 
The insect choir is loud in song: 
A spot of light and life, it seems 
A fairy haunt for fancy dreams. 

Here stretch'd, the pleasant turf I press, 
In luxury of idleness ; 
Sun-streaks, and glancing wings, and sky, 
Spotted, with cloud-shapes, charm my eye ; 
While murmuring grass, and waving trees, 
Their leaf-harps sounding to the breeze, 
And water-tones that tinkle near, 
Blend their sweet music to my ear; 
And by the changing shades alone 
The passage of the hours is known. 



WINTER. 

A sable pall of sky — the billowy hills, 

Swathed in the snowy robe that winter throws 

So kindly over nature — skeleton trees, 

Fringed with rich silver drapery, and the stream 

Numb in its frosty chains. Yon rustic bridge 

Bristles with icicles; beneath it stand 

The cattle-group, long pausing while they drink 

From the ice-hollow'd pools, that skim in sheets 

Of delicate glass, and shivering as the air [trunks, 

Cuts with keen, stinging edge ; and those gaunt 

Bending with ragged branches o'er the bank, 

Seem, with their mocking scarfs of chilling white, 

Mourning for the green grass and fragrant flowers, 

That summer mirrors in the rippling flow 

Of the bright stream beneath them. Shrub and rock 

Are carved in pearl, and the dense thicket shows 

Clusters of purest ivory. Comfortless 

The frozen scene, yet not all desolate. 

Where slopes, by tree and bush, the beaten track, 

The sleigh glides merrily with prancing steeds, 

And the low homestead, nestling by its grove, 

Clings to the leaning hill. The drenching rain 

Had fallen, and then the large, loose flakes had 

shower'd, 
Quick freezing where they lit; and thus the scene, 
By winter's alchymy, from gleaming steel 
Was changed to sparkling silver. Yet, though bright 
And rich, the landscape smiles with lovelier look 
When summer gladdens it. The fresh, blue sky 
Bends like Gon's blessing o'er; the scented air 
Echoes with bird-songs, and the emerald grass 
Is dappled with quick shadows ; the light wing 
Of the soft west makes music in the leaves ; 
The ripples murmur as they dance along; 
The thicket by the road-side casts its cool 
Black breadth of shade across the heated dust. 
The cattle seek the pools beneath the banks, 
Where sport the gnat-swarms, glancing in the sun, 
Gray, whirling specks, and darts the dragon-fly, 
A gold-green arrow; and the wandering flock 
Nibble the short, thick sward that clothes the brink, 
Down sloping to the waters. Kindly tones 



And happy faces make the homestead walls 

A paradise. Upon the mossy roof 

The tame dove coos and bows ; beneath the eaves 

The swallow frames her nest ; the social wren 

Lights on the flower-lined paling, and trills through 

Its noisy gamut ; the humming-bird 

Shoots, with that flying harp, the honey-bee, 

Mid the trail'd honeysuckle's trumpet-bloom ; 

Sunset wreathes gorgeous shapes within the west, 

To eyes that love the splendour ; morning wakes 

Light hearts to joyous tasks ; and when deep night 

Breathes o'er the earth a solemn solitude, 

With stars for watchers, or the holy moon, 

A sentinel upon the steeps of heaven, 

Smooth pillows yield their balm to prayer and trust, 

And slumber, that sweet medicine of toil, 

Sheds her soft dews and weaves her erolden dreams. 



THE SETTLER. 

His echoing axe the settler swung 

Amid the sea-like solitude, 
And, rushing, thundering, down wt.e flung 

The Titans of the wood ; 
Loud shriek'd the eagle, as he dash'd 
From out his mossy nest, which crash'd 

With its supporting bough, 
And the first sunlight, leaping, flash'd 

On the wolf's haunt below. 
Rude was the garb, and strong the frame 

Of him who plied his ceaseless toil : 
To form that garb the wild-wood game 

Contributed their spoil ; 
The soul that warm'd that frame disdain'd 
The tinsel, gaud, and glare, that reign'd 

Where men their crowds collect ; 
The simple fur, untrimm'd, unstain'd, 

This forest-tamer deck'd. 
The paths which wound mid gorgeous trees, 

The stream whose bright lips kiss'd their flowers, 
The winds that swell'd their harmonies 

Through those sun-hiding bowers, 
The temple vast, the green arcade, 
The nestling vale, the grassy glade, 

Dark cave, and swampy lair : 
These scenes and sounds majestic, made 

His world, his pleasures, there. 
His roof adorn'd a pleasant spot, 

Mid the black logs green glow'd the grain, 
And herbs and plants the woods knew not, 

Throve in the sun and rain. 
The smoke-wreath curling o'er the dell, 
The low, the bleat, the tinkling bell, 

All made a landscape strange, 
Which was the living chronicle 

Of deeds that wrought the 'change. 
The violet sprung at spring's first tinge, 

The rose of summer spread its glow, 
The maize hung out its autumn fringe, 

Rude winter brought his snow ; 
And still the lone one labour'd there, 
His shout and whistle broke the air, 

As cheerily he plied 
His garden-spade, or drove his share 
Along the hillock's side. 



I 

ALFRED B 


. STREET. 413 


He mark'd the fire-storm's blazing flood 


Beautiful blossom ! first to rise 


Roaring and crackling on its path, 


And smile beneath Spring's wakening skies ; 


And scorching earth, and melting wood, 


The courier of the band 


Beneath its greedy wrath; 


Of coming flowers, what feelings sweet 


He mark'd the rapid whirlwind shoot, 


Gush, as the silvery gem we meet 


Trampling the pine tree with its foot, 


Upon its slender wand. 


And darkening thick the day 


A sudden roar — a shade is cast — 


With streaming bough and sever'd root, 


We look up with a start, 
And, sounding like a transient blast, 


Hurl'd whizzing on its way. 


His gaunt hound yell'd, his rifle flash'd, 


O'erhead the pigeons dart ; 


The grim bear hush'd his savage growl ; 


Scarce their blue glancing shapes the eye 


In blood and foam the panther gnash'd 


Can trace, ere dotted on the sky, 


His fangs, with dying howl; 


They wheel in distant flight. 


The fleet deer ceased its flying bound, 


A chirp ! and swift the squirrel scours 


Its snarling wolf-foe bit the ground, 


Along the prostrate trunk, and cowers 


And, with its moaning cry, 


Within its clefts from sight. 


The beaver sank beneath the wound 


. 


Its pond-built Venice by. 


Amid the creeping pine, which spreads 


Its thick and verdant wreath, 


Humble the lot, yet his the race, 


The scaurberry's downy spangle sheds 


When Liberty sent forth her cry, 


Its rich, delicious breath. 


Who throng'd in conflict's deadliest place, 


The bee-swarm murmurs by, and now 


To fight— to bleed— to die ! 


It clusters black on yonder bough : 


Who cumber'd Bunker's height of red, 


The robin's mottled breast 


By hope through weary years were led,' 


Glances that sunny spot across, 


And witness'd York Town's sun 


As round it seeks the twig and moss 


Blaze on a nation's banner spread, 


To frame its summer nest. 


A nation's freedom won. 






Warmer is each successive sky, 


4 


More soft the breezes pass, 


AN AMERICAN FOREST IN SPRING. 


The maple's gems of crimson lie 


Now fluttering breeze, now stormy blast, 
Mild rain, then blustering snow: 


Upon the thick, green grass. 


The dogwood sheds its clusters white, 


Winter's stern, fettering cold is past, 

But, sweet Spring ! where art thou 1 
The white cloud floats mid smiling blue, 


The birch has dropp'd its tassels slight, 


Cowslips are by the rill ; 


The thresher whistles in the glen, 


The broad, bright sunshine's golden hue 


Flutters around the warbling wren, 


Bathes the still frozen earth : 


And swamps have voices shrill. 


'Tis changed ! above, black vapours roll : 


A simultaneous burst of leaves 


We turn from our expected stroll, 


Has clothed the forest now, 


And seek the blazing hearth. 


A single day's bright sunshine weaves 


Hark ! that sweet carol ! with delight 


This vivid, gorgeous show. 


We leave the stifling room ! 


Masses of shade are cast beneath, 


The little blue-bird greets our sight, 


The flowers are spread in varied wreath, 


Spring, glorious Spring, has come ! 


Night brings her soft, sweet moon ; 


The south wind's balm is in the air, 


Morn wakes in mist, and twilight gray 


The melting snow-wreaths everywhere 


Weeps its bright dew, and smiling May 


Are leaping off in showers ; 


Melts blooming into June ! 


And Nature, in her brightening looks, 




Tells that her flowers, and leaves, and brooks, 




And birds, will soon be ours. 


THE LOST HUNTER. 


A few soft, sunny days have shone, 


Numb'd by the piercing, freezing air, 


The air has lost its chill, 


And burden'd by his game, 


A bright-green tinge succeeds the brown, 


The hunter, struggling with despair, 


Upon the southern hill. 


Dragg'd on his shivering frame ; 


Off to the woods ! a pleasant scene ! 


The rifle he had shoulder'd late 


Here sprouts the fresh young wintergreen, 


Was trail'd along, a weary weight ; 


There swells a mossy mound ; 


His pouch was void of food ; 


Though in the hollows drifts are piled, 


The hours were speeding in their flight, 


The wandering wind is sweet and mild, 


And soon the long, keen, winter night 


And buds are bursting round. 


Would wrap the solitude. 


Where its long rings uncurls the fern, 


Oft did he stoop a listening ear, 


The violet, nestling low. 


Sweep round an anxious eye, — 


Casts back the white lid of its urn, 


No bark or axe-blow could he hear, 


Its purple streaks to show : 


No human trace descry. 
2si2 



414 



ALFRED B. STREET. 



His sinuous path, by blazes, wound 
Among trunks group'd in myriads round ; 

Through naked boughs, between 
Whose tangled architecture, fraught 
With many a shape grotesquely wrought, 

The hemlock's spire was seen. 

An antler'd dweller of the wild 

Had met his eager gaze, 
And far his wandering steps beguiled 

Within an unknown maze ; 
Stream, rock, and run-way he had cross'd, 
Unheeding, till the marks were lost 

By which he used to roam ; 
And now, deep swamp and wild ravine 
And rugged mountain were between 

The hunter and his home. 

A dusky haze, which slow had crept 

On high, now darken'd there, 
And a few snow-flakes fluttering swept 

A thwart the thick, gray air, 
Faster and faster, till between 
The trunks and boughs, a mottled screen 

Of glimmering motes was spread, 
That tick'd against each object round 
With gentle and continuous sound, 

Like brook o'er pebbled bed. 

The laurel tufts, that drooping hung 

Close roll'd around their stems, 
And the sear beech-leaves still that clung, 

Were white with powdering gems. 
But, hark ! afar a sullen moan 
Swell' d out to louder, deeper tone, 

As surging near it pass'd, 
And, bursting with a roar, and shock 
That made the groaning forest rock, 

On rush'd the winter blast. 

As o'er it whistled, shriek'd, and hiss'd, 

Caught by its swooping wings, 
The snow was whirl'd to eddying mist, 

Barb'd, as it seem'd, with stings ; 
And now 'twas swept with lightning flight 
Above the loftiest hemlock's height, 

Like drifting smoke, and now 
It hid the air with shooting clouds, 
And robed the trees with circling shrouds, 

Then dash'd in heaps below. 

Here, plunging in a billowy wreath, 

There, clinging to a limb, 
The suffering hunter gasp'd for breath, 

Brain reel'd, and eye grew dim ; 
As though to whelm him in despair, 
Rapidly changed the blackening air 

To murkiest gloom of night, 
Till naught was seen around, below, 
But falling flakes and mantled snow, 

That gleam'd in ghastly white. 
At every blast an icy dart 

Seem'd through his nerves to fly, 
The blood was freezing to his heart- 
Thought whisper'd he must die. 
The thundering tempest echo'd death, 
He felt it in his tighten'd breath ; 

Spoil, rifle dropp'd, and slow 



As the dread torpor crawling came 
Along his staggering, stiffening frame, 
He sunk upon the snow. 

Reason forsook her shatter'd throne, — 

He deem'd that summer-hours 
Again around him brightly shone 

In sunshine, leaves, and flowers ; 
Again the fresh, green, forest-sod, 
Rifle in hand, he lightly trod, — 

He heard the deer's low bleat ; 
Or, couch'd within the shadowy nook, 
He drank the crystal of the brook 

That murmur' d at his feet. 

It changed ; — his cabin roof o'erspread, 

Rafter, and wall, and chair, 
Gleam'd in the crackling fire, that shed 

Its warmth, and he was there ; 
His wife had clasp'd his hand, and now 
Her gentle kiss was on his brow, 

His child was prattling by, 
The hound crouch'd, dozing, near the blaze, 
And through the pane's frost-pictured haze 

He saw the white drifts fly. 

That pass'd ; — before his swimming sight 

Does not a figure bound, 
And a soft voice, with wild delight, 

Proclaim the lost is found 1 
No, hunter, no ! 'tis but the streak 
Of whirling snow — the tempest's shriek — 

No human aid is near ! 
Never again that form will meet 
Thy clasp'd embrace — those accents sweet 

Speak music to thine ear. 

Morn broke ; — away the clouds were chased, 

The sky was pure and bright, 
And on its blue the branches traced 

Their webs of glittering white. 
Its ivory roof the hemlock stoop'd, 
The pine its silvery tassel droop'd, 

Down bent the burden'd wood, 
And, scatter'd round, low points of green, 
Peering above the snowy scene, 

Told where the thickets stood. 

In a deep hollow, drifted high, 

A wave-like heap was thrown, 
Dazzlingly in the sunny sky 

A diamond blaze it shone ; 
The little snow-bird, chirping sweet, 
Dotted it o'er with tripping feet; 

Unsullied, smooth, and fair, 
It seem'd, like other mounds, where trunk 
And rock amid the wreaths were sunk, 

But, ! the dead was there. 
Spring came with wakening breezes bland, 

Soft suns and melting rains, 
And, touch'd by her Ithuriel wand, 

Earth bursts its winter-chains. 
In a deep nook, where moss and grass 
And fern-leaves wove a verdant mass, 

Some scatter'd bones beside, 
A mother, kneeling with her child, 
Told by her tears and wailings wild 

That there the lost had died. 



GEORGE W. CUTTER. 



[Bom, 18—.] 



Mr. Cutter published at Cincinnati, in 1848, 
a volume entitled "Buena Vista, and other Po- 
ems," in the preface of which he says to the " gen- 
tle reader," " I desire that you will not for a mo- 
ment suppose me insensible to their many and 
great imperfections, or deem me so vain as to ex- 
pect that you will be startled by any sudden dis- 
play of genius, or charmed by any imposing array 
of erudition. They were written, for the most part, 
amid the turmoil and excitement incident to the 
discharge of the duties of an arduous profession, 
in hours that were clouded by no ordinary toils, 



with no other object or end in view but to lighten 
the burden of existence, to dissipate the gloom of 
the moment." 

In the previous year, Mr- Cutter had joined 
the army for the invasion of Mexico, as a captain 
of volunteers, and he participated in the victory of 
Buena Vista, and wrote upon the field his poem 
descriptive of that battle. The finest of his compo- 
sitions is " The Song of Steam," which is worthy 
of the praise it has received, of being one of the best 
lyrics of the century. " The Song of Lightning," 
written more recently, is perhaps next to it in merit. 



THE SONG OF STEAM. 

Harness me down with your iron bands; 

Be sure of your curb and rein : 
For I scorn the power of your puny hands, 

As the tempest scorns a chain ! 
How I laugh'd, as I lay conceal'd from sight, 

For many a countless hour, 
At the childish boast of human might, 

And the pride of human power ! 

When I saw an army upon the land, 

A navy upon the seas, 
Creeping along, a snail-like band, 

Or waiting the wayward breeze ; 
When I mark'd the peasant fairly reel 

With the toil which he faintly bore, 
As he feebly turn'd the tardy wheel, 

Or tugg'd. at the weary oar : 

When I measured the panting courser's speed, 

The flight of the courier-dove, 
As they bore the law a king decreed, 

Or the lines of impatient love — 
I could not but think how the world would feel, 

As these were outstripp'd afar, 
When T should be bound to the rushing keel, 

Or chain'd to the flying car ! 
Ha, ha, ha ! they found me at last; 

They invited me forth at length, 
And I rushed to my throne with a thunder-blast, 

And laugh'd in my iron strength ! 
Oh ! then ye saw a wondrous change 

On the earth and ocean wide, 
Where now my fiery armies range, 

Nor wait for wind and tide. 
Hurrah! hurrah! the water's o'er, 

The mountains steep decline ; 
Time — space — have yielded to my power ; 

The world — the world is mine ! 



The rivers the sun hath earliest blest, 
Or those where his beams decline ; 

The giant streams of the queenly West, 
And the Orient floods divine. 

The ocean pales where'er I sweep, 

To hear my strength rejoice, 
And the monsters of the briny deep 

Cower, trembling at my voice. 
I carry the wealth and the lord of earth, 

The thoughts of his godlike mind; 
The wind lags after my flying forth, 

The lightning is left behind. 

In the darksome depths of the fathomless mine 

My tireless arm doth play, 
Where the rocks never saw the sun's decline, 

Or the dawn of the glorious day. 
I bring earth's glittering jewels up 

From the hidden cave below, 
And I make the fountain's granite cup 

With a crystal gush o'erflow. 

I blow the bellows, I forge the steel, 

In all the shops of trade ; 
I hammer the ore and turn the wheel 

Where my arms of strength are made. 
I manage the furnace, the mill, the mint — 

I carry, I spin, I weave ; 
And all my doings I put into print 

On every Saturday eve. 

I've no muscles to weary, no breast to decay, 

No bones to be « laid on the shelf," 
And soon I intend you may " go and play," 

While I manage this world myself. 
But harness me down with your iron bands ; 

Be sure of your curb and rein : 
For I scorn the strength of your puny hands, 

As the tempest scorns a chain ! 

415 



416 GEORGE W. CUTTER. 


THE SONG OF LIGHTNING. 


Ye quail on the land or upon the seas, 





Ye stand in your fear aghast, 


Away, away through the sightless air — 


To see me burn the stalwart trees, 


Stretch forth your iron thread ; 


Or shiver the stately mast. 


For I would not dim my samlals fair 


The hieroglyphs on the Persian wall, 


With the dust ye tamely tread; 


The letters of high command, 


Ay, rear it up on its million piers — 


Where the prophet read the tyrant's fall, 


Let it reach the world, around, 


Were traced with my burning hand ; 


And the journey ye make in a hundred years 


And oft in fire have I wrote since then, 


I '11 clear at a single bound ! 


What angry Heaven decreed — 


Though I cannot toil like the groaning slave 


But the sealed eyes of sinful men 


Ye have fetter'd with iron skill, 


Were all too blind to read. 


To ferry you over the boundless wave, 


At last the hour of light is here, 


Or grind in the noisy mill ; 


And kings no more shall blind, 


Let him sing his giant strength and speed: 


Nor the bigots crush with craven fear 


Why, a single shaft of mine 


The forward march of mind ; 


Would give that monster a flight, indeed, 


The words of Truth, and Freedom's rays, 


To the depths of the ocean brine. 


Are from my pinions hurl'd, 


No, no ! I'm the spirit of light and love : 


And soon the sun of better days 


To my unseen hand 'tis given 


Shall rise upon the world. 


To pencil the ambient clouds above, 


But away, away, through the sightless air — 


And polish the stars of heaven. 


Stretch forth your iron thread ; 


I scatter the golden rays of fire 


For I would not soil my sandals fair 


On the horizon far below, 


With the dust ye tamely tread. 


And deck the skies where storms expire 


Ay, rear it upon its million piers — 


With my red and dazzling glow. 


Let it circle the world around, 


The deepest recesses of earth are mine — 
I traverse its silent core ; 


And the journey ye make in a hundred years 


I '11 clear at a single bound ! 


Around me the starry diamonds shine, 


« 


And the sparkling fields of ore ; 


ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL WORTH. 


And oft I leap from my throne on high 





To the depths of the ocean's caves, 


Now let the solemn minute gun 


Where the fadeless forests of coral lie, 


Arouse the morning ray, 


Far under the world of waves. 


And only with the setting sun 


! My being is like a lovely thought 


In echoes die away 

The muffled drum, the wailing fife, 


That dwells in a sinless breast; 
\ A tone of music that ne'er was caught — 


Ah ! let them murmur low, 
O'er him who was their breath of life, 


A word that was ne'er expressed. 
I burn in the bright and burnish'd halls, 


The solemn notes of wo ! 


Where the fountains of sunlight play — 


At Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, 


Where the curtain of gold and opal falls 


On Polaklaba's field, 


O'er the scenes of the dying day. 


Around him fell the crimson rain, 




The battle-thunder peal'd ; 


With a glance I cleave the sky in twain, 


But proudly did the soldier gaze 


I light it with a glare, 


Upon his daring form, 
When charging o'er the cannon's blaze 


When fall the boding drops of rain 


Through the darkly-cartain'd air ; 


Amid the sulphur storm. 


The rock-built towers, the turrets gray, 




The piles of a thousand years, 
Have not the strength of potters' clay 
Before my glittering spears. 


Upon the heights of Monterey 

Again his flag unroll'd, 
And when the grape-shot rent away 

Its latest starry fold, 


From the Alps' or the highest Andes' crag, 


His plumed cap above his head 
He waved upon the air, 


From the peaks of eternal snow, 


The dazzling folds of my fiery flag 


And cheer'd the gallant troops he led 


Gleam o'er the world below ; 


To glorious victory there. 


The earthquake heralds my coming power, 


But ah ! the dreadful seal is broke — 


The avalanche bounds away, 
And howling storms at midnight hour 


In darkness walks abroad 
The pestilence, whose silent stroke 
Is like the doom of Gon ! 


Proclaim my kingly sway. 


Ye tremble when my legions come — 


And the hero by its fell decree 


When my quivering sword leaps out 


In death is sleeping now, 


O'er the hills that echo my thunder-drum, 


With the laurel wreath of victory 


And rend with my joyous shout : 


Still green upon his brow ! 



EDGAR ALLAN POE 



[Born, 1811. Died, 1849.] 



The family of Mr. Poe is one of the oldest and 
most respectable in Baltimore. David Poe, his 
paternal grandfather, was a quartermaster-general 
in the Maryland line during the Revolution, and 
the intimate friend of Lafayette, who, during his 
last visit to the United States, called personally 
upon the general's widow, and tendered her his 
acknowledgments for the services rendered to him 
by her husband. His great-grandfather, John Poe, 
married, in England, Jane, a daughter of Admiral 
James McBride, noted in British naval history, 
and claiming kindred with some of the most illus- 
trious English families. His father and mother 
died within a few weeks of each other, of consump- 
tion, leaving him an orphan, at two years of age. 
Mr. John Allan, a wealthy gentleman of Rich- 
mond, Virginia, took a fancy to him, and persua- 
ded General Poe, his grandfather, to suffer him to 
adopt him. He was brought up in Mr. Allan's 
family ; and as that gentleman had no other chil- 
dren, he was regarded as his son and heir. In 
1816 he accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Allan to 
Great Britain, visited every portion of it, and af- 
terward passed four or five years in a school kept 
at Stoke Newington, near London, by the Rever- 
end Doctor Brans bt. He returned to America 
in 1822, and in 1825 went to the Jefferson Uni- 
versity, at Charlottesville, in Virginia, where he 
led a very dissipated life, the manners of the col- 
lege being at that time extremely dissolute. He 
took the first honours, however, and went home 
greatly in debt. Mr. Allan refused to pay some 
of his debts of honour, and he hastily quitted the 
country on a Quixotic expedition to join the Greeks, 
then struggling for liberty. He did not reach his 
original destination, however, but made his way to 
St. Petersburg, in Russia, where he became involved 
in difficulties, from which he was extricated by the 
late Mr. Henry Middleton, the American min- 
ister at that capital. He returned home in 1829, 
and immediately afterward entered the military 
academy at West Point. In about eighteen months 
from that time, Mr. Allan, who had lost his first | 
wife while Mr Poe was in Russia, married again. 
He was sixty-five years of age, and the lady was 
young; Poe quarrelled with her, and the veteran 
husband, taking the part of his wife, addressed him 
an angry letter, which was answei-ed in the same 
spirit. He died soon after, leaving an infant son 
the heir to his property, and bequeathed Poe noth- 
ing. 

The army, in the opinion of the young cadet, 
was not a place for a poor man ; so he left West 
Point abruptly, and determined to maintain him- 
self by authorship. He had printed, while in 
the military academy, a small volume of poems, 
53 



most of which were written in early youth. They 
illustrated the character of his abilities, and justi- 
fied his anticipations of success. For a consider- 
able time, however, his writings attracted but little 
attention. At length, in 1831, the proprietor of 
a weekly literary gazette in Baltimore offered two 
premiums, one for the best story in prose, and the 
other for the best poem. In due time our author 
sent in two articles, both of which were successful 
with the examining committee, and popular upon 
their appearance before the public. The late Mr. 
Thomas W. White had then recently established 
" The Southern Literary Messenger," at Richmond, 
and upon the warm recommendation of Mr. John 
P. Kennedy, who was a member of the commit- 
tee that has been referred to, Mr. Poe was engaged 
by him to be its editor. He continued in this sit- 
uation about a year and a half, in which he wrote 
many brilliant articles, and raised the " Messen- 
ger'' to the first rank of literary periodicals. 

He next removed to Philadelphia, to assist Mr. 
W. E. Burton in the editorship of the " Gentle- 
man's Magazine," a miscellany that in 1840 was 
merged in " Graham's Magazine," of which Mr. 
Poe became one of the principal writers, particu- 
larly in criticism, in which his papers attracted 
much attention, by their careful and skilful analy- 
sis, and generally caustic severity. At this period, 
however, he appears to have been more ambitious 
of securing distinction in romantic fiction, and a 
collection of his compositions in this department, 
published in 1841, under the title of "Tales of 
the Grotesque and the Arabesque," established his 
reputation for ingenuity, imagination, and extraor- 
dinary power in tragical narration. 

Near the end of 1844 Mr. Poe removed to New 
York, where he conducted for several months a lit- 
erary miscellany called " The Broadway Journal." 
In 1845 he published a volume of Tales, in Wi- 
ley and Putnam's "Library of American Books," 
and in the same series, a collection of his Poems, 
including " The Raven," of which Mr. N. P. Wil- 
lis observes, that in his opinion " it is the most 
effective single example of fugitive poetry ever pub- 
lished in this country, and is unsurpassed in English 
poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity 
of versification, and consistent sustaining of ima- 
ginative lift." " Ulalume," " Annabel Lee," and 

" To ," quoted in the following pages, have 

been written since the appearance of Mr. Poe's 
volume. In poetry, as in prose, he is most suc- 
cessful in the metaphysical treatment of the pas- 
sions. His poems are constructed with wonderful 
ingenuity, and finished with consummate art. 
They illustrate a morbid sensitiveness of feeling, 
a shadowy and gloomy imagination, and a taste 



418 



EDGAR A. POE. 



almost faultless in the apprehension of that sort of 
beauty most agreeable to his temper. 

Besides the volumes I have mentioned, Mr. Poe 
is the author of" Arthur Gordon Pym," a romance ; 
"A New Theory of English Versification;" "Eu- 
reka," an essay on the material and spiritual uni- 
verse : a work which he wishes to have "judged as 
a poem;" and several extended series of papers in 
the periodicals, the most noticeable of which are 
"Marginalia," embracing opinions of books and 



THE CITY IN THE SEA. 

Lo ! Death has rear'd himself a throne 
In a strange city lying alone 
Far down within the dim west, 
Where the good and the bad and the worst and 

the best 
Have gone to their eternal rest. 
There shrines, and palaces, and towers, 
(Time-eaten towers that tremble not !) 
Resemble nothing that is ours. 
Around, by lifting winds forgot, 
Resignedly beneath the sky 
The melancholy waters lie. 

No rays from the holy heaven come down 
On the long night-time of that town ; 
But light from out the lurid sea 
Streams up the turrets silently — 
Gleams up the pinnacles far and free — 
Up domes — up spires — up kingly halls — 
Up fanes — up Babylon-like walls — 
Up shadowy, long-forgotten bowers 
Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers — 
Up many and many a marvellous shrine 
Whose wreathed friezes intertwine 
The viol, the violet, and the vine. 
Resignedly beneath the sky 
The melancholy waters lie. 
So blend the turrets and shadows there 
That all seem pendulous in air, 
While from a proud tower in the town 
Death looks gigantically down. 

There open fanes and gaping graves 
Yawn level with the luminous waves; 
But not the riches there that lie 
In each idol's diamond eye — 
Not the gayly-jewell'd dead 
Tempt the waters from their bed ; 
For no ripples curl, alas ! 
Along that wilderness of glass — 
No swellings tell that winds may be 
Upon some far-off happier sea — 
No heavings hint that winds have been 
On seas less hideously serene. 

But lo, a stir is in the air ! 
The wave — there is a movement there ! 
As if the towers had thrust aside, 
In slightly sinking, the dull tide- 
As if their tops had feebly given 
A void within the filmy heaven. 
The waves have now a redder glow — 
The hours are breathing faint and low — 



authors ; " Secret Writing," " Autography," and 
" Sketches of the Literati of New York." He is 
still an industrious magazinist, and is one of the 
few of this class of writers among us who have 
any real skill in literary art. A more full account 
of his contributions to general literature may be 
found in my " Prose Writers of America." 

Mr. Poe died suddenly in Baltimore, on the 
seventh of October, 1849. 



And when, amid no earthly moans, 
Down, down that town shall settle hence, 
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, 
Shall do it reverence. 



ANNABEL LEE. 

It was many and many a year ago, 

In a kingdom by the sea, 
That a maiden there lived whom you may know 

By the name of Astkabel Lee ; 
And this maiden she lived with no other thought 

Than to love and be loved by me. 

I was a child and she was a child, 

In this kingdom by the sea ; 
But we loved with a love that was more than love — 

I and my Annabel Lee — 
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven 

Coveted her and me. 

And this was the reason that, long ago, ( 

In this kingdom by the sea, 
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling 

My beautiful Annabel Lee; 
So that her highborn kinsmen came 

And bore her away from me, 
To shut her up in a sepulchre, 

In this kingdom by the sea. 

The angels, not half so happy in heaven, 

Went envying her and me — 
Yes ! — that was the reason (as all men know, 

In this kingdom by the sea), 
That the wind came out of the cloud by night, 

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lke. 

But our love it was stronger by far than the love 

Of those who were older than we — 

Of many far wiser than we — 
And neither the angels in heaven above, 

Nor the demons down under the sea, 
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lke : 

For the moon never beams, without bringing me 
dreams 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee ; 
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee : 
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side 
Of my darling — my darling — my life and my bride, 

In her sepulchre there by the sea — 

In her tomb by the sounding sea. 



EDGAR A. POE. 



419 



ULALUME : A BALLAD. 

The skies they were ashen and sober ; 

The leaves they were crisped and sere — 

The leaves they were withering and sere ; 
It was night in the lonesome October 

Of my most immemorial year ; 
It was hard by the dim lake of Auber, 

In the misty mid region of Weir — 
It was down by the dank tarn of Auber, 

In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir. 

Here once, through an alley Titanic, 
Of cypress, I roamed with my soul — 
Of cypress, with Psyche, my soul. 

These were days when my heart was volcanic 
As the scoriae rivers that roll — 
As the lavas that restlessly roll 

Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek 
In the ultimate climes of the pole — 

That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek 
In the realms of the boreal pole. 

Our talk had been serious and sober, 

But our thoughts they were palsied and sere- 
Our memories were treacherous and sere — 

For we knew not the month was October, 
And we marked not the night of the year — 
(Ah, night of all nights in the year !) 

We noted not the dim lake of Auber, 

(Though once we had journeyed down here)- 

Kememberd not the dank tarn of Auber, 
Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir. 

And now, as the night was senescent, 

And star-dials pointed to morn — 

As the star-dials hinted of morn — 
At the end of our path a liquescent 

And nebulous lustre was born, 
Out of which a miraculous crescent 

Arose with a duplicate horn — 
Astarte's bediamonded crescent 

Distinct with its duplicate horn. 

And I said — " She is warmer than Dian : 

She rolls through an ether of sighs — 

She revels in a region of sighs : 
She has seen that the tears are not dry on 

These cheeks, where the worm never dies, 
And has come past the stars of the Lion 

To point us the path to the skies — 

To the Lethean peace of the skies — 
Come up, in despite of the Lion, 

To shine on us with her bright eyes — 
Come up through the lair of the Lion, 

With love in her luminous eyes." 

But Psyche, uplifting her finger, 

Said — " Sadly this star I mistrust — 
Her pallor I strangely mistrust : 

Oh, hasten ! — oh, let us not linger! 
Oh, fly ! — let us fly ! — for we must." 

In terror she spoke, letting sink her 
Wings till they trailed in the dust — 

In agony sobbed letting sink her 

Plumes till they trailed in the dust — 
Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust. 



I replied — " This is nothing but dreaming : 
Let us on by this tremulous light — 
Let us bathe in this crystalline light ! 

Its sybilic splendor is beaming 

With hope and in beauty to-night : 

See, it flickers up the sky through the night ! 

Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming, 
And be sure it will lead us aright — 

We safely may trust to a gleaming 
That cannot but guide us aright, 
Since it flickers up to heaven through the night." 

Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her, 
And tempted her out of her gloom — 
And conquered her scruples and gloom ; 

And we passed to the end of the vista, 

But were stopped by the door of a tomb — 
By the door of a legended tomb ; 

And I said, " What is written, sweet sister, 
On the door of this legended tomb V 

She replied, " Ulalume — Ulalume — 

Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume !" 

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober 
As the leaves that were crisped and sere — 
As the leaves that were withering and sere, 

And I cried, " It was surely October 
On this very night of last year, 
That I journeyed — I journeyed down here — 
That I brought a dread burden down here — 
On this night of all nights in the year 
Oh, what demon has tempted me here 1 

Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber, 
This misty mid region of Weir — 

Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber, 
In the ghoul-haunted woodland of "Weir." 

Said we then — the two, then — " Ah, can it 
Have been that the woodlandish ghouls — 
The pitiful, the merciful ghouls — 

To bar up our way and to ban it 

From the secret that lies in these wolds — 
From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds — 

Have drawn up the spectre of a planet 
From the limbo of lunary souls — 

This sinfully scintillant planet 

From the hell of the planetary souls V 



TO ZANTE. 

Fair isle, that from the fairest of all flowers 

Thy gentlest of all gentle names dost take ! 
How many memories of what radiant hours 

At sight of thee and thine at once awake ! 
How many scenes of what departed bliss ! 

How many thoughts of what entombed hopes! 
How many visions of a maiden that is 

No more — no more upon thy verdant slopes ! 
No more ! alas, that magical sad sound 
Transforming all ! Thy charms shall please m. 

more — 
Thy memory no more ! Accursed ground 
Henceforth I hold thy flower-enamelled shore. 
hyacinthine isle ! purple Zante ! 

" Isola d'oro ! Fior di Levante !" 



420 



EDGAR A. POE. 



TO 



I saw thee once — once only — years ago : 
I must not say how many — but not many. 
It was a July midnight ; and from out 
A full-orbed moon that, like thine own soul, soaring, 
Sought a precipitant pathway up through heaven, 
There fell a silvery-silken veil of light, 
With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber, 
Upon the upturned faces of a thousand 
Eoses that grew in an enchanted garden, 
Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe — 
Fell on the upturned faces of these roses 
That gave out, in return for the love-light, 
Their odorous souls in an ecstatic death — 
Fell on the upturned faces of these roses 
That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted 
By thee and by the poetry of thy presence. 

Clad all in white, upon a violet bank 
I saw thee hah* reclining; while the moon 
Fell on the upturned faces of the roses, 
And on thine own, upturned — alas ! in sorrow. 

Was it not Fate that, on this July midnight — 
Was it not Fate (whose name is also Sorrow) 
That bade me pause before that garden-gate 
To breathe the incense of those slumbering roses 1 
No footstep stirred : the hated world all slept, 
Save only thee and me. I paused — I looked — 
And in an instant all things disappeared. 
(Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted !) 
The pearly lustre of the moon went out : 
The mossy banks and the meandering paths, 
The happy flowers and the repining trees, 
Were seen no more : the very roses' odors 
Died in the arms of the adoring airs. 
All, all expired save thee — save less than thou : 
Save only the divine light in thine eyes — 
Save but the soul in thine uplifted eyes. 
I saw but them — they were the world to me. 
I saw but them — saw only them for hours — 
Saw only them until the moon went down. 
What wild heart-histories seemed to lie enwritten 
Upon those crystalline, celestial spheres! 
How dark a wo, yet how sublime a hope ! 
How silently serene a sea of pride ! 
How daring an ambition ! yet how deep — 
How fathomless a capacity for love ! 

But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight 
Into a western couch of thunder-cloud, 
And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees 
Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained. 
They would not go — they never yet have gone. 
Lighting my lonely pathway home that night, 
They have not left me (as my hopes have) since. 
They follow me, they lead me through the years; 
They are my ministers — yet I their slave. 
Their office is to illumine and enkindle — 
My duty, to be saved by their bright light, 
And purified in their electric fire — 
And sanctified in their elysian fire. 
They fill my soul with beauty (which is hope), 
And are far up in heaven, the stars I kneel to 
In the sad, silent watches of my night ; 



While even in the meridian glare of day 
I see them still — two sweetly scintillant 
Venuses, unextinguished by the sun ! 



DREAM-LAND. 

By a route obscure and lonely, 
Haunted by ill angels only, 
Where an Eidolon, named Night, 
On a black throne reigns upright, 
I have reached these lands but newly 
From an ultimate dim Thul: — 
From a wild, weird clime that lieth, sublime, 
Out of space — out of time. 

Bottomless vales and boundless floods, 
And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods, 
With forms that no man can discover 
For the dews that drip all over ; 
Mountains toppling evermore 
Into seas without a shore ; 
Seas that restlessly aspire, 
Surging, unto skies of fire ; 
Lakes that endlessly outspread 
Their lone waters — lone and dead — 
iTheir still waters — still and chilly 
|With the snows of the lolling lily. 

By the lakes that thus outspread 
Their lone waters, lone and dead — 
Their sad waters, sad and chilly 
With the snows of the lolling lily — 
By the mountains, near the river 
Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever — 
By the gray woods — by the swamp 
Where the toad and the newt encamp — 
By the dismal tarns and pools 
Where dwell the ghouls — 
By each spot the most unholy, 
In each nook most melancholy — 
There the traveller meets aghast 
Sheeted memories of the past ; 
Shrouded forms that start and sigh 
As they pass the wanderer by ; 
White-robed forms of friends long given, 
In agony, to earth — and heaven ! 

For the heart whose woes are legion 
'T is a peaceful, soothing region ; 
For the spirit that walks in shadow 
'Tis — oh, 'tis an Eldorado! 
But the traveller, travelling through it, 
May not, dare not openly view it ; 
Never its mysteries are exposed 
To the weak human eye unclosed ; 
So wills its King, who hath forbid 
The uplifting of the fringed lid ; 
And thus the sad soul that here passes 
Beholds it but through darken'd glasses. 

By a route obscure and lonely, 
Haunted by ill angels only, 
Where an Eidolon, named Night, 
On a black throne reigns upright, 
I have wander'd home but newly 
From this ultimate dim Thule. 



EDGAR A. POE, 



421 



LENORE. 

Ah, broken is the golden bowl, 

The spirit flown forever ! 
Let the bell toll ! 
A saintly soul 

Floats on the Stygian river ; 
And, Gtrr de Vere, 
Hast thou no tear 1 

Weep now or never more ! 
See, on yon drear 
And rigid bier 

Low lies thy love, Lenore ! 
Come, let the burial-rite be read — 

The funeral-song be sung! — 
An anthem for the queenhest dead 

That ever died so young — 
A dirge for her the doubly dead, 

In that she died so young ! 

" "Wretches ! ye loved her for her wealth, 

And hated her for her pride ; 
And when she fell in feeble health, 

Ye bless'd her — that she died ! 
How shall the ritual, then, be read 1 

The requiem how be sung 
By you — by yours, the evil eye — 

By yours, the slanderous tongue 
That did to death the innocence 

That died, and died so young V 

Peccavimus ; 

But rave not thus ! 

And let a sabbath song 

Go up to God so solemnly, the dead may 
feel no wrong ! 
The sweet Lexore 
Hath " gone before," 

With Hope, that flew beside, 
Leaving thee wild 
For the dear child 

That should have been thy bride — 
For her, the fair 
And debonair, 

That now so lowly lies, 
The life upon her yellow hair 

But not within her eyes — 
The life still there, 
Upon her hair — 

The death upon her eyes. 

" Avaunt ! to-night 
My heart is light. 

No dirge will I upraise, 
But waft the angel on her flight 

With a paean of old days ! 
Let no bell toll ! — 
Lest her sweet soul, 

Amid its hallow'd mirth, 
Should catch the note, 
As it doth float — 

Up from the damned earth. 
To friends above, from fiends below, 

The indignant ghost is riven — 
From hell unto a high estate 

Far up within the heaven— 



From grief and groan, 
To a golden throne, 

Beside the King of Heaven.' 



ISRAFEL.* 

Is heaven a spirit doth dwell 

" Whose heart-strings are a lute ;" 

None sing so wildly well 

As the angel Israfel, 

And the giddy stars (so legends tell) 

Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell 
Of his voice, all mute. 

Tottering above 

In her highest noon, 

The enamour'd moon 
Blushes with love, 

While, to listen, the red levin 

(With the rapid Pleiads, even, 

Which were seven) 

Pauses in heaven. 

And they say (the starry choir 
And the other listening things) 

That Israfeli's fire 

Is owing to that lyre 

By which he sits and sings — 

The trembling living wire 
Of those unusual strings. 

But the skies that angel trod, 

Where deep thoughts are a duty — 

Where Love 's a grown-up god — 
Where the Houri glances are 

Imbued with all the beauty 
Which we worship in a star. 

Therefore, thou art not wrong, 

Israfelt, whu despisest 
An unimpassion'd song; 
To thee the laurels belong, 

Best bard, because the wisest ! 
Merrily live, and long ! 

The ecstasies above 

With thy burning measures suit — 
Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love, 

With the fervour of thy lute — 

Weil may the stars be mute ! 
Yes, heaven is thine ; but this 

Is a world of sweets and sours ; 

Our flowers are merely — flowers, 
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss 

Is the sunshine of ours. 

If I could dwell 
Where Israfel 

Hath dwelt, and he where I, 
He might not sing so wildly well 

A mortal melody, 
While a bolder note than this might swell 

From my lyre within the sky. 

* " And the angel Iskafel, whose heart strings are a lute 
and who has the sweetest voice of all God's creatures." 

Koran. 

2tf 



422 



EDGAR A. POE. 



FOR ANNIE. 

Thank Heaven ! the crisis — 

The danger, is past, 
And the lingering illness 

Is over at last — 
And the fever called " Living" 

Is conquer'd at last. 

Sadly, I know 

I am shorn of my strength, 
And no muscle I move 

As I lie at full length ; 
But no matter ! — I feel 

I am better at length. 

And I rest so composedly, 

Now, in my bed, 
That any beholder 

Might fancy me dead — 
Might start at beholding me, 

Thinking me dead. 

The moaning and groaning, 
The sighing and sobbing, 

Are quieted now, 

With that horrible throbbing 

At heart : — ah that horrible, 
Horrible throbbing ! 

The sickness — the nausea — 

The pitiless pain — 
Have ceased, with the fever 

That madden'd my brain — 
With the fever called " Living" 

That burn'd in my brain. 

And oh ! of all tortures, 

That torture the worst 
Has abated — the terrible 

Torture of thirst 
For the napthaline river 

Of Passion accurst : 
I have drank of a water 

That quenches all thirst : — 

Of a water that flows, 
With a lullaby sound, 

From a spring but a very few 
Feet under ground — 

From a cavern not very far 
Down under ground. 

And ah ! let it never 

Be foolishly said 
That my room it is gloomy 

And narrow my bed ; 
For man never slept 

In a different bed — 
And, to sleep, you must slumber 

In just such a bed. 
My tantalized spirit 

Here blandly reposes, 
Forgetting, or never 

Regretting, its roses — 
Its old agitations 

Of myrtles and roses : 
For now, while so quietly 

Lying, it fancies 



A holier odour 

About it, of pansies — 
A rosemary odour, 

Commingled with pansies — 
With rue and the beautiful 

Puritan pansies. 
And so it lies happily, 

Bathing in many 
A dream of the truth 

And the beauty of Annie — 
Drown'd in a bath 

Of the tresses of Annie. 
She tenderly kiss'd me, 

She fondly caress'd, 
And then I fell gently 

To sleep on her breast — 
Deeply to sleep 

From the heaven of her breast. 
When the light was extinguish'd, 

She cover'd me warm, 
And she pray'd to the angels 

To keep me from harm — 
To the queen of the angels 

To shield me from harm. 
And I lie so composedly, 

Now, in my bed, 
(Knowing her love,) 

That you fancy me dead — 
And I rest so contentedly, 

Now, in my bed, 
(With her love at my breast,) 

That you fancy me dead — 
That you shudder to look at me, 

Thinking me dead : — 
But my heart it is brighter 

Than all of the many 
Stars of the sky, 

For it sparkles with Annie — 
It glows with the light 

Of the love of my Annie — 
W T ith the thought of the light 

Of the eyes of my Annie. 

TO ONE IN PARADISE. 

Thou wast all that to me, love, 
For which my soul did pine — 

A green isle in the sea, love, 
A fountain and a shrine, 

All wreath'd with fairy fruits and flowers, 
And all the flowers were mine. 

Ah, dream too bright to last ! 

Ah, starry Hope ! that didst arise 
But to be overcast ! 

A voice from out the Future cries, 
« On ! on .'"—but o'er the Past 

(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies 
Mute, motionless, aghast ! 

For, alas ! alas ! with me 

The light of life is o'er ! 

No more — no more — no more — 
(Such language holds the solemn sea 

To the sands upon the shore) 



EDGAR A. POE. 



423 



Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree, 
Or the stricken eagle soar ! 

And all my days are trances, 
And all my nightly dreams 

Are where thy dark eye glances, 
And where thy footstep gleams — 

In what ethereal dances, 
By what eternal streams. 



THE RAVEN. 

Onte upon a midnight dreary, 
While I ponder'd, weak and weary, 
Over many a quaint and curious 

Volume of forgotten lore, 
"While I nodded, nearly napping, 
Suddenly there came a tapping, 
As of some one gently rapping, 

Rapping at my chamber door. 
« 'Tis some visiter," I mutter'd, 

" Tapping at my chamber door — 

Only this, and nothing more." 

Ah, distinctly I remember, 
It was in the bleak December, 
And each separate dying ember 

Wrought its ghost upon the floor. 
Eagerly I wish'd the morrow ; 
Vainly I had tried to borrow 
From my books surcease of sorrow — 

Sorrow for the lost Lenore — 
For the rare and radiant maiden 

Whom the angels name Lenore — 

Nameless here for evermore. 

And the silken, sad, uncertain 
Rustling of each purple curtain 
Thrill'd me — fiU'd me with fantastic 

Terrors never felt before ; 
So that now, to still the beating 
Of my heart, I stood repeating 
" 'Tis some visiter entreating 

Entrance at my chamber door — 
Some late visiter entreating 

Entrance at my chamber door ; — 

This it is, and nothing more." 

Presently my soul grew stronger ; 

Hesitating then no longer, 

« Sir," said I, " or Madam, truly 

Your forgiveness I implore ; 
But the fact is I was napping, 
And so gently you came rapping, 
And so faintly you came tapping, 

Tapping at my chamber door, 
That I scarce was sure I heard you," — 

Here I open'd wide the door : 

Darkness there, and nothing more ! 

Deep into that darkness peering, 
Long I stood there wondering, fearing, 
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal 

Ever dared to dream before ; 
But the silence was unbroken, 



And the darkness gave no token, 
And the only word there spoken 

Was the whisper'd word, « Lenore !" 
This / whisper'd, and an echo 

Murmur'd back the word, « Lenore !" 
Merely this, and nothing more. 

Then into the chamber turning, 
All my soul within me burning, 
Soon I heard again a tapping 

Somewhat louder than before. 
" Surely," said I, « surely that is 
Something at my window lattice ; 
Let me see, then, what thereat is, 

And this mystery explore — 
Let my heart be still a moment, 

And this mystery explore ; — 

'Tis the wind, and nothing more !" 

Open here I flung the shutter, 
When, with many a flirt and flutter, 
In there stepp'd a stately raven 

Of the saintly days of yore ; 
Not the least obeisance made he ; 
Not an instant stopp'd or stay'd he ; 
But, with mien of lord or lady, 

Perch'd above my chamber door — 
Perch'd upon a bust of Pallas 

Just above my chamber door — 

Perch'd, and sat, and nothing more. 

Then this ebony bird beguiling 

My sad fancy into smiling, 

By the grave and stern decorum 

Of the countenance it wore, 
" Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, 
Thou," I said, " art sure no craven, 
Ghastly grim and ancient raven, 

Wandering from the Nightly shore — 
Tell me what thy lordly name is 

On the Night's Plutonian shore !" 

Quoth the raven " Nevermore." 

Much I marvell'd this ungainly 
Fowl to hear discourse so plainly, 
Though its answer little meaning — 

Little relevancy bore ; 
For we cannot help agreeing 
That no living human being 
Ever yet was bless'd with seeing 

Bird above his chamber door — 
Bird or beast upon the sculptured 

Bust above his chamber door, 

With such name as " Nevermore." 

But the raven sitting lonely 
On the placid bust, spoke only 
That one word, as if his soul in 

That one word he did outpour. 
Nothing farther then he utter'd — 
Not a feather then he flutter'd — 
Till I scarcely more than mutter'd 

« Other friends have flown before — 
On the morrow he will leave me, 

As my hopes have flown before." 

Then the bird said " Nevermore." 



424 EDGAR 


A. POE. 


Startled at the stillness broken 


Whom the angels name Lenore — 


By reply so aptly spoken, 


Clasp a rare and radiant maiden 


" Doubtless," said I, « what it utters 


Whom the angels name Lenore." 


Is its only stock and store 


Quoth the raven « Nevermore." 


Caught from some unhappy master 
! Whom unmerciful Disaster 

Follow'd fast and follow'd faster, 

Till his songs one burden bore — 
Till the dirges of his Hope the 

Melancholy burden bore 

Of < Nevermore,' — of ' Nevermore.' " 


" Be that word our sign of parting, 
Bird or fiend !" I shriek'd, upstarting — 
" Get thee back into the tempest 

And the Night's Plutonian shore ! 
Leave no black plume as a token 
Of that lie thy soul hath spoken ! 
Leave my loneliness unbroken ! — 


But the raven still beguiling 


Quit the bust above my door ! 


All my sad soul into smiling, 


Take thy beak from out my heart, 


Straight I wheel'd a cushion'd seat in 


And take thy form from off my door !" 


Front of bird, and bust and door ; 


Quoth the raven « Nevermore." 


Then upon the velvet sinking, 


And the raven, never flitting, 


I betook myself to Unking 


Still is sitting, still is sitting 


Fancy unto fancy, thinking 


On the pallid bust of Pallas 


What this ominous bird of yore — 


Just above my chamber door ; 


What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, 


And his eyes have all the seeming 


Gaunt and ominous bird of yore 


Of a demon that is dreaming, 


Meant in croaking « Nevermore." 


And the lamplight o'er him streaming 


This I sat engaged in guessing, 
But no syllable expressing 
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now 
Burn'd into my bosom's core ; 


Throws his shadow on the floor; 
And my soul from out that shadow 
That lies floating on the floor 
Shall be lifted — nevermore ! 


This and more I sat divining, 
With my head at ease reclining 






On the cushion's velvet lining 


THE CONQUEROR WORM. 


That the lamplight gloated o'er; 




But whose velvet violet lining 


Lo ! 'tis a gala night 

Within the lonesome latter years ! 
An angel throng, bewing'd, bedight 


With the lamplight gloating o'er, 
jSYic shall press, ah, never more ! 


Then, methought, the air grew denser, 


In veils, and drown'd in tears, 


Perfum'd from an unseen censer, 


Sit in a theatre, to see 


Swung by angels whose faint foot-falls 


A play of hopes and fears, 


Tinkled on the tufted floor. 


While the orchestra breathes fitfully 


« Wretch," I cried, " thy God hath lent thee 


The music of the spheres. 


By these angels he hath sent thee 


Mimes, in the form of God on high, 


Respite — respite and nepenthe 


Mutter and mumble low, 


From thy memories of Lenore ! 


And hither and thither fly — 


Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, 


Mere puppets they, who come and go 


And forget this lost Lenore !" 


At bidding of vast formless things 


Quoth the raven " Nevermore." 


That shift the scenery to and fro, 


« Prophet !" said I, " thing of evil ! — 


Flapping from out their Condor wings 


Prophet still, if bird or devil ! 


Invisible Wo ! 


Whether tempter sent, or whether 


That motley drama ! — oh, be sure 


Tempest toss'd thee here ashore, 


It shall not be forgot! 


Desolate yet all undaunted, 


With its Phantom chased for evermore, 


On this desert land enchanted — 


By a crowd that seize it not, 


On this home by Horror haunted — 


Through a circle that ever returneth in 


Tell me truly, I implore — 


To the self-same spot, 


Is there — is there balm in Gilcad 1 


And much of Madness, and more of Sin, 


Tell me — tell me, I. implore !" 


And Horror the soul of the plot. 


Quoth the raven " Nevermore." 






But see, amid the mimic rout, 


" Prophet !" said I, " thing of evil — . 


A crawling shape intrude ! 


Prophet still, if bird or devil ! 


A blood-red thing that writhes from out 


By that heaven that bends above us — 


The scenic solitude ! 


By that God we both adore — 


It writhes ! — it writhes ! — with mortal panga, 


Tell this soul with sorrow laden 


The mimes become its food, 


If, within the distant Aidenn, 


And the angels sob at vermin fangs 


It shall clasp a sainted maiden 


In human gore imbued. 



EDGAR 


A. POE. 425 


Out — out are the lights — out all ! 


THE SLEEPER. 


And, over each quivering form, 





The curtain, a funeral pall, 


At midnight, in the month of June, 


Comes down with the rush of a storm, 


I stand beneath the mystic moon. 


And the angels, all pallid and wan, 


An opiate vapour, dewy, dim, 


Uprising, unveiling, affirm 


Exhales from out her golden rim, 


That the play is the tragedy, « Man," 
Its hero the Conqueror Worm. 


And, softly dripping, drop by drop, 
Upon the quiet mountain-top, . 




Steals drowsily and musically 
Into the universal valley. 




THE HAUNTED PALACE. 


The rosemary nods upon the grave ; 





The lily lolls upon the wave ; 


In the greenest of our valleys, 


Wrapping the mist about its breast, 


By good angels tenanted, 


The ruin moulders into rest ; 


Once a fair and stately palace 


Looking like Lethe, see, the lake 


(Snow-white palace) rear'd its head. 


A conscious slumber seems to take, 


In the monarch Thought's dominion 


And would not for the world awake. 


It stood there ! 


All beauty sleeps ! — and, lo! where lies, 


Never seraph spread a pinion 


With casement open to the skies, 


Over fabric half so fair. 


Irene and her destinies ! 


Banners, yellow, glorious, golden, 




On its roof did float and flow ; 


0, lady bright, can it be right, 


(This, all this, was in the olden 

Time, long ago.) 
And every gentle air that dallied, 


This lattice open to the night ? 


The bodiless airs, a wizard rout, 

Flit through thy chamber, in and out, 


In that sweet day, 


And wave the curtain-canopy 


Along the ramparts plumed and pallid, 
A winged odour went away. 


So fitfully, so fearfully, 

Above the closed and fringed lid 


'Neath which thy slumbering soul lies hid, 


Wanderers in that happy valley 


That o'er the floor and down the wall, 


Through two luminous windows saw 


Like ghosts, the shadows rise and fall. 


Spirits moving musically, 


0, lady dear, hast thou no fear 1 ? 


To a lute's well-tuned law ; 


Why and what art thou dreaming here 1 


Round about a throne, where, sitting 


Sure thou art come o'er far-off seas, 


(Porphyrogene!) 


A wonder to our garden-trees ! 


In state his glory well-befitting, 


Strange is thy pallor — strange thy dress — 


The ruler of the realm was seen. 


Stranger thy glorious length of tress, 


And all with pearl and ruby glowing 


And this all-solemn silentness ! 


Was the fair palace-door, 
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing, 

And sparkling evermore, 
A troop of echoes, whose sweet duty 

Was but to sing, 
In voices of surpassing beauty, 

The wit and wisdom of their king. 


The lady sleeps. 0, may her sleep, 
Which is enduring, so be deep ! 
Soft may the worms about her creep ! 
This bed, being changed for one more holy, 


This room for one more melancholy, 
I pray to God that she may lie 
Forever with unclosed eye ! 


But evil things, in robes of sorrow, 


My love she sleeps. 0, may her sleep, 


Assail'd the monarch's high estate ; 


As it is lasting, so be deep ! 


(Ah ! let us mourn, for never morrow 


Heaven have her in its sacred keep ! 


Shall dawn upon him, desolate !) 


Far in the forest, dim and old, 


And round about his home the glory 


For her may some tall tomb unfold — 


That blush'd and bloom'd, 


Some tomb that oft hath flung its black 


Is but a dim-remember'd story 


And wing-like pannels, fluttering back, 


Of the old time entomb' d. 


Triumphant o'er the crested palls 


And travellers now within that valley, 


Of her grand family funerals, — 


Through the red-litten windows see 


Some sepulchre, remote, alone, 


Vast forms, that move fantastically 


Against whose portal she hath thrown, 


To a discordant melody ; 


In childhood, many an idle stone, — 


While, like a rapid, ghastly river, 


Some vault from out whose sounding door 


Through the pale door, 


She ne'er shall force an echo more, 


A hideous throng rush out for ever, 


Nor thrill to think, poor child of sin, 


And laugh — but smile no more. 


It was the dead who groan'd within. 


54 


2n2 



WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH. 



IBoni, 1S12.1 



William H. Burleigh was born in the town 
of Woodstock, in Connecticut, on the second day 
of February, 1812. His paternal ancestors came 
to this country from Wales ; and on both sides he 
is descended from the stern old Puritan stock, 
being on the mother's a lineal descendant of Go- 
vernor Bradford, whose name appears conspicu- 
ously and honourably in the early annals of Mas- 
sachusetts. An intermediate descendant, the grand- 
father of Mr. Burleigh, served with credit under 
Washington, in the war of the Revolution. Such 
ancestral recollections are treasured, with just 
pride, in many an humble but happy home in 
New England. 

In his infancy, Mr. Burleigh's parents removed 
to Plainfield, in his native state, where his father 
was for many years the principal of a popular 
academy, until the loss of sight induced him to 
abandon his charge, before his son had attained an 
age to derive much benefit from his instructions. 
He retired to a farm, and the boy's time was mainly 
devoted to its culture, varied by the customary at- 
tendance in a district-school through the winter- 
months, until he was sixteen, when he proposed to 
become an apprentice to a neighbouring clothier, but 
abandoned the idea after two weeks' trial, from an 
inveterate loathing of the coarseness and brutality 
of those among whom he was set to labour. Here, 
however, while engaged in the repulsive cares of 
his employment, he composed his first sonnet, 
which was published in a gazette printed in the vi- 
cinity. Returning to his father's house, he in the 
following summer became an apprentice to a 



village printer, whom he left after eight months' 
tedious endurance, leaving in his "stick" a fare- 
well couplet to his master, which is probably re- 
membered unforgivingly to this day. He did not, 
however, desert the business, of which he had 
thus obtained some slight knowledge, but con- 
tinued to labour as half-apprentice, journeyman, 
sub-editor, etc., through the next seven years, 
during which he assisted in the conduct of per- 
haps as many periodicals, deriving thereby little 
fame and less profit. In December, 1834, while 
editor of "The Literary Journal," in the city of 
Schenectady, he married an estimable woman, 
who has since "divided his sorrows and doubled 
his joys." In July, 1836, abandoning the printing 
business for a season, he commenced a new career 
as a public lecturer, under the auspices of a phi- 
lanthropic society, and in his new employment he 
continued for two years. At the close of that period 
he assumed the editorship of "The Christian Wit- 
ness," at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, which he held 
two years and a half, when he resigned it, to take 
charge of "The Washington Banner," a gazette 
published at Allegheny, on the opposite side of the 
Ohio. Between this duty, and the study of the 
law, his time is now divided. 

His contributions to the periodical literature of 
the country commenced at an early age, and have 
been continued at intervals to the present day. 
"The New Yorker" was for years his favourite 
medium of communication with the public. A 
collection of his poems appeared in Philadelphia, 
early in 1840. 



ELEGIAC STANZAS. 

She hath gone in the spring-time of life, 

Ere her sky had been dimm'd by a cloud, 
While her heart with the rapture of love was yet rife, 

And the hopes of her youth were unbow'd — 
From the lovely, who loved her too well ; 

From the heart that had grown to her own ; 
From the sorrow which late o'er her young spirit fell, 

Like a dream of the night she hath flown ; 
And the earth hath received to its bosom its trust — 
Ashes to ashes, and dust unto dust. 

The spring, in its loveliness dress'd, 

Will return with its music-wing'd hours, 
And, kiss'd by the breath of the sweet south-west, 

The Duds shall burst out in flowers ; 
And the flowers her grave-sod above, 

Though the sleeper beneath recks it not, 
Shall thickly be strown by the hand of Love, 

To cover with beauty the spot — 
Meet emblems are they of the pure one and bright, 
Who faded and fell with so early a blight. 



Ay, the spring will return — but the blossom 

That bloom'd in our presence the sweetest, 
By the spoiler is borne from the cherishing bosom 

The loveliest of all and the fleetest ! 
The music of stream and of bird 

Shall come back when the winter is o'er ; 
But the voice that was dearest to us shall be heard 

In our desolate chambers no more ! 
The sunlight of May on the waters shall quiver — 
The light of her eye hath departed forever ! 

As the bird to its sheltering nest, 

When the storm on the hills is abroad, 
So her spirit hath flown from this world of unrest 

To repose on the bosom of God ! 
Where the sorrows of earth never more 

May fling o'er its brightness a stain ; 
Where, in rapture and love, it shall ever adore, 

With a gladness unmingled with pain ; 
And its thirst shall be slaked by the waters which 

spring, 
Like a river of light, from the throne of the King ! 

426 



WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH. 



m 



There is weeping on earth for the lost ! 

There is bowing in grief to the ground ! 
But rejoicing and praise mid the sanctified host, 

For a spirit in Paradise found ! 
Though brightness hath pass'd from the earth, 

Yet a star is new-born in the sky, 
And a soul hath gone home to the land of its birth, 

Where are pleasures and fulness of joy ! 
And a new harp is strung, and a new song is given 
To the breezes that float o'er the gardens of heaven ! 



"LET THERE BE LIGHT." 

Night, stern, eternal, and alone, 

Girded with solemn silence round, 
Majestic on his starless throne, 

Sat brooding o'er the vast profound— 
And there unbroken darkness lay, 

Deeper than that which veils the tomb, 
While circling ages wheel'd away 

Unnoted mid the voiceless gloom. 

Then moved upon the waveless deep 

The quickening Spirit of the Lord, 
And broken was its pulseless sleep 

Before the Everlasting Word ! 
" Let there be light !" and listening earth, 

With tree, and plant, and flowery sod, 
" In the beginning" sprang to birth, 

Obedient to the voice of God. 

Then, in his burning track, the sun 

Trod onward to his joyous noon, 
And in the heavens, one by one, 

Cluster'd the stars around the moon — 
In glory bathed, the radiant day 

Wore like a king his crown of light — 
And, girdled by the " Milky Way," 

How queenly look'd the star-gemm'd night 

Bursting from choirs celestial, rang 

Triumphantly the notes of song ; 
The morning-stars together sang 

In concert with the heavenly throng ; 
And earth, enraptured, caught the strain 

That thrill'd along her fields of air, 
Till every mountain-top and plain 

Flung back an answering echo there ! 

Creator ! let thy Spirit shine 

The darkness of our souls within, 
And lead us by thy grace divine 

From the forbidden paths of sin ; 
And may that voice which bade the earth 

From Chaos and the realms of Night, 
From doubt and darkness call us forth 

To God's own liberty and light ! 

Thus, made partakers of Tht love, 

The baptism of the Spirit ours, 
Our grateful hearts shall rise above, 

Renew'd in purposes and powers ; 
And songs of joy again shall ring 

Triumphant through the arch of heaven — 
The glorious songs which angels sing, 

Exulting over souls forgiven ! 



JUNE. 

June, with its roses — June ! 
The gladdest month of our capricious year, 
With its thick foliage and its sunlight clear ; 

And with the drowsy tune 
Of the bright leaping waters, as they pass 
Laughingly on amid the springing grass ! 

Earth, at her joyous coming, 
Smiles as she puts her gayest mantle on ; 
And Nature greets her with a benison ; 

While myriad voices, humming 
Their welcome song, breathe dreamy music round, 
Till seems the air an element of sound. 

The overarching sky 
Weareth a softer tint, a lovelier blue, 
As if the light of heaven were melting through 

Its sapphire home on high ; 
Hiding the sunshine in their vapoury breast, 
The clouds float on hke spirits to their rest. 

A deeper melody, 
Pour'd by the birds, as o'er their callow young 
Watchful they hover, to the breeze is flung — 

Gladsome, yet not of glee — 
Music heart-born, like that which mothers sing 
Above their cradled infants slumbering. 

On the warm hill-side, where 
The sunlight lingers latest, through the grass 
Peepeth the luscious strawberry ! As they pass, 

Young children gambol there, 
Crushing the gather'd fruit in playful mood, 
And staining their bright faces with its blood. 

A deeper blush is given 
To the half-ripen'd cherry, as the sun 
Day after day pours warmth the trees upon, 

Till the rich pulp is riven ; 
The truant schoolboy looks with longing eyes, 
And perils limb and neck to win the prize. 

The farmer, in his field, 
Draws the rich mould around the tender maiie ; 
While Hope, bright-pinion'd, points to coming days, 

When all his toil shall yield 
An ample harvest, and around his hearth 
There shall be laughing eyes and tones of mirth. 

Poised on his rainbow-wing. 
The butterfl} r , whose life is but an hour, 
Hovers coquettishlty from flower to flower, 

A gay and happy thing ; 
Born for the sunshine and the summer-day, 
Soon passing, like the beautiful, away ! 

These are thy pictures, June ! [ers ! 

Brightest of summer-months — thou month of flow- 
First-born of beauty, whose swift-footed hours 

Dance to the merry tune 
Of birds, and waters, and the pleasant shout 
Of childhood on the sunny hills peal'd out. 

I feel it were not wrong 
To deem thou art a type of heaven's clime, 
Only that there the clouds and storms of time 

Sweep not the sky along ; 
The flowers — air — beauty — music — all are thine, 
But brighter — purer — lovelier — more divine ! 



428 



WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH. 



SPRING. 

The sweet south wind, so long 
Sleeping in other climes, on sunny seas, 
Or dallying gayly with the orange-trees 

In the bright land of song, 
Wakes unto us, and laughingly sweeps by, 
Like a glad spirit of the sunlit sky. 

The labourer at his toil 
Feels on his cheek its dewy kiss, and lifts 
His open brow to catch its fragrant gifts — 

The aromatic spoil 
Borne from the blossoming gardens of the south — 
While its faint sweetness lingers round his mouth. 

The bursting buds look up 
To greet the sunlight, while it lingers yet 
On the warm hill-side, — and the violet 

Opens its azure cup 
Meekly, and countless wild flowers wake to fling 
Their earliest incense on the gales of spring. 

The reptile that hath lain 
Torpid so long within his wintry tomb, 
Pierces the mould, ascending from its gloom 

Up to the light again — 
And the lithe snake crawls forth from caverns chill, 
To bask as erst upon the sunny hill. 

Continual songs arise 
From universal nature — birds and streams 
Mingle their voices, and the glad earth seems 

A second Paradise ! 
Thrice blessed Spring ! — thou bearest gifts divine ! 
Sunshine, and song, and fragrance — all are thine. 

Nor unto earth alone — 
Thou hast a blessing for the human heart, 
Balm for its wounds and healing for its smart, 

Telling of Winter flown, 
And bringing hope upon thy rainbow wing, 
Type of eternal life — thrice-blessed Spring ! 



REQUIEM. 

The strife is o'er — Death's seal is set 

On ashy lip and marble brow; 
'Tis o'er, though faintly lingers yet 

Upon the cheek a life-like glow : 
The feeble pulse hath throbb'd its last, 

The aching head is laid at rest — 
Another from our ranks hath pass'd, 

The dearest and the loveliest ! 

Press down the e} T elids — for the light, 

Ere while so radiant underneath, 
Is gone forever from our sight, 

And darken'd by the" spoiler, Death : 
Press down the eyelids — who can bear 

To look beneath their fringed fold] 
And softly part the silken hair 

Upon the brow so deathly cold. 

The strife is o'er ! The loved of years, 
To whom our yearning hearts had grown, 

Hath left us, with life's gathering fears 
To struggle darkly and alone ; 



Gone, with the wealth of love which dwelt, 
Heart-kept, with holy thoughts and high- 
Gone, as the clouds of evening melt 
Beyond the dark and solemn sky. 

Yet mourn her not — the voice of wo 

Befits not this, her triumph-hour ; 
Let Sorrow's tears no longer flow, 

For life eternal is her dower ! 
Freed from the earth's corrupt control, 

The trials of a world like this, 
Joy ! for her disembodied soul 

Drinks at the fount of perfect bliss ! 



STANZAS, 

WRITTEN ON VISITING MY BIRTH-PLACE. 

We are scatter' d — we are scatter' d — 

Though a jolly band were we ! 
Some sleep beneath the grave-sod, 

And some are o'er the sea ; 
And Time hath wrought his changes 

On the few who yet remain ; 
The joyous band that once we were 

We cannot be again ! 

We are scatter' d — we are scatter'dl — 

Upon the village-green, 
Where we play'd in boyish recklessness, 

How few of us are seen ! 
And the hearts that beat so lightly 

In the joyousness of youth — 
Some are crumbled in the sepulchre, 

And some have lost their truth. 

The beautiful — the beautiful 

Are faded from our track ! 
We miss them and we mourn them, 

But we cannot lure them back ; 
For an iron sleep hath bound them 

In its passionless embrace — 
We may weep — but cannot win them 

From their dreary resting-place. 

How mournfully — how mournfully 

The memory doth come 
Of the thousand scenes of happiness 

Around our childhood's home ! 
A salutary sadness 

Is brooding o'er the heart, 
As it dwells upon remembrances 

From which it will not part. 

In memory — in memory — 

How fondly do we gaze 
Upon the magic loveliness 

Of childhood's fleeting days ! 
The sparkling eye — the thrilling tone — 

The smile upon its lips : 
They all have gone ! — but left a light 

Which time cannot eclipse. 

The happiness — the happiness 
Of boyhood must depart; 

Then comes the sense of loneliness 
Upon the stricken heart ! 



WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH. 



429 



We will not, or we cannot fling 
Its sadness from our breast, 

We cling to it instinctively, 
We pant for its unrest ! 

We are scatter'd — we are scatter'd ! 

Yet may we meet again 
In a brighter and a purer sphere, 

Beyond the reach of pain ! 
Where the shadows of this lower world 

Can never cloud the eye — 
When the mortal hath put brightly on 

Its immortality ! 



TO H. A. B. 

Deem not, beloved, that the glow 

Of love with youth will know decay; 
For, though the wing of Time may throw 

A shadow o'er our way ; 
The sunshine of a cloudless faith, 

The calmness of a holy trust, 
Shall linger in our hearts till death 

Consigns our "dust to dust!" 

The fervid passions of our youth — 

The fervour of affection's kiss — 
Love, born of purity and truth — 

All memories of bliss — 
These still are ours, while looking back 

Upon the past with dewy eyes ; 
0, dearest ! on life's vanish'd track 

How much of sunshine lies ! 

Men call us poor — it may be true 

Amid the gay and glittering crowd ; 
We feel it, though our wants are few, 

Yet envy not the proud. 
The freshness of love's early flowers, 

Heart-shelter'd through long years of want, 
Pure hopes and quiet joys are ours, 

That wealth could never grant. 

Something of beauty from thy brow, 

Something of lightness from thy tread, 
Hath pass'd — yet thou art dearer now 

Than when our vows were said : 
A softer beauty round thee gleams, 

Chasten' d by time, yet calmly bright ; 
And from thine eye of hazel beams 

A deeper, tenderer light : 

An emblem of the love which lives 

Through every change, as time departs ; 
Which binds our souls in one, and gives 

New gladness to our hearts ! 
Flinging a halo over life 

Like that which gilds the life beyond ! 
Ah ! well I know thy thoughts, dear wife ! 

To thoughts like these respond. 

The mother, with her dewy eye, 
Is dearer than the blushing bride 

Who stood, three happy years gone by, 
In beauty by my side ! 

Our Father, throned in light above, 
Hath bless'd us with a fairy child — 



A bright link in the chain of love — 
The pure and undefiled: 

Rich in the heart's best treasure, still 

With a calm trust we '11 journey on, 
Link'd heart with heart, dear wife ! until 

Life's pilgrimage be done ! 
Youth — beauty — passion — these will pass 

Like every thing of earth away — 
The breath-stains on the polish'd glass 

Less transient are than they. 

But love dies not — the child of God — 

The soother of life's many woes- 
She scatters fragrance round the sod 

Where buried hopes repose ! 
She leads us with her radiant hand 

Earth's pleasant streams and pasture by, 
Still pointing to a better land 

Of bliss beyond the sky ! 



TO . 

Hope, strewing with a liberal hand 

Thy pathway with her choicest flower?, 
Making the earth an Eden-land, 

And gilding time's departing hours ; 
Lifting the clouds from life's blue sky, 

And pointing to that sphere divine 
Where joy's immortal blossoms lie 

In the rich light of heaven — be thine ! 

Love, with its voice of silvery tone, 

Whose music melts upon the heart 
Like whispers from the world unknown, 

When shadows from the soul depart — 
Love, with its sunlight melting through 

The mists that over earth are driven, 
And giving earth itself the hue 

And brightness of the upper-heaven — 

Peace, hymning with her seraph-tones 

Amid the stillness of thy soul, 
Till every human passion owns 

Her mighty but her mild control — 
Devotion, with her lifted eye, 

All radiant with the tears of bliss, 
Looking beyond the bending sky 

To worlds more glorious than this — 

Duty, untiring in her toil 

Earth's parch'd and sterile wastes among- 
Zeal, delving in the rocky soil, 

With words of cheer upon her tongue — . 
Faith, with a strong and daring hand 

Rending aside the veil of heaven, 
And claiming as her own the land 

Whose glories to her view are given — 

These, with the many lights that shine 

Brightly life's pilgrim-path upon, — 
These, with the bliss they bring, be thine, 

Till purer bliss in heaven be won ; 
Till, gather'd with the loved of time, 

Whose feet the "narrow way" have trod, 
Thy soul shall drink of joys sublime, 

And linger in the smile of God ! 



430 



WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH. 



SONG. 

Believe not the slander, my clearest Katrine ! 

For the ice of the world hath not frozen my heart ; 
In my innermost spirit there still is a shrine 

Where thou art remember'd, all pure as thou art: 
The dark tide of years, as it bears us along, 

Though it sweep away hope in its turbulent flow, 
Cannot drown the low voice of Love's eloquent song, 

Nor chill with its waters my faith's early glow. 

True, the world hath its snares, and the soul may 
grow faint 

In its strifes with the follies and falsehoods of 
earth ; 
And amidst the dark whirl of corruption, a taint 

May poison the thoughts that are purest at birth. 
Temptations and trials, without and within, 

From the pathway of virtue the spirit may lure ; 
B ut the soul shall grow strong in its triumphs o'er sin, 

And the heart shall preserve its integrity pure. 

The finger of Love, on my innermost heart, 

Wrote thy name, adored ! when my feelings 
were young; 
And the record shall 'bide till my soul shall depart, 

And the darkness of death o'er my being be flung. 
Then believe not the slander that says I forget, 

In the whirl of excitement, the love that was thine ; 
Thou wert dear in my boyhood, art dear to me yet: 

For my sunlight of life is the smile of Katrine ! 



THE BROOK. 

" Like thee, stream ! to glide in solitude 
Noiselessly on, reflecting sun or star, 
Unseen by man, and from the great world's jar 

Kept evermore aloof: methinks 'twere good 

To live thus lonely through the silent lapse 
Of my appointed time." Not wisely said, 
Unthinking Quietist ! The brook hath sped 

Its course for ages through the narrow gaps 
Of rifted hills and o'er the reedy plain, 
Or mid the eternal forests, not in vain ; 

The grass more greenly groweth on its brink, 
And lovelier flowers and richer fruits are there, 

And of its crystal waters myriads drink, 
That else would faint beneath the torrid air. 



THE TIMES. 

Inaction now is crime. The old earth reels 
Inebriate with guilt; and Vice, grown bold, 
Laughs Innocence to scorn. The thirst for gold 

Hath made men demons, till the heart that feels 

The impulse of impartial love, nor kneels 
In worship foul to Mammon, is contemn'd. 
He who hath kept his purer faith, and stemm'd 

Corruption's tide, and from the ruffian heels 



Of impious tramplers rescued peril'd right, 
Is call'd fanatic, and with scoffs and jeers 
Maliciously assail'd. The poor man's tears 

Are unregarded ; the oppressor's might 

Revered as law ; and he whose righteous way 
Departs from evil, makes himself a prey. 



SOLITUDE. 

The ceaseless hum of men, the dusty streets, 
Crowded with multitudinous life ; the din 
Of toil and traffic, and the wo and sin, 
The dweller in the populous city meets : 
These have I left to seek the cool retreats 
Of the untrodden forest, where, in bowers 
Builded by Nature's hand, inlaid with flowers, 
And roof'd with ivy, on the mossy seats 
Reclining, I can while away the hours 
In sweetest converse with old books, or give 
My thoughts to Gon; or fancies fugitive 

Indulge, while over me their radiant showers 
Of rarest blossoms the old trees shake down, 
And thanks to Him my meditations crown ! 



RAIN. 



Dashing in big drops on the narrow pane, 
And making mournful music for the mind, 
While plays his interlude the wizard wind, 

I hear the ringing of the frequent rain : 
How doth its dreamy tone the spirit lull, 

Bringing a sweet forgetfulness of pain, 

While busy thought calls up the past again, 
And lingers mid the pure and beautiful 

Visions of early childhood ! Sunny faces 

Meet us with looks of love, and in the moans 
Of the faint wind we hear familiar tones, 

And tread again in old familiar places ! 

Such is thy power, O Rain ! the heart to bless, 

Wiling the soul away from its own wretchedness! 



THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 

Bold men were they, and true, that pilgrim-band, 
Who plough'd with venturous prow the stormy 
Seeking a home for hunted Liberty [sea, 

Amid the ancient forests of a land 

Wild, gloomy, vast, magnificently grand ! 

Friends, country, hallow'd homes they left, to be 

Pilgrims for Christ's sake, to a foreign strand — 
Beset by peril, worn with toil, yet free! 

Tireless in zeal, devotion, labour, hope ; 
Constant in faith ; in justice how severe ! 
Though fools deride and bigot-skeptics sneer, 

Praise to their names ! If call'd like tnem to cope, 
In evil times, with dark and evil powers, 
O, be their faith, their zeal, their courage ours! 



LOUIS LEGRAND NOBLE. 



[Born, 1812.] 



The Reverend Lorrs Legraxd Nobee was 
born in the valley of the Butternut Creek, in Otsego 
county, in New York. While he was a youth his 
father removed to the banks of the Wacamutquiock, 
now called the Huron, a small river in Michigan, and 
there, among scenes of remarkable wildness and 
beauty, he passed most of his time until the com- 
mencement of his college-life. In a letter to me, 
he says : " I was ever under a strong impulse to 
imbody in language my thoughts, feelings, fancies, 
as they sprung up in the presence of the rude but 



beautiful things around me : the prairies on fire, 
the sparkling lakes, the park-like forests, Indians 
on the hunt, guiding their frail canoes amid the 
rapids, or standing at night in the red light of their 
festival fires. I breathed the air of poetry." 

Mr. Noble was admitted to orders in the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church, in 1840. His principal 
poetical work is « Ne-mah-min," an Indian story, 
in three cantos, in which he has made good use 
of his experience of forest life. I believe he now 
resides hi the state of New York. 



THE CRIPPLE-BOY. 



Upon an Indian rush-mat, spread 
Where burr-oak boughs a coolness shed, 
Alone he sat, a cripple-child, 
With eyes so large, so dark and wild, 
And fingers, thin and pale to see, 
Locked upon his trembling knee. 
A-gathering nuts so blithe and gay, 
The children early tripp'd away ; 
And he his mother had besought 
Under the oak to have him brought ; — 
It was ever his seat when blackbirds sung 
The wavy, rustling tops among ; — 
They calm'd his pain,— they cheer' d his loneliness- 
The gales, — the music of the wilderness. 



Upon a prairie wide and wild 
Look'd off that suffering cripple-child : 
The hour was breezy, the hour was bright ;- 
O, 'twas a lively, a lovely sight ! 
An eagle sailing to and fro 
Around a flitting cloud so white — 
Across the billowy grass below 
Darting swift their shadows' light : — 
And mingled noises sweet and clear, 
Noises out of the ringing wood, 
Were pleasing trouble in his ear, 
A shock how pleasant to his blood : 
0, happy world ! — Beauty and Blessing slept 
On everything but him — he felt, and wept. 



Humming a lightsome tune of yore, 

Beside the open log-house door, 

Tears upon his sickly cheek 

Saw his mother, and so did speak ; — 

« What makes his mother's Hejtrt weep 1 

You and I the cottage keep ; 

They hunt the nuts and clusters blue, 

Weary lads for me and you ; 



And yonder see the quiet sheep ; — 

Why, now — I wonder why you weep !" — 

« Mother, I wish that I could be 

A sailor on the breezy sea !" 
" A sailor on the stormy sea, my son ! — 
What ails the boy! — what have the breezes done !" 

IV. 

" I do ! — I wish that I could be 

A sailor on the rolling sea : 

In the shadow of the sails 

I would ride and rock all day, 

Going whither blow the gales, 

As I have heard a seaman say : 

I would, I guess, come back again 

For my mother now and then ; 

And the curling fire so bright, 

When the prairie burns at night ; 

And tell the wonders I had seen 

Away upon the ocean green ;" — 
" Hush ! hush ! talk not about the ocean so ; 
Better at home a hunter hale to go." 



Between a tear and sigh he smiled ; 
And thus spake on the cripple-child : — 
"I would I were a hunter hale, 
Nimbler than the nimble doe, 
Bounding lightly down the dale, 
But that will never be, I know ! 
Behind the house the woodlands lie ; 
A prairie wide and green before ; 
And I have seen them with my eye 
A thousand times or more ; 
Yet in the woods I never stray'd, 
Or on the prairie-border play'd ; — 
0, mother dear, that I could only be 
A sailor-boy upon the rocking sea !" 

TT. 

You would have turned with a tear, 
A tear upon your cheek ; 
She wept aloud, the woman dear, 
And further could not speak : 

431 



432 



LOUIS LEGRAND NOBLE. 



The boy's it was a bitter lot 

She always felt, I trow ; 

Yet never till then its bitterness 

At heart had grieved her so. 

Nature had waked the eternal wish ; 

— Liberty, far and wide ! — 

And now, to win him health, with joy, 

She would that morn have died. 
Till noon, she kept the shady door-way chair, 
But never a measure of that ancient air. 

VII. 

Piped the March-wind ; pinch'd and slow 
The deer were trooping in the snow ; 
He. saw them out of the cottage-door, 
The lame boy sitting upon the floor : 
" Mother, mother, how long will it be 
Till the prairie go like a waving sea 1 
Will the bare woods ever be green, and when ? 
0, will it ever be summer again 1" — 
She look'd in silence on her child : 
That large e}"e, ever so dark and wild, 
O me, how bright ! — it may have been 
That he was grown so pale and thin. 
It came, the emerald month, and sweetly shed 
Beauty for grief, and garlands for the dead. 



TO A SWAN 

FLYING AT MIDNIGHT, IN THE VALE OF THE HURON.* 

Oh, what a still, bright night ! It is the sleep 
Of beauteous Nature in her bridal hall. 
Sec, while the groves shadow the shining lake, 
How the full-moon does bathe their melting green ! — 
I hear the dew-drop twang upon the pool. 
Hark, hark, what music ! from the rampart hills, 
How like a far-oif bugle, sweet and clear, 
It searches through the list'ning wilderness ! — 
A Swan — I know it by the trumpet-tone : 
Winging her pathless way in the cool heavens, 
Piping her midnight melody, she comes. 

Beautiful bird ! upon the dusk, still world 
Thou fallest like an angel — like a lone 
Sweet angel from some sphere of harmony. 
Where art thou, where 1 — no speck upon the blue 
My vision marks from whence thy music ranges. 
And why this hour — this voiceless hour — is thine, 
And thine alone, I cannot tell. Perchance, 
While all is hush and silent but the heart, 
E'en thou hast human sympathies for heaven, 
And singest yonder in the holy deep 
Because thou hast a pinion. If it be, 
Oh, for a wing, upon the aerial tide 
To sail with thee a minstrel mariner ! 

When to a rarer height thou wheelest up, 
Hast thou that awful thrill of an ascension — 

* The river Huron rises in the interior of Michigan, 
and flows into Lake Erie. Its clear waters gave it the 
name of its more mighty kinsman, Lake Huron. 



The lone, lost feeling in the vasty vault 1 
Oh, for thine ear, to hear the ascending tones 
Range the ethereal chambers ! — then to feel 
A harmony, while from the eternal depth 
Steals nought but the pure star-light evermore ! 
And then to list the echoes, faint and mellow, 
Far, far below, breathe from the hollow earth, 
For thee, soft, sweet petition, to return. 

And hither, haply, thou wilt shape thy neck ; 
And settle, like a silvery cloud, to rest, 
If thy wild image, flaring in the abyss, 
Startle thee not aloft. Lone aeronaut, 
That catchest, on thine airy looking-out, 
Glassing the hollow darkness, many a lake, 
Lay, for the night, thy lily bosom here. 
There is the deep unsounded for thy bath, 
The shallow for the shaking of thy quills, 
The dreamy cove, or cedar-wooded isle, 
With galaxy of water-lilies, where, 
Like mild Diana 'mong the quiet stars, 
'Neath over-bending branches thou wilt move, 
Till early warblers shake the crystal shower, 
And whistling pinions warn thee to thy voyage. 

But where art thou ? — lost, — spirited away 
To bowers of light by thy own dying whispers 1 
Or does some billow of the ocean-air, 
In its still roll around from zone to zone, 
All breathless to the emp} T rean heave thee 1 — 
There is a panting in the zenith — hush ! — 
The Swan — how strong her great wing times the 
She passes over high and quietly. [silence! — 

Now peals the living clarion anew ; 
One vocal showier falls in and fills the vale. 
What witchery in the wilderness it plays ! — 
Shrill snort the affrighted deer ; across the lake 
The loon, sole sentinel, screams loud alarm; — 
The shy fox barks ; — tingling in every vein 
I feel the wild enchantment; — hark! they come, 
The dulcet echoes from the distant hills, 
Like fainter horns responsive ; all the while, 
From misty isles, soft-stealing symphonies. 

Thou bright, swift river of the bark canoe, 
Threading the prairie-ponds of Washtenung, 
The day of romance wanes. Few summers more, 
And the long night will pass away unwaked, 
Save by the house-dog, or the village bell ; 
And she, thy minstrel queen, her ermine dip 
In lonelier waters. 

Ah ! thou wilt not stoop : 
Old Huron, haply, glistens on thy sky. 
The chasing moon-beams, glancing on thy plumes, 
Reveal thee now, a little beating blot, 
Into the pale Aurora fading. 

There ! 

Sinks gently back upon her flowery couch 
The startled Night ; — tinkle the damp wood-vaults 
While slip the dew-pearls from her leafy curtains. 
That last soft whispering note, how spirit-like ! 
While vainly yet mine ear another waits, 
A sad, sweet longing lingers in my heart. 



HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN 

[Born, 1813.] 



The Tuckermait family is of German origin, 
and the name is still common in the states of Ger- 
many, where, however, it is spelled with a double n. 
In a history of the country of Braunselweig and 
Luneberg, by William Hanemaki^, published 
in Luneberg in 1827, allusion is made to one of 
the kindred of the Tucormans in America, Pe- 
ter Tuckerman, who is mentioned as the last 
abbot of the monastery of Riddagshausen. He 
was chosen by the chapter in 1621, and at the 
same time held the appointment of superintendent 
or court preacher at Wolfenbuttill. By the moth- 
er's side, Mr. Tuckermax is of Irish descent. 
The name of his mother's family is Keating. In 
Macaulat's recent history he thus speaks of one 
of her ancestors, as opposing a military deputy 
of James II., in his persecution of the Protestant 
English in Ireland, in 1686: "On all questions 
which arose in the privy council, Tyrconnel 
showed similar violence and partiality. John 
Keating, chief-justice of the common pleas, a 
man distinguished for ability, integrity, and loyal- 
ty, represented with great mildness that perfect 
equality was all that the general could reasonably 
ask for his own church." Mr. Tuckerman is a 
nephew of the late Rev. Dr. Joseph Tuckerman, 
a memoir of whom has recently appeared in Eng- 
land, and who is generally known and honoured 
as the originator of the " Ministry at Large," an 
institution of Christian benevolence and eminent 
utility. His mother was also related to and partly 
educated with another distinguished Unitarian cler- 
gyman, Joseph Stevens Buckminster, whose 
memory is yet cherished in Boston by all lovers 
of genius and character. 

Mr. Tuckerman was born in Boston, on the 
twentieth of April, 1813. After preparing for col- 
lege, the state of his health rendered it necessary 
for him to relinquish his studies and seek a milder 
climate. In September, 1833, he sailed from New 
York for Havre, and after a brief sojourn in Paris, 
proceeded to Italy, where he remained until the 
ensuing summer. In the spring after his return 
he gave the results of his observation to the pub- 
lic, in a volume entitled " The Italian Sketch- 
Book," of which a third and considerably augment- 
ed edition appeared in New York in 1849. Mr. 
Tuckerman resumed and for a time prosecuted 
his academical studies, but again experiencing the 
injurious effects of a sedentary life and continued 
mental application, he embarked in October, 1837, 
for the Mediterranean ; visited Gibraltar and Malta, 
made the tour of Sicily, and after a winter's resi- 
dence in Palermo, crossed over to the continent. 
The winter of 1838 he passed chiefly in Florence, 
55 



and returned to the United States in the course of 
the ensuing summer. In 1839 he published " Isa- 
bel, or Sicily, a Pilgrimage," in which, under the 
guise of a romance, he gives many interesting 
descriptions and reflections incident to a tour in 
Sicily. This work was reprinted in London, in 
1846. In 1845 he finished his " Thoughts on the 
Poets," in which he has discussed the characteris- 
tics of the chief masters of modern song. This 
work has passed through several editions. In 1 848 
he gave to the press his " Artist Life, or Sketches 
of Eminent American Painters;" and, in 1849, 
" Characteristics of Literature, illustrated by the 
Genius of Distinguished Men." In the latter pro- 
duction he has evinced the variety of his learning 
and the catholicity of his literary sympathies in 
genial criticisms of types of the most diversified 
intellectual and moral qualities, purposes, and cre- 
ations. 

Mr. Tuckerman in these writings has evinced 
a taste delicately skilled in the niceties of language, 
and in pictorial and plastic art. There are few 
critics to whom we would submit with more con- 
fidence of a just opinion, any work composed with 
reference to the generally acknowledged canons of 
taste, in either construction, diction, or feeling. 
But his aesthetic conservatism is such that we 
would hesitate to consult him upon any new prin- 
ciple or upon any perfectly fresh creation, from a 
doubt whether his decision would be formed from 
a comparison with the models which are a law in 
experiment, or from an innate and perfectly inde- 
pendent sense of harmony in sublimity and beauty. 

Mr. Tuckerman's poems are numerous and in 
a great variety of measures ; they are for the most 
part expressions of graceful and romantic senti- 
ment, but are often fruits of his reflection and 
illustrations of his taste. The longest of them, 
" The Spirit of Poetry," was written in 1843, and 
embodies in highly-polished verse some of the finest 
specimens of his criticism. The little piece called 
" Mary" is a delightful echo of emotions as common 
as culture of mind and refinement of feeling ; and 
among his sonnets are some of the most perfect 
examples of that kind of writing that have been 
produced in this country. 

There is no collection of Mr. Tuckerman's 
poems, and besides the prose works which I have 
here noticed there are numerous essays by him scat- 
tered through the periodicals of the last ten or 
twelve years. Of his character as a critic and gen- 
eral essayist, some more particular observations may 
be found in my " Prose Writers of America." 

Mr. Tuckerman has resided for several years 
in the city of New York. 

2 453 



434 



HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. 



THE HOLY LAND. 

Through the warm noontide, I have roatn'd 
Where Cesar's palace-ruins lie, 

And in the Forum's lonely waste 
Oft listen'd to the night- wind's sigh. 

I've traced the moss-lines on the walls 
That Venice conjured from the sea, 

And seen the Colosseum's dust 
Before the breeze of autumn flee. 

Along Pompeii's lava-street, 

With curious eye, I've wander'd lone, 
And mark'd Segesta's temple-floor 

With the rank weeds of ages grown. 

I've clamber'd Etna's hoary brow, 

And sought the wild Campagna's gloom ; 

I've hail'd Geneva's azure tide, 

And snatch'd a weed from Virgil's tomb. 

Why all unsated yearns my heart 
To seek once more a pilgrim shrine] 

One other land I would explore — 
The sacred fields of Palestine. 

Oh, for a glance at those wild hills 

That round Jerusalem arise ! 
And one sweet evening by the lake 

That gleams beneath Judea's skies ! 

How antheni-like the wind must sound 
In meadows of the Holy Land — 

How musical the ripples break 

Upon the Jordan's moonlit strand ! 

Behold the dew, like angels' tears, 
Upon each thorn is gleaming now, 

Blest emblems of the crown of love 
There woven for the Sufferer's brow. 

Who does not sigh to enter Nain, 

Or in Capernaum to dwell; 
Inhale the breeze from Galilee, 

And rest beside Samaria's well 1 

Who would not stand beneath the spot 
Where Bethlehem's star its vigil kept'? 

List to the plash of Siloa's pool, 

And kiss the ground where Jesus wept? 

Gethsemane who would not seek, 

And pluck a lily by the way ! 
Through Bethany devoutly walk, 

And on the mount of Olives pray 1 

How dear were one repentant night 

Where Mary's tears of love were shed! 

How blest, beside the Saviour's tomb, 
One hour's communion with the dead ! 

What solemn joy to stand alone 

On Calvary's celestial height ! 
Or kneel upon the mountain-slope 

Once radiant with supernal light ! 

I cannot throw my staff aside, 
Nor wholly quell the hope divine 

That one delight awaits me yet — 
A pilgrimage to Palestine. 



TO AN ELM. 

Bravely thy old arms fling 
Their countless pennons to the fields of air, 

And, like a sylvan king, 
Their panoply of green still proudly wear. 

As some rude tower of old, 
Thy massive trunk still rears its rugged form, 

With limbs of giant mould, 
To battle sternly with the winter storm 

In Nature's mighty fane, 
Thou art the noblest arch beneath the sky ; 

How long the pilgrim train 
That with a benison have pass'd thee by ! 

Lone patriarch of the wood ! 
Like a true spirit thou dost freely rise, 

Of fresh and dauntless mood, 
Spreading thy branches to the open skies. 

The locust knows thee well, 
And when the summer-days his notes prolong, 

Hid in some leafy ceil, 
Pours from thy world of green his drowsy song 

Oft, on a morn in spring, 
The yellow-bird will seek thy waving spray, 

And there securely swing, 
To whet his beak, and pour his blithesome lay. 

How bursts thy monarch wail, 
When sleeps the pulse of Nature's buoyant life 

And, bared to meet the gale, 
Wave thy old branches, eager for the strife ! 

The sunset often weaves 
Upon thy crest a wreath of splendour rare, 

While the fresh-murmuring leaves 
Fill with cool sound the evening's sultry air. 

Sacred thy roof of green 
To rustic dance, and childhood's gambols free : 

Gay youth and age serene 
Turn with familiar gladness unto thee. 

O, hither should we roam, 
To hear Truth's herald in the lofty shade ; 

Beneath thy enierald dome 
Might Freedom's champion fitly draw his blade. 

With blessings at thy feet, 
Falls the worn peasant to his noontide rest; 

Thy verdant, calm retreat 
Inspires the sad and soothes the troubled breast. 

When, at the twilight hour, 
Plays through thy tressil crown the sun's last gleam, 

Under thy ancient bower 
The schoolboy comes to sport, the bard to dream. 

And when the moonbeams fall 
Through thy broad canopy upon the grass, 

Making a fairy hall, 
As o'er the sward the flitting shadows pass — 

Then lovers haste to thee, 
Wilh hearts that tremble like that shifting light : 

To them, O brave old tree, 
Thou art Joy's shrine — a temple of delight! 



HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. 



435 



MARY. 

What though the name is old and oft repeated, 

What though a thousand beings bear it now, 
And true hearts oft the gentle word have greeted — 

What though 'tis hallow'd by a poet's vow 1 
We ever love the rose, and yet its blooming 

Is a familiar rapture to the eye ; 
And yon bright star we hail, although its looming 

Age after age has lit the northern sky. 

As starry beams o'er troubled billows stealing, 

As garden odours to the desert blown, 
In bosoms faint a gladsome hope revealing, 

Like patriot music or affection's tone — 
Thus, thus, for aye, the name of Mary spoken 

By lips or text, with magic-like control, 
The course of present thought has quickly broken, 

And stirr'd the fountains of my inmost soul. 

The sweetest tales of human weal and sorrow, 

The fairest trophies of the limner's fame, 
To my fond fancy, Mary, seem to borrow 

Celestial halos from thy gentle name : 
The Grecian artist glean'd from many faces, 

And in a perfect whole the parts combined, 
So have I counted o'er dear woman's graces 

To form the Mary of my ardent mind. 

And marvel not I thus call my ideal — 

We inly paint as we would have things be — 
The fanciful springs ever from the real, 

As Aphrodite rose from out the sea. 
Who smiled upon me kindly day by day, 

In a far land where I was sad and lone 1 
Whose presence now is my delight away 1 

Both angels must the same bless'd title own. 

What spirits round my weary way are flying, 

What fortunes on my future life await, 
Like the mysterious hymns the winds are sighing, 

Are all unknown — in trust I bide my fate ; 
But if one blessing I might crave from Heaven, 

'T would be that Mary should my being cheer, 
Hang o'er me when the chord of life is riven, 

Be my dear household word, and my last accent 
here. 



"YOU CALL US INCONSTANT." 

You call us inconstant — you say that we cease 
Our homage to pay, at the voice of caprice ; 
That we dally with hearts till their treasures are ours, 
As bees drink the sweets from a cluster of flowers ; 
For a moment's refreshment at love's fountain stay, 
Then turn, with a thankless impatience, away. 

And think you, indeed, we so cheerfully part 
With hopes that give wings to the o'erwearied heart, 
And throw round the future a promise so bright 
That life seems a glory, and time a delight? 
From our pathway forlorn can we banish the dove, 
And yield without pain the enchantments of love ] 

You know not how chill and relentless a wave 
Reflection will cast o'er the soul of the brave — 
How keenly the clear rays of duty will beam, 
And startle the heart from its passionate dream, 



To tear the fresh rose from the garland of youth, 
And lay it with tears on the altar of truth 1 

We pass from the presence of beauty, to think — 
As the hunter will pause on the precipice brink — ■ 
" For me shall the bloom of the gladsome and fair 
Be wasted away by the fetters of care 1 
Shall the old, peaceful nest, for my sake be forgot, 
And the gentle and free know a wearisome lot 1 

" By the tender appeal of that beauty, beware 
How you woo her thy desolate fortunes to share ! 
O pluck not a lily so shelter' d and sweet, 
And bear it not off from its genial retreat. 
Enrich'd with the boon thy existence would be, 
But hapless the fate that unites her to thee !" 

Thus, dearest, the spell that thy graces entwined, 
No fickle heart breaks, but a resolute mind ; 
The pilgrim may turn from the shrine with a smile, 
Yet, believe me, his bosom is wrung all the while, 
And one thought alone lends a charm to the past — 
That his love conquer'd selfishness nobly at last. 



GREENOUGH'S WASHINGTON. 

The quarry whence thy form majestic sprung 

Has peopled earth with grace, 
Heroes and gods that elder bards have sung, 

A bright and peerless race ; 
But from its sleeping veins ne'er rose before 

A shape of loftier name 
Than his, who Glory's wreath with meekness wore, 

The noblest son of Fame. 
Sheathed is the sword that Passion never stain'd ; 

His gaze around is cast, 
As if the joys of Freedom, newly-gain'd, 

Before his vision pass'd ; 
As if a nation's shout of love and pride 

With music fill'd the air, 
And his calm soul was lifted on the tide 

Of deep and grateful prayer ; 
As if the crystal mirror of his life 

To fancy sweetly came, 
With scenes of patient toil and noble strife, 

Undimm'd by doubt or shame ; 
As if the lofty purpose of his soul 

Expression would betray — 
The high resolve Ambition to control, 

And thrust her crown away ! 
Oh, it was well in marble firm and white 

To carve our hero's form, 
Whose angel guidance was our strength in fight, 

Our star amid the storm ! 
Whose matchless truth has made his name divine, 

And human freedom sure, 
His country great, his tomb earth's dearest shrine, 

While man and time endure ! 
And it is well to place his image there, 

Beneath the dome he blest ; 
Let meaner spirits who its councils share, 

Revere that silent guest ! 
Let us go up with high and sacred love 

To look on his pure brow, 
And as, with solemn grace, he points above, 

Renew the patriot's vow ! 



436 



HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. 



ALONE ONCE MORE. 

Alone once more ! — but with such deep emotion, 
Waking to life a thousand hopes and fears, 

Such wild distrust — such absolute devotion, 
My bosom seems a dreary lake of tears : 

Tears that stern manhood long restrain'd from gush- 
As mountains keep a river from the sea, [ing, 

Until Spring's floods, impetuously rushing, 
Channel a bed, and set its waters free ! 

What mockery to all true and earnest feeling, 
This fatal union of the false and fair! 

Eyes, lips, and voice, unmeasured bliss revealing, 
With hearts whose lightness fills us with despair ! 

O God ! some sorrows of our wondrous being 
A palient mind can partly clear away ; 

Ambition cools when fortune's gifts are fleeing, 
And men grow thoughtful round a brother's clay ; 

But to what end this waste of noble passion? 
This wearing of a truthful heart to dust — 

Adoring slaves of humour, praise, or fashion, 
The vain recipients of a boundless trust] 

Come home, fond heart, cease all instinctive plead- 
As the dread fever of insane desire, [ m g> 

To some dark gulf thy warm affections leading, 
When love must longsurvive, though faith expire! 

Though wonted glory from the earth will vanish, 
And life seem desolate, and hope beguile, 

Love's cherish'd dream learn steadfastly to banish, 
Till death thy spirit's conflict reconcile ! 

♦ 

SONNETS. 



What though our dream is broken? Yet again 

Like a familiar angel it shall bear 
Consoling treasures for these days of pain, 

Such as they only who have grieved can share ; 
As unhived nectar for the bee to sip, [brings, 

Lurks in each flower-cell which the spring-time 
As music rests upon the quiet lip, 

And power to soar yet lives in folded wings — 
So let the love on which your spirits glide 

Flow deep and strong beneath its bridge of sighs, 
No shadow resting on the latent tide 

Whose heavenward current baffles human eyes, 
Until we stand upon the holy shore, 
And realms it prophesied at length explore ! 



II. COURAGE AND PATIENCE. 

Courage and patience ! elements whereby 

My soul shall yet her citadel maintain, 
Baffled, perplex'd, and struggling oft to fly, 

Far, far above this realm of wasting pain — 
Come with your still and banded vigour now, 

Fill my sad breast with energy divine, 
Stamp a firm thought upon my aching brow, 

Make my impulsive visions wholly thine ! 
Freeze my pent tears, chill all my tender dreams, 

Brace my weak heart in panoply sublime, 
Till dwelling only on t^y martyr themes, 

And turning from the richest lures of time, 
Love, like an iceberg of the polar deep, 
In adamantine rest is laid asleep ! 



III. ALL HEARTS ARE NOT DISLOYAL. 

All hearts are not disloyal : let thy trust 

Be deep, and clear, and all-confiding still, 
For though Love's fruit turn on the lips to dust, 

She ne'er betrays her child to lasting ill: 
Through leagues of desert must the pilgrim go 

Ere on his gaze the holy turrets rise ; 
Through the long, sultry day the stream must flow 

Ere it can mirror twilight's purple skies. 
Fall back unscathed from contact with the vain, 

Keep thy robes white, thy spirit bold and free, 
And calmly launch Affection's bark again, 

Hopeful of golden spoils reserved for thee ! 
Though lone the way as that already trod, 
Cling to thine own integrity and God ! 



IV. LIKE A FAIR SEA. 

Like the fair sea that laves Italia's strand, 

Affection's flood is tideless in my breast; 
No ebb withdraws it from the chosen land, 

Haven'd too richly for enamour'd quest : 
Thus am I faithful to the vanish'd grace 

Embodied once in thy sweet form and name, 
And though love's charm no more illumes thy face, 

In Memory's realm her olden pledge I claim. 
It is not constancy to haunt a shrine 

From which devotion's lingering spark has fled ; 
Insensate homage only wreaths can twine 

Around the pulseless temples of the dead : 
Thou from thy better self hast madly flown, 
While to that self allegiance still I own. 



V. FREEDOM. 

Freedom ! beneath thy banner I was born — 

Oh let me share thy full and perfect life ! 
Teach me opinion's slavery to scorn, 

And to be free from passion's bitter strife ; 
Free of the world, a self-dependent soul . 

Nourish'd by lofty aims and genial truth, 
And made more free by Love's serene control, 

The spell of beauty and the hopes of youth. 
The liberty of Nature let me know, 

Caught from her mountains, groves, and crystal 
streams, 
Her starry host, and sunset's purple glow, 

That woo the spirit with celestial dreams, 
On Fancy's wing exultingly to soar, 
Till life's harsh fetters clog the heart no more ! 



VI. DESOLATION. 

Think ye the desolate must live apart, 

By solemn vows to convent-walls confined ? 
Ah ! no ; with men may dwell the cloister'd heart, 

And in a crowd the isolated mind ; 
Tearless behind the prison-bars of fate, 

The world sees not how sorrowful they stand, 
Gazing so fondly through the iron grate, 

Upon the promised, yet forbidden land ; 
Patience, the shrine to which their bleeding feet, 

Day after day, in voiceless penance turn ; 
Silence, the holy cell and calm retreat 

In which unseen their meek devotions burn ; 
Life is to them a vigil that none share, 
Their hopes a sacrifice, their love a prayer. 



HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. 



437 



LUNA: AN ODE. 

The south wind hath its balm, the sea its cheer, 
And autumn woods their bright and myriad hues ; 
Thine is a joy that love and faith endear, 
And awe subdues: 
The wave-toss'd seamen and the harvest crew, 
When on their golden sheaves the quivering dew 
Hangs like pure tears — all fear beguile, 
In glancing from their task to thy maternal smile ! 
The mist of hilltops undulating wreathes, 
At thy enchanting touch, a magic woof, 
And curling incense fainter odour breathes, 
And in transparent clouds hangs round the vaulted 
Huge icebergs, with their crystal spires [roof. 

Slow heaving from the northern main, 
Like frozen monuments of high desires 
Destin'd to melt in nothingness again — 
Float in thy mystic beams, 
As piles aerial down the tide of dreams ! 

A sacred greeting falls 
With thy mild presence on the ruin'd fane, 
Columns time-stain'd, dim frieze, and ivied walls, 
As if a fond delight thou didst attain 
To mingle with the Past, 
And o'er her trophies lone a holy mantle cast ! 
Along the billow's snowy crest 
Thy beams a moment rest, 
And then in sparkling mirth dissolve away ; 
Through forest boughs, amid the wither'd leaves, 
Thy light a tracery weaves, 
And on the mossy clumps its rays fantastic play. 
With thee, ethereal guide, 
What reverent joy to pace the temple floor, 
And watch thy silver tide 
O'er statue, tomb, and arch, its solemn radiance pour! 
Like a celestial magnet thou dost sway 

The untamed waters in their ebb and flow, 
The maniac raves beneath thy pallid ray, 
And poet's visions glow. 
Madonna of the stars ! through the cold prison-grate 
Thou stealest, like a nun on mercy bent, 

To cheer the desolate, [spent ! 

And usher in Grief's tears when her mute pang is 
I marvel not that once thy altars rose 
Sacred to human woes, 
And nations deem'd thee arbitress of Fate, 
To whom enamor'd virgins made their prayer, 
Or widows in their first despair, 
And wistful gazed upon thy queenly state, 
As, with a meek assurance, gliding by, 

In might and beauty unelate, 
Into the bridal chambers of the sky ! 
And less I marvel that Endymion sigh'd 

*To yield his spirit unto thine, 
And felt thee soul-allied, 
Making his being thy receptive shrine ! 

A lofty peace is thine ! — the tides of life 
Flow gently when thy soothing orb appears, 
And Passion's fever'd strife [spheres ! 

From thy chaste glow imbibes the calmness of the 
twilight glory ! that doth ne'er awake 
Exhausting joy, but evenly and fond 
Allays the immortal thirst it cannot slake, 
And heals the chafing of the work-day bond ; 



Give me thy patient spell ! — to bear 

With an unclouded brow the secret pain 
(That floods my soul as thy pale beams the air) 
Of hopes that Reason quells, for Love to wake again! 



TASSO TO LEONORA. 

If to love solitude because my heart 

May undisturbed upon thy image dwell, 
And in the world to bear a cheerful part 

To hide the fond thoughts that its pulses swell ; 
If to recall with credulous delight 

Affection' s faintest semblances in thee, 
To feel thy breath upon my cheek at night, 

And start in anguish that it may not be ; 
If in thy presence ceaselessly to know 

Delicious peace, a feeling as of wings, 
Content divine within my bosom glow, 

A noble scorn of all unworthy things — 
The quiet bliss lhat fills one's natal air, 

When once again it fans the wanderer's brow, 
The conscious spirit of the good and fair — 

The wish to be forever such as now ; 
If in thy absence still to feel thee nigh, 

Or with impatient longings waste the day, 
If to be haunted by thy love-lit eye — 
If for thy good devotedly to pray ; 

And chiefly sorrow that but half reveal'd 
Can be the tenderness that in me lies, 

That holiest pleasure must be all conceal'd — 
Shrinking from heartless scoff or base surmise ; 
If, as my being's crowning grace, to bless 

The hour we recognised each other's truth, 
And with calm joy unto my soul confess 

That thou hast realized the dreams of youth — 
My spirit's mate, long cherish'd, though unknown, 

Friend of my heart bestow'd on me by God, 
At whose approach all visions else have flown 

From the vain path which I so long have trod ; 
If from thy sweet caress to bear new life 

As one possess'd by a celestial spell, 
That armeth me against all outward strife, 

And ever breathes the watchword — all is well ; 
If with glad firmness, casting doubt aside, 

To bare my heart to thee without disguise, 
And yield it up as to my chosen bride, 

Feeling that life vouchsafes no dearer prize; 
If thus to blend my very soul with thine 

By mutual consecration, watching o'er 
The hallow'd bond with loyalty divine — 

If this be love, — I love forevermore ! 



FROM THE SPIRIT OF POETRY. 

THE LAW OF BEAUTY. 

Read the great law in Beauty's cheering reign, 
Blent with all ends through matter's wide domain ; 
She breathes Hope's language, and with boundless 
range [change, 

Sublimes all forms, smiles through each subtle 
And with insensate elements combined 
Ordains their constant ministry to mind. 
The breeze awoke to waft the feather'd seed, 
And the cloud-fountains with their dew to feed, 



438 



HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. 



Upon its many errands might have flown, 
Nor woke one river song or forest moan, 
Stirr'd not the grass, nor the tall grain have bent, 
Like shoreless billows tremulously spent ; 
Frost could the bosom of the lake have glass'd, 
Nor paused to paint the woodlands as it pass'd; 
The glossy seabird and the brooding dove 
Might coyly peck with twinkling eye of love, 
Nor catch upon their downy necks the dyes, 
So like the mottled hues of summer skies : 
Mists in the west could float, nor glory wear, 
As if an angel's robes were streaming there ; 
The moon might sway the tides, nor yet impart 
A solemn light to tranquillize the heart, 
And leagues of sand could bar the ocean's swell, 
Nor yield one crystal gleam or pearly shell. 
The very sedge lends music to the blast, 
And the thorn glistens when the storm is past; 
Wild flowers nestle in the rocky cleft, 
Moss decks the bough of leaf and life bereft, 
O'er darkest clouds the moonbeams brightly steal, 
The rainbow's herald is the thunder's peal ; 
Gay are the weeds that strew the barren shore, 
And anthem-like the breaker's gloomy roar. 
As love o'er sorrow spreads her genial wings 
The ivy round a fallen column clings, 
While on the sinking walls, where owlets cry, 
The weather stains in tints of beauty lie. 
The wasting elements adorn their prey 
And throw a pensive charm around decay; 
Thus ancient limners bade their canvas glow, 
And group'd sweet cherubs o'er a martyr's wo. 



COM) M BUS. 

Heroic guide ! whose wings are never furl'd, 
By thee Spain's voyager sought another world; 
What but poetic impulse could sustain 
That dauntless pilgrim on the dreary main'? 
Day after day his mariners protest, 
And gaze with dread along the pathless west; 
Beyond that realm of waves, untrack'd before, 
Thy fairy pencil traced the promised shore, 
Through weary storms and faction's fiercer rage, 
The scoffs of ingrates and the chills of age, 
Thy voice renewed his earnestness of aim, 
And whisper'd pledges of eternal fame; 
Thy cheering smile atoned for fortune's frown, 
And made his fetters garlands of renown. 



FLORENCE. 

Princes, when softened in thy sweet embrace, 
Yearn for no conquest but the realm of grace, 
And thus redeemed, Lorenzo's fair domain 
Smiled in the light of Art's propitious reign. 
Delightful Florence ! though the northern gale 
Will sometimes rave around thy lovely vale, 
Can I forget how softly Autumn threw 
Beneath thy skies her robes of ruddy hue, 
Through what long days of balminess and peace, 
From wintry bonds spring won thy mild release? 
Along the Amo then I loved to pass, 
And watch the violets peeping from the grass, 
Mark the gray kine each chestnut, grove between, 
Startle the pheasants on the lawny green, 



Or down long vistas hail the mountain snow, 
Like lofty shrines the purple clouds below. 
Within thy halls, when veil'd the sunny rays, 
Marvels of art await the ardent gaze, 
And liquid words from lips of beauty start, 
With social joy to warm the stranger's heart. 
How beautiful at moonlight's hallow'd hour, 
Thy graceful bi'idges, and celestial tower ! 
The girdling hills enchanted seem to hang 
Round the fair scene whence modern genius sprang 
O'er the dark ranges of thy palace walls 
The silver beam on dome and cornice falls ; 
The statues cluster'd in thy ancient square, 
Like mighty spirits print the solemn air ; 
Silence meets beauty with unbroken reign, 
Save when invaded by a choral strain, 
Whose distant cadence falls upon the ear, 
To fill the bosom with poetic cheer ! 



POETRY IMMORTAL. 

For fame life's meaner records vainly strive, 
While, in fresh beauty, thy high dreams survive. 
Still Vesta's temple throws its classic shade 
O'er the bright foam of Tivoli's cascade, 
And to one Venus still we bow the knee, 
Divine as if just issued from the sea; 
In fancy's trance, yet deem on nights serene 
We hear the revels of the fairy queen, 
That Dian's smile illumes the marble fane, 
And Ceres whispers in the rustling grain, 
That Ariel's music has not died away, 
And in his shell still floats the Culprit Fay. 
The sacred beings of poetic birth 
Immortal live to consecrate the earth. 
San Marco's pavement boasts no doge's tread, 
And all its ancient pageantry has fled ; 
Yet, as we muse beneath some dim arcade, 
The mind's true kindred glide from ruin's shade; 
In every passing eye that sternly beams 
We start to meet the Shy lock of our dreams ; 
Each maiden form, where virgin grace is seen, 
Crosses our path with Portia's noble mien ; 
While Desdemona, beauteous as of yore, 
Yields us the smile that once entranced the Moor. 
How Scotland's vales are peopled to the heart 
By her bold minstrel's necromantic art ! 
Along this fern moved Jeannie's patient feet, 
Where hangs yon mist rose Ellangowan's seat, 
Here the sad bride first gave her love a tongue, 
And there the chief's last shout of triumph rung; 
Beside each stream, down every glen they throng, 
The cherish'd offspring of creative song! 
Long ere brave Nelson shook the Baltic shore, 
The bard of Avon hallow'd Elsinore: 9 

Perchance when moor'd the fleet, awaiting day, 
To fix the battle's terrible array, 
Some pensive hero, musing o'er the deep, 
So soon to fold him in its dreamless sleep, 
Heard the Dane's sad and self-communing tone 
Blend with the water's melancholy moan, 
Recall'd, with prayer and awe-suspended breath, 
His wild and solemn questionings of death, 
Or caught from land Ophelia's dying song, 
Swept by the night-breeze plaintively along ! 
2q2 



HENRY B. HIRST. 

[Bom, 1817.] 



Mb. Hibst was born in Philadelphia, on the 
twenty-third day of August, 1817. His father, 
Thomas Hibst, was a reputable merchant of 
that city, and held in high respect. When only 
eight years old be entered the law office of his 
brother, William L. Hibst, Esq., and at the age 
of eighteen he was registered as a student. His 
professional studies were now interrupted for a 
long period, and he engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits, but at the age of twenty-five he made his 
application for admission, and graduated witb 
the highest honors in the early part of 1843, and 
is now in successful practice at the Philadelphia 
Bar. 

Mr. Hibst's first attempts at poetry, he informs 
me, were in his twenty-first or twenty-second 
year, about which time he became a contributor 
to Graham's Magazine. His poems were very 
successful and extensively copied. In 1845 he 
published in Boston his first volume, " The Com- 
ing of the Mammoth, the Funeral of Time, and 
other Poems," a book which certainly received all 
the praises to which it was entitled. It was not 
without graceful fancies, but its most striking char- 
acteristics were a clumsy extravagance of inven- 
tion, and a vein of sentiment neither healthful nor 
poetical. It had the merit, however, of musical 
though somewhat mechanical versification, and its 
reception was such as to encourage the author to 
new and more ambitious efforts. 

In the summer of 1848 he published " Endym- 
ion, a Tale of Greece," an epic poem, in four can- 
tos. It was a long-meditated and carefully elabo- 
rated production, some parts of which had been 
kept the full Horatian period. It may be regard- 
ed, therefore, as an exhibition of his best abilities. 
He evinced a certain boldness in subjecting him- 
self to a comparison with Keats, whose fine fan- 
cies, woven about it, will share the immortality of 
the Grecian fable. In the finish and musical flow 
of his rhythm, and in the distinctness and just pro- 
portion with which he has told his story, he has 
equalled Keats : but in nothing else. With pas- 
sages of graphic and beautiful description, and a 
happy clearness in narrative, the best praise of 
Mr. Hibst's performance is, that it is a fine piece 
of poetical rhetoric. There is not much thought 
in the poem, and where there is any that arrests 
attention, it whispers of familiar readings. 

The fault of the book is the want of a poetical del- 
icacy of feeling ; it is not classical ; it is not beauti- 
ful; it is merely sensual; there is none of the diviner 
odour of poetry about it. Mr. Htbst's "chaste Di- 
ana" is a strumpet. The metre, though inappropri- 
ate, to such a poem, is unusual, and is managed by 
Mr. Hibst with singular skill. To illustrate his 
mastery of versification, and at the same time to 



present one of the most attractive passages of the 
poem, the following lines are quoted from the 
first canto : 

Through a deep dell 'with mossy hemlocks girded — 
A dell by many a sylvan Dryad prest, — 
Which Latmos' lofty crest 
Flung half in shadow— where the red deer herded — 
While mellow murmurs shook the forests gray — 
Endymion took his way 

Mount Latmos lay before him. Gently gleaming, 
A roseate halo from the twilight dim 
Hung round its crown. To him 
The rough ascent was light ; for, far off, beaming, 
Orion rose— and Sirius, like a shield, 
Shone on the azure field 

At last he gain'd the top, and, crown'd with splendour, 
The moon, arising from the Latmian sea, 
Stepp'd o'er the heavenly lea, 
Flinging her misty glances, meek and tender 
As a young virgin's, o'er his marble brow 
That glisten'd with their glow. 

Beside him gush'd a spring that in a hollow 
Had made a crystal lake, by which he stood 
To cool his heated blood — 
His blood yet fever'd, for the fierce Apollo 

Throughout the long, the hot, the tropic day, 
Embraced him with his ray. 

Beside the lake whose waves were glassily gleaming, 
A willow stood in Dian's rising rays, 
And from the woodland ways 
Its feather'd, lance-like leaves were gently streaming 
Along the water, with their lucent tips 
Kissing its silver lips. 

And still the moon arose, serenely hovering, 
Dove-like, above the horizon. Like a queen 
She walk'd in light between 
The stars — her lovely handmaids — softly covering 
Valley and wold, and mountain-side and plain. 
With streams of lucid rain. 

Endymion watch'd her rise, his bosom burning 

With princely thoughts ; for though a shepherd's son. 
He felt that fame is won 
By high aspirings ; and a lofty yearning, 

From the bright blossoming of his boyish days, 
Made his deeds those of praise. 

Like her's, his track was tranquil : he had gather'd 
By slow degrees the glorious, golden lore, 
Hallowing his native shore ; 
And when at silent eve his flock was tether'd, 

He read the stars, and drank, as from a stream, 
Great knowledge from their gleam. 

And so he grew a dreamer— one who, panting 
For shadowy objects, languish' d like a bird 
That, striving to be heard 
Above its fellows, fails, the struggle haunting 
Its memory ever, for ever the strife pursuing 
To its own dark undoing. 

In the summer of 1849 Mr. Hibst published 
in Boston a third volume, entitled " The Penance 
of Roland, a Romance of the Peine Forte et Dure, 
and other Poems," from which the extracts in the 
next pages are copied. Its contents are all well 
versified, and their rhetoric is generally- poetical. 

439 



440 



HENRY B. HIRST. 



THE LAST TILT. 

At twilight, through the shadow, fled 

An ancient, war-worn knight, 
Array'd in steel, from head to heel, 
And on a steed of white ; 
And, in the knight's despite, 
The horse pursued his flight : 
For the old man's cheek was pale, 
And his hands strove at the rein, 
With the clutch of phrensied pain ; 
And his courser's streaming mane 
Swept, dishevell'd, on the gale. 
" Dong — dong !" And the sound of a bell 
Went wailing awav over meadow and mere — 
" Seven !" 
Counted aloud by the sentinel clock 

On the turret of Time ; and the regular beat 
Of his echoing feet 
Fell, like lead, on the ear — 
As he left the dead Hour on its desolate bier. 

The old knight heard the mystic clock ; 

And the sound, like a funeral-bell, 
Rang in his ears till their caverns were full 
Of the knoll of the desolate knell. 
And the steed, as aroused by a spell, 
Sprang away with a withering yell, 
While the old man strove again, 
But each time with feebler force, 
To arrest the spectral horse 
In its mad, remorseless course, 
But, alas ! he strove in vain. 
" Dong — dong !" And the sound of a bell 
Went wailing away over meadow and mere — 
"Eight!" 
Counted aloud by the sentinel clock 

On the turret of Time ; and the regular beat 
Of his echoing feet 
Fell, like lead, on the ear — 
As he left the dead Hour on its desolate bier. 

The steed was white, and gaunt, and grim, 

With lidless, leaden eyes, 
That burn'd with the lurid, livid glare 
Of the stars of Stygian skies; 
And the wind, behind, with sighs, 
Mimick'd his maniac cries, 
While through the ebony gloom, alone, 
Wan-visaged Saturn gazed 
On the warrior — unamazed — 
On the steed whose eyeballs blazed 
With a lustre like his own. 
" Dong — dong !" And the sound of a bell 
Went wailing away over meadow and mere — 
"Nine!" 
Counted aloud by the sentinel clock 

On the turret of Time ; and the regular beat 
Of his echoing feet 
Fell, like lead, on the ear — 
As he left the dead Hour on its desolate bier. 

Athwart a swart and shadowy moor 
The struggling knight was borne, 

And far away, before him, gleam'd 
A light like the gray of morn ; 



While the old man, weak, forlorn, 
And wan, and travel-worn, 

Gazed, mad with deathly fear : 
For he dream'd it was the day, 
Though the dawn was far away, 
And he trembled with dismay 

In the desert, dark and drear ! 

'< Dong — dong !" And the sound of a bell 
Went wailing away over meadow and mere- - 
"Ten!" 

Counted aloud by the sentinel clock 

On the turret of Time ; and the regular beat 
Of his echoing feet 

Fell, like lead, on the ear — 

As he left the dead Hour on its desolate bier. 

In casque and cuirass, white as snow, 
Came, merrily, over the wold, 

A maiden knight, with lance and shield, 
And a form of manly mould. 
And a beard of woven gold : 
When, suddenly, behold ! — 

With a loud, defiant cry, 

And a tone of stern command, 

The ancient knight, with lance in hand, 

Rush'd, thundering, over the frozen land, 

And bade him " Stand, or die !" 

" Dong— dong !" And the sound of a bell 
Went wailing away over meadow and mere — 
"Eleven!" 

Counted aloud by the sentinel clock 

On the turret of Time ; and the regular beat 
Of his echoing feet 

Fell, like lead, on the ear — 

As he left the dead Hour on its desolate bier. 

With his ashen lance in rest, 

Career'd the youthful knight, 
With a haughty heart, and an eagle eye, 

And a visage burning bright — 

For he loved the tilted fight — 

And, under Saturn's light, 
With a shock that shook the world, 

The rude old warrior fell — and lay 

A corpse — along the frozen clay ! 

As with a crash the gates of day 
Their brazen valves unfurl'd. 

" Dong — dong !" And the sound of a bell 
Went wailing away over meadow and mere — 
" Twelve !" 

Counted aloud by the sentinel clock 

On the turret of Time ; and the regular beat 
Of his echoing feet 

Fell, like lead, on the ear — 

As he left the dead Year on his desolate bier ! 



BERENICE. 

I would that I could lay me at thy feet, 
And with a bosom, warm with rapture, greet 

The rose-like fragrance of thy odorous sighs, 

Drinking, with dazzled eyes, 
The radiant glory of a face 



HENRY B. HIRST. 



441 



Which, even in dreams, adorns the Italian skies 
Of passionate love — the Astarte of their space ! 

This, in some quiet, column'd chamber, where 

The glare of sunlight dies, yet all is light; 
With all around us ruddy, rich, and rare — 

Books red with gold, and mirrors diamond-bright, 
And choicest paintings, and rich flowers which bear 
Their beauty, bloom, and fragrance, day and night, 
And stately statues, white as gods, between 
The scarlet blossoms and the leaves of green, 
With all that Art creates, and Fancy rears, 
And Genius snatches from supernal spheres. 

All day, all day, dear love, would I lie there, 
With elbow sunk in some soft ottoman, 
Feeling far more than man, 
Breathing the fragrance of the enchanted air 
Swimming around thee ; while, with book in hand, 
I would unfold to thee the ancient sages — 
Poet's, like Chaucer's, quaint, delicious pages, 
And wander thoughtfully through the poet's land — 
Through it by night — a calm, unclouded night, 
Full of sweet dreams. 

By murmurous streams, 
Sparkling with starry gleams, 

We 'd pause, entranced by Dian's amber light, 
And watch the Nereid rising from the wave, 
Or see the Oread lave 

Her faultless feet in lucid ripples, white 
As Indian ivory with the milky ray, 
Trembling around their forms in liquid play. 

Then to some tall old wood, beneath old trees, 

Which, in the primal hours, 

Gave birth to flowers 
Fairer than thuse which jewell'd Grecian leas 
What time the Dryads woo'd the summer breeze. 
We'd seek some mossy bank, and sit, and scan 
The stars, forgetting earth and man, 
And all that is of earth, and watch the spheres, 
And dream we heard their music; and, with tears 
Born of our bliss, arise, and walk again, 
Languid with passion's epicurean pain. 

Treading the feather'd grasses, 

Through misty, moonlit passes, 
On, on, along some vernal, verdant plain 
Our steps should falter, while the linnet's strain 
Made music for our feet, and, keeping time, 
Our hearts replied with gentle chime, 
As our souls throbb'd responsive to the rhyme 
Of perfect love, which Nature murmur'd round, 
Making earth holy ground, 
And as the gods who ruled all things we saw. 

Then giving way to mad imaginings 
Born of the time and place — 
The perfume which pervaded space, 
The natural emotions of our race — 
We'd vow that love should be the only law 

Henceforth for earth ; that even the rudest things 
Should love and be beloved : while we, 
The Adam and Eve, should sit enthroned, and see 
All earth an Eden, and with thankful eyes 
Reverence God in our new paradise. 

56 



THE LOST PLEIAD. 

Beautiful sisters ! tell me, do you ever 

Dream of the loved and lost one, she who fell 
And faded in Love's turbid, crimson river ] 

The sacred secret tell. 
Calmly the purple heavens reposed around her, 

As, chanting harmonies, she danced along : 
Ere Eros in his silken meshes bound her, 
Her being pass'd in song. 

Once on a day she lay in dreamy slumber; 
Beside her slept her golden-tongued lyre ; 
And radiant visions — fancies without number — 

Fill'd breast and brain with fire. 
She dream'd ; and in her dreams saw bending o'er 
her 
A form her fervid fancy deified ; 
And, waking, view'd the noble one before her, 
Who woo'd her as his bride. 

What words, what passionate words he breathed, 
beseeching, 
Have long been lost in the descending years ; 
Nevertheless, she listen'd to his teaching, 

Smiling between her tears. 
And ever since that hour the happy maiden 
Wanders unknown of any one but Jove ; 
Regretting not the lost Olympian Aidenn 
In. the Elysium — Love ! 



NO MORE. 

No More — no more ! What vague, mysterious, 

Inexplicable terrors in the sound ! 

What soul-disturbing secrecies abound 
In those sad syllables ! and what delirious, 
Wild phantasies, what sorrowful and what serious 

Mysteries lie hid in them ! No More — No More ! 

Where is the sileut and the solemn shore, 
Wash'd by what soundless seas, where all imperious 
He reigns 1 And over what his awful reign 1 

Who questions, maddens ! what is veil'd in shade, 

Let sleep in shadow. When No More was made, 
Eternity felt his deity on the wane, 
And Zeus rose shrieking, Saturn-like and hoar, 
Before that dread Prometheus — No More ! 



ASTARTE. 

Thy lustre, heavenly star ! shines ever on me. 
I, trembling like Endymion over-bent 
By dazzling Dian, when with wonderment 
He saw her crescent light the Latmian lea : 
And like a Naiad's sailing on the sea, 

Floats thy fair form before me : the azure air 
Is all ambrosial with thy hyacinth hair : 
While round thy lips the moth in airy glee 
Hovers, and hums in dim and dizzy dreams, 

Drunken with odorous breath : thy argent eyes 
(Twin planets swimming through Love's lustrous 

skies) 
Are mirror'd in my heart's serenest streams — 
Such eyes saw Shakspere, flashing bold and bright, 
When queenly Egypt rode the Nile at night. 



C. P. CRANCH. 



[Born, 1813.] 



The Reverend C. P. Crakch is a son of Chief 
Justice Cranch, of Washington, and was born on 
the eighth of March, 1813, in Alexandria, District 
of Columbia. He was graduated at the Columbian 



College, Washington, in the summer of 1831, and 
afterward studied three years in the Divinity School 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts. A collection of his 
poems was published in ] 844. 



THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 

As"D is the harmony of heaven gone 1 
Hath it all died away, ere human ears 

Caught the faint closing hymn, far-off, and lone, — 
The music of the spheres ] 

Have the stars hush'd that glorious song of old, 
When the night shrunk to the far Occident, 

And morning gush'd in streaks of burning gold 
Up the grey firmament] 

Yon orbs that watch so fixedly above, 

Yon planets claiming with our own their birth, 

Are they all mute as through the abyss they move, 
Like our dim, silent earth ] 

And hath the sky, the deep, mysterious sky, 
No voices from amid yon circling throng ? 

Are there no thundering echoes where the high 
Procession rolls along ] 

Hath heaven rare changing tints, and doth it glow 

Full of high eloquence and poetry, 
And all that makes the love of beauty grow, 

And yet no harmony ] 

No music there, where music's font hath been — 
No sweet sounds, swelling dreamily and long, 

When night and silence listen to drink in 
The choral stream of song 1 

Is it a fable all of early time, 

That the young stars, as they leap'd by our earth, 
Rang sweet and loud a deep and voice-like chime, 

Ere the first soul had birth] 

And was the sage's thought a fiction too, 

That the crystalline spheres that closed us round, 

Muvmur'd from all their moving arches blue 
A never-ceasing sound ] 

Too fine and too sublime for mortal ears 
In our dull orb of clay — and this is why 

We never hear the music of the spheres 
Come pealing through the sky]* 

Were there no revelations from the deep, 
Unbroken stillness of yon glittering host, 

Murmuring on old Tradition's infant sleep, 
Like voice of heavenly ghost] 

* It was the notion of Pythagoras, I think, that the 
hoavens were composed of a series of crystal spheres, 
transparent and enclosed one within another, and that 
these moving against each other produced the most divine 
harmony conceivable, but that the reason it was not heard 
by mortals was, that it was too loud and sublime to be 
heard, and the ear too small to take cognisance of it. 



Did they not come to them who talk'd with God, 
In the cool hush of morning and of eve — 

Who fell in Eden — felt the Chastener's rod, 
And wander'd forth to grieve ] 

Did they not fall in choral symphony 

On the rapt wonder of the Nomad swain, 

As, stretch'd beside his flock, he raised his eye 
At midnight from the plain ] 

Did all the wise and holy men of old 

Watch by yon burning stars in vain, to claim 

That wisdom which to eye nor ear was told, 
Till Christ, the teacher, came ] 

If, ye orbs, ye never yet have spoken 
In language audible — still let me feel 

Your silent concord, o'er my heart unbroken, 
In holy influence steal ! 

And let me trace in all things beautiful 
A natural harmony, that soothes, upraises ; 

So it may wake a soul too mute and dull, 
To everlasting praises ! 



THE BLIND SEER. 

From morn till night the old man sitteth still ; 

Deep quench'd in darkness tie all earthly sights; 
He hath not known, since childhood sway'd his will, 

The outward shows of open-eyed delights. 

But in an inner world of thought he liveth, 
A pure, deep realm of praise and lowly prayer, 

Where faith from sight no pension e'er receiveth, 
But groweth only from the All-True and Fair. 

That Universal Soul, who is the being, 
The reason and the heart of men on earth, 

Shineth so broad o'er him, that, though not seeing, 
He walketh where the morning hath its birth. 

He travelleth where the upper springs flow on , 
He heareth harmonies from angel-choirs ; 

He seeth Uriel standing in the sun ; 

He dwelleth up among the heavenly fires. 

And yet he loveth, as we all do love, 

To hear the restless hum of common life ; 

Though planted in the spirit-soil above, 

His leaves and flowers do bud amid the strife 

Of all this weary world, and shine more fair 
Than sympathies which have no inward root, 

Which open fast, but shrink in bleaker air, 
And, dropping, leave behind no winter-fruit. 

442 



C. P. CRANCH. 



443 



But here are winter-fruits and blossoms too ; 

Those silver hairs o'er bended shoulders curl'd, 
That smile, that thought-fill'd brow, ope to the view 

Some symbol of the old man's inner world. 

0, who would love this wondrous world of sense, 
Though steep'd in joy and ruled by beauty's 
queen, 

If it were purchased at the dear expense 

Of losing all which souls like this have seen 1 

Nay, if we judged aright, this glorious all, 

Which fills like thought our never-doubting eyes, 

Might with its firm-built grandeur sink and fall 
Before one ray of soul-realities. 



THE HOURS. 

The hours are viewless angels, 

That still go gliding by, 
And bear each minute's record up 

To Him who sits on high. 

And we, who walk among them, 

As one by one departs, 
See not that they are hovering 

Forever round our hearts. 

Like summer-bees, that hover 

Around the idle flowers, 
They gather every act and thought, 

Those viewless angel-hours. 

The poison or the nectar 

The heart's deep flower-cups yield, 
A sample still they gather swift, 

And leave us in the field. 

And some flit by on pinions 

Of joyous gold and blue, 
And some flag on with drooping wings 

Of sorrow's darker hue. 

But still they steal the record, 

And bear it far away ; 
Their mission-flight by day or night 

No magic power can stay. 

And as we spend each minute 

That God to us hath given, 
The deeds are known before His throne, 

The tale is told in heaven. 

These bee-like hours we see not, 
Nor hear their noiseless wings ; 

We only feel, too oft, when flown, 
That they have left their stings. 

So, teach me, Heavenly Father, 

To meet each flying hour, 
That as they go they may not show 

My heart a poison-flower ! 

So, when death brings its shadows, 

The hours that linger last 
Shall bear my hopes on angel-wings, 

Unfetter'd by the past. 



STANZAS. 

Thought is deeper than all speech; 

Feeling deeper than all thought : 
Souls to souls can never teach 

What unto themselves was taught. 

We are spirits clad in veils : 
Man by man was never seen : 

All our deep communing fails 
To remove the shadowy screen. 

Heart to heart was never known : 
Mind with mind did never meet : 

We are columns left alone, 
Of a temple once complete. 

Like the stars that gem the sky, 
Far apart, though seeming near, 

In our light we scatter'd lie ; 
All is thus but starlight here. 

What is social company 

But a babbling summer-stream 1 
What our wise philosophy 

But the glancing of a dream? 

Only when the sun of love 

Melts the scatter'd stars of thought, 
Only when we live above 

What the dim-eyed world hath taught, 

Only when our souls are fed 

By the Fount which gave them birth, 
And by inspiration led 

Which they never drew from earth ; 

We, like parted drops of rain, 
Swelling till they meet and run, 

Shall be all absorb'd again, 
Melting, flowing into one. 



MY THOUGHTS. 

Manx are the thoughts that come to me 

In my lonely musing ; 
And they drift so strange and swift, 

There 's no time for choosing 
Which to follow, for to leave 

Any, seems a losing. 

When they come, they come in flocks, 

As on glancing feather, 
Startled birds rise one by one, 

In autumnal weather, 
Waking one another up 

From the sheltering heather. 

Some so merry that I laugh, 
Some are grave and serious, 

Some so trite, their last approach 
Is enough to weary us : 

Others flit like midnight ghosts, 
Shrouded and mysterious. 

There are thoughts that o'er me steal, 
Like the day when dawning ; 

Great thoughts wing'd with melody, 
Common utterance scorning, 

Moving in an inward tune. 
And an inward morning. 



444 



C. P. CRANCH. 



Some have dark and drooping wings, 

Children all of sorrow; 
Some are as gay, as if to-day 

Could see no cloudy morrow, 
And yet like light and shade they each 

Must from the other borrow. 

One by one they come to me 

On their destined mission ; 
One by one I see them fade 

With no hopeless vision ; 
For they 've led me on a step 

To their home Elysian. 



BEAUTY. 

Sat, where does beauty dwell 1 
I gazed upon the dance, where ladies bright 

Were moving in the light 
Of mirrors and of lamps. With music and with 
flowers, 
Danced on the joyous hours ; 
And fairest bosoms 
Heaved happily beneath the winter-roses' blossoms : 
And it is well ; 
Youth hath its time, 
Merry hearts will merrily chime. 
The forms were fair to see, 

The tones were sweet to the ear, 
But there's beauty more rare to me, 
That beauty was not here. 

I stood in the open air, 

And gazed on nature there. 

The beautiful stars were over my head, 

The crescent moon hung over the west : 
Beauty o'er river and hill was spread, 

Wooing the feverish soul to rest : 
Beauty breathed in the summer-breeze, 
Beauty rock'd the whispering trees, 
Was mirror'd in the sleeping billow, 
Was bending in the swaying willow, 
Flooding the skies, bathing the earth, 
Giving all lovely things a birth : 
All — all was fair to see — 

All was sweet to the ear : 
But there's beauty more fair to me — 

That beauty was not here. 

I sat in my room alone. 
My heart began a tone : 
Its soothing strains were such 
As if a spirit's touch 
Were visiting its chords. 
Soon it gather'd words, 
Pouring forth its feelings, 
And its deep revealings : 
Thoughts and fancies came 
With their brightening flame. 
Truths of deepest worth 
Sprang imbodied forth — 



Deep and solemn mysteries, 

Spiritual harmonies, 
And the faith that conquers time — 
Strong, and lovely, and sublime. 

Then the purposes of life 
Stood apart from vulgar strife. 
Labour in the path of duty 
Gleam'd up like a thing of beauty. 
Beauty shone in self-denial, 
In the sternest hour of trial — 
In a meek obedience 
To the will of Providence — 
In the l^v sympathies 
That, torgetting selfish ease, 
Prompted acts that sought the good 
Of every spirit : — understood 
The wants of every human heart, 
Eager ever to impart 
Blessings to the weary soul 
That hath felt the better world's control. 

Here is beauty such as ne'er 
Met the eye or charm'd the ear. 
In the soul's high duties then I felt 
That the loftiest beauty ever dwelt. 



ON HEARING TRIUMPHANT MUSIC. 

That joyous strain, 
Wake — wake again ! 
O'er the dead stillness of my soul it lingers. 
Ring out, ring out 
The music-shout ! 
I hear the sounding of thy flying fingers, 
And to my soul the harmony 
Comes like a freshening sea. 

Again, again ! 
Farewell, dull pain; 
Thou heart-ache, rise not while those harp-strings 
Sad feelings, hence ! [quiver ; 

I feel a sense 
Of a new life come like a rushing river 

Freshening the fountains parch'd and dry 
That in my spirit lie. 

That glorious strain ! 
! from my brain 
I see the shadows flitting like scared ghosts ! 
A light, a light 
Shines in to-night 
Round the good angels trooping to their posts — 
And the black cloud is rent in twain 
Before the ascending strain. 

It dies away — 
It will not stay — 
So sweet — so fleeting. Yet to me it spake 
Strange peace of mind 
I could not find 
Before that triumph-strain the silence brake. 
So let it ever come to me 
With an undying harmony. 



WILLIAM JEWETT PABODIE. 



[Born about 1815.] 



Mr. Pabodie is a native of Providence, in 
Rhode Island. He was admitted to the bar in the 
spring of 1837, and has since, I believe, practised 
his profession in his native city. His principal 
work is " Calidore, a Legendary Poem," published 



in 1839. It possesses considerable merit, but is 
not so carefully finished as some of his minor 
pieces, nor is there any thing strikingly original in 
its fable or sentiments. His writings are more 
distinguished for elegance than for vigour. 



GO FORTH INTO THE FIELDS. 

Go forth into the fields, 
Ye denizens of the pent city's mart ! 
Go forth and know the gladness nature yields 

To the care-wearied heart. 

Leave ye the feverish strife, 
The jostling, eager, self-devoted throng ; — 
Ten thousand voices, waked anew to life, 

Call you with sweetest song. 

Hark ! from each fresh-clad bough, 
Or blissful soaring in the golden air, 
Bright birds with joyous music bid you now 

To spring's loved haunts repair. 

The silvery gleaming rills 
Lure with soft murmurs from the grassy lea, 
Or gayly dancing down the sunny hills, 

Call loudly in their glee ! 

And the young, wanton breeze, 
With breath all odorous from her blossomy chase, 
In voice low whispering 'mong th'embowering trees, 

Woos you to her embrace. 

Go — breathe the air of heaven, 
Where violets meekly smile upon your way ; 
Or on some pine-crown'd summit, tempest riven, 

Your wandering footsteps stay. 

Seek ye the solemn wood, 
Whose giant trunks a verdant roof uprear, 
And listen, while the roar of some far flood 

Thrills the young leaves with fear ! 

Stand by the tranquil lake, 
Sleeping mid willowy banks of emerald dye, 
Save when the wild bird's wing its surface break, 

Checkering the mirror' d sky — 

And if within your breast, 
Hallow'd to nature's touch, one chord remain ; 
If aught save worldly honours find you blest, 

Or hope of sordid gain,* — 

A strange delight shall thrill, 
A quiet joy brood o'er you like a dove ; 
Earth's placid beauty shall your bosom fill, 

Stirring its depths with love. 

O, in the calm, still hours, 
The holy Sabbath-hours, when sleeps the air, 
And heaven, and earth deck'd with her beauteous 

Lie hush'd in breathless prayer, — [flowers, 



Pass ye the proud fane by, 
The vaulted aisles, by flaunting folly trod, 
And, 'neath the temple of the uplifted sky, 

Go forth and worship God ! 



TO THE AUTUMN FOREST. 

Resplendext hues are thine ! 
Triumphant beauty — glorious as brief! 
Burdening with holy love the heart's pure shrine, 

Till tears afford relief. 

What though thy depths be hush'd ! 
More eloquent in breathless silence thou, 
Than when the music of glad songsters gush'd 

From every green-robed bough. 

Gone from thy walks the flowers ! 
Thou askest not their forms thy paths to fleck ; — 
The dazzling radiance of these sunlit bowers 

Their hues could not bedeck. 

I love thee in the spring, 
Earth-crowning forest ! when amid thy shades 
The gentle south first waves her odorous wing, 

And joy fills all thy glades. 

In the hot summer-time, 
With deep delight thy sombre aisles I roam, 
Or, soothed by some cool brook's melodious chime, 

Rest on thy verdant loam. 

But, O, when autumn's hand 
Hath mark'd thy beauteous foliage for the grave, 
How doth thy splendour, as entranced I stand, 

My willing heart enslave ! 

I linger then with thee, 
Like some fond lover o'er his stricken bride ; 
Whose bright, unearthly beauty tells that she 

Here may not long abide. 

When my last hours are come, 
Great God ! ere yet life's span shall all be fill'd, 
And these warm lips in death be ever dumb, 

This beating heart be still'd, — 

Bathe thou in hues as blest — 
Let gleams of Heaven about nry spirit play ! 
So shall my soul to its eternal rest 

In glory pass away ! 

2P 445 



446 



WILLIAM JEWETT PABODIE. 



ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND. 



I HEAR THY VOICE, SPRING! 



Goxe in the flush of youth ! I hear thy voice, O Spring ! 

Gone ere thy heart had felt earth's withering care ; Its flute-like tones are floating through the air, 

Ere the stern world had soil'd thy spirit's truth, Winning my soul with their wild ravishing, 

Or sown dark sorrow there. From earth's heart-wearying cai-e. 



Fled like a dream away ! 
But yesterday mid life's auroral bloom — 
To-day, sad winter, desolate and gray, 

Sighs round thy lonely tomb. 

Fond hearts were beating high, 
Fond eyes were watching for the loved one gone, 
And gentle voices, deeming thou wert nigh, 
• Talk'd of thy glad return. 

They watch' d — not all in vain — 
Thy form once more the wonted threshold pass'd; 
But choking sobs, and tears like summer-rain, 

Welcom'd thee home at last. 

Friend of my youth, farewell ! 
To thee, we trust, a happier life is given ; 
One tie to earth for us hath loosed its spell, 

Another form'd for heaven. 



OUR COUNTRY. 

Our country ! — 'tis a glorious land! 

With broad arms stretch'd from shore to shore, 
The proud Pacific chafes her strand, 

She hears the dark Atlantic roar; ' 
And, nurtured on her ample breast, 

How many a goodly prospect lies 
In Nature's wildest grandeur drest, 

Enamell'd with her loveliest dyes. 

Rich prairies, deck'd with flowers of gold, 

Like sunlit oceans roll afir ; 
Broad lakes her azure heavens behold, 

Reflecting clear each trembling star, 
And mighty rivers, mountain-born, 

Go sweeping onward, dark and deep, 
Through forests where the bounding fawn 

Beneath their sheltering branches leap. 

And, cradled mid her clustering hills, 

Sweet vales in dreamlike beauty hide, 
Where love the air with music fills ; 

And calm content and peace abide ; 
For plenty here her fulness pours 

In rich profusion o'er the land, 
And, sent to seize her generous store, 

There prowls no tyrant's hireling band. 

Great God ! we thank thee for this home — 

This bounteous birthland of the free ; 
Where wanderers from afar may come, 

And breathe the air of liberty ! — 
Stilt may her flowers untrampled spring, 

Her harvests wave, her cities rise ; 
And yet, till Time shall fold his wing, 

Remain Earth's loveliest paradise ! 



Divinely sweet thy song — 
But yet, methinks, as near the groves I pass, 
Low sighs on viewless wings are borne along, 

Tears gem the springing grass. 

For where are they, the young, 
The loved, the beautiful, who, when thy voice, 
A year agone, along these valleys rung, 

Did hear thee and rejoice ! 

Thou seek'st for them in vain — 
No more they '11 greet thee in thy joyous round ; 
Calmly they sleep beneath the murmuring main, 

Or moulder in the ground. 

Yet peace, my heart — be still ! 
Look upward to yon azure sky and know, 
To heavenlier music now their bosoms thrill, 

Where balmier breezes blow. 

For them hath bloom'd a spring, 
Whose flowers perennial deck a holier sod, 
Whose music is the song that seraphs sing, 

Whose liffht, the smile of God ! 



I STOOD BESIDE HIS GRAVE. 

I stood beside the grave of him, 

Whose heart with mine had fondly beat, 

While memories, from their chambers dim, 
Throng'd mournful, yet how sadly sweet! 

It was a calm September eve, 

The stars stole trembling into sight, 

Save where the day, as loth to leave, 
Still flush'd the heavens with rosy light. 

The crickets in the grass were heard, 

The city's murmur softly fell, 
And scarce the dewy air was stirr'd, 

As faintly toll'd the evening-bell. 

Death ! had then thy summons come, 
To bid me from this world away, — 

How gladly had I hail'd the doom 

That stretch'd me by his mouldering clay ! 

And twilight deepen'd into night, 

And night itself grew wild and drear, — 

For clouds rose darkly on the sight, 

And winds sigh'd mournful on the ear : — 

And yet I linger' d mid the fern, 

Though gleam'd no star the eye to bless — 
For, O, 'twas agony to turn 

And leave him to his loneliness ! 



CORNELIUS MATHEWS. 



[Born, 1815.] 



Mr. Mathews was born in New York in 1815; 
was graduated at Columbia College, in that city, 
in 1835 ; was admitted an attorney and counsel- 
lor in 1837; and has since devoted his attention 
chiefly to literature. A notice of his novels and 
essays may be found in " The Prose Writers of 
America/' pages 543-554. His principal poeti- 
cal compositions are, " Wakondah, the Master of 
Life," founded upon an Indian tradition, and " Man 
in the Republic, a series of Poems." Each of these 
works has appeared in several editions. There 
is a diversity of opinions as to the merits of Mr. 
Mathews. He has been warmly praised, and 
ridiculed with unsparing severity. The " North 
American Review," which indeed does not profess 
any consistency, has spoken of his " Man in the 
Republic" with both derision and respect, and for 



whatever condemnation others have expressed, his 
friends can perhaps cite as high authorities in 
approval. This may doubtless be said, both of his 
prose and verse, that it illustrates truly, to the ex- 
tent of the author's abilities, directed by much and 
honest observation, the present, in our own country ; 
or perhaps it may be said with more justice, in 
New York. The poems on " Man in the Repub- 
lic" are entitled, "The Child," "The Father," 
" The Teacher," " The Statesman," " The Reform- 
er," " The Masses," &c. 

In the last edition, the author, referring to some 
friendly criticisms, observes : " I have carefully con- 
sidered whatever has been objected to them, and 
where I could, in good conscience, and according 
to the motions of my own taste, have made amend- 
ment." 



THE JOURNALIST. 

As shakes the canvass of a thousand ships, 
Struck by a heavy land-breeze far at sea — 

Ruffle the thousand broad-sheets of the land, 
Filled with the people's breath of potency. 

A thousand images the hour will take, [sings; 

From him who strikes, who rules, who speaks, who 
Many within the hour their grave to make — 

Many to live far in the heart of things. 

A dark-eyed spirit, he who coins the time, 
To virtue's wrong, in base disloyal lies — 

Who makes the morning's breath, the evening's tide, 
The utterer of his blighting forgeries. 

How beautiful who scatters, wide and free, 
The gold-bright seeds of loved and loving truth ! 

By whose perpetual hand each day supplied, 
Leaps to new life the nation's heart of youth. 

To know the instant, and to speak it true, 
Its pasing lights of joy, its dark, sad cloud — 

To fix upon the unnumber'd gazers' view, 
Is to thy ready hand's broad strength allowed. 

There is an inwrought life in every hour, 
Fit to be chronicled at large and told — 

'Tis thine to pluck to light its secret power, 
And on the air its many-coloured heart unfold. 

The angel that in sand-dropp'd minutes lives, 
Demands a message cautious as the ages — 

Who stuns, with whirling words of hate, his ear, 
That mighty power to boundless wrath enrages. 

Shake not the quiet of a chosen land, 
Thou grimy man over thine engine bending; 

The spirit pent that breathes the life into its limbs, 
Docile for love is tyrannous in rending. 



Obey, rhinoceros ! an infant's hand — 
Leviathan ! obey the fisher mild and young! 

Vex'd ocean ! smile, for on thy broad-beat sand 
The little curlew pipes his shrilly song. 



THE CITIZEN. 



j With plainness in thy daily pathway walk, 

! And disencumber'd of excess: no other 

! Jostling, servile to none, none overstalk, 

I For, right and left, who passes is thy brother. 

Let him who in thy upward countenance looks, 
Find there in meek and soften'd majesty 
| Thy Country writ, thy Brother, and thy God ; 
And be each motion onward, calm, and free. 

Feel well with the poised ballot in thy hand, 
Thine unmatch'd sovereignty of right and wrong, 

'Tis thine to bless or blast the waiting land, 
To shorten up its life or make it long. 

Who looks on thee, with gladness should behold 
A self-delivered, self-supported Man — 
j True to his being's mighty purpose — true 
To this heaven-bless'd and God-imparted plan. 

Nowhere within the great globe's skyey round 
' Canst thou escape thy duty, grand and high — 
A man unbadged, unbonneted, unbound — 
Walk to the tropic, to the desert fly. 

j A full-fraught hope upon thy shoulder leans, 
And beats with thine, the heart of half the world ; 

j Ever behind thee walks the shining past, 
Before thee burns the star-stripe, far unfurl'd. 



448 



CORNELIUS MATHEWS. 



THE REFORMER. 

Mais- of the future ! on the eager headland standing, 

Gazing far off into the outer sea, 
Thine eye, the darkness and the billows rough com- 
manding, 

Beholds a shore, bright as the heaven itself may be ; 
Where temples, cities, homes, and haunts of men, 

Orchards and fields spread out in orderly array, 
Invite the yearning soul to thither flee, 

And there to spend in boundless peace its happier 
day. 
By passion and the force of earnest thought, 

Borne up and platformed at a height, 
Where/gainst thy feet the force of earth and heaven 

are brought, 
Yet, so into the frame of empire wrought, 

Thou, stout man, canst not thence be sever'd, 
Till ruled and rulers, fiends or men, are taught 

And feel the truths by thee delivered. 

Seize by its horns the shaggy Past, 
Full of uncleanness ; heave with mountain-cast 
Its carcase down the black and wide abyss — 
That opens day and night its gulfy precipice, 
By faded empires, projects old and dead 
Forever in its noisy hunger fed : 
But rush not, therefore, with a brutish blindness, 
Against the 'stablished bulwarks of the world ; 
Kind be thyself, although unkindness 

Thy race to ruin dark and suffering long has hurl'd. 
For many days of light, and smooth repose, 

'Twixt storms and weathery sadness intervene ; 
Thy course is nature's : on thy triumph flows, 
Assured, like hers, though noiseless and serene. 

Wake not at midnight and proclaim it day, 
When lightning only flashes o'er the way ; 
Pauses and starts, and strivings towards an end, 
Are not a birth, although a god's birth they portend. 
Be patient, therefore, like the old broad earth 
That bears the guilty up, and through the night 
Conducts them gently to the dawning light — 
Thy silent hours shall have as great a birth. 



THE MASSES. 

When", wild and high, the uproar swells 
From crowds that gather at the set of day, 
When square and market roar in stormy play, 
And fields of men, like lions, shake their fells 
Of savage hair; when, quick and deep call out the 
Through all the lower heaven ringing, [bells 
As if an earthquake's shock 
The city's base should rock, 
And set its troubled turrets singing : 
Remember, men ! on massy strength relying, 
There is a heart of right 
Not always open to the light, 
Secret and still, and force-defying. 
In vast assemblies calm let order rule, 
And every shout a cadence owning, 
Make musical the vex'd wind's moaning, 
And be as little children at singing-school. 



But, when thick as night the sky is crusted o'er, 
Stirling life's pulse, and making heaven an idle 
dream, 
Arise ! and cry, up through the dark, to God's own 
throne : 
Your faces in a furnace-glow, 
Your arms uplifted for the deathward blow — 
Fiery and prompt as angry angels show ; 
Then draw the brand and fire the thunder gun ! 
Be nothing said and all things done, 
Till every cobweb'd corner of the common weal 
Is shaken free, and, creeping to its scabbard back, 
the steel, 
Lets shine again God's rightful sun. 



THE MECHANIC. 

Oh, when thou walkest by the river's side, 
Thy bulky figure outlined in the wave, 

Or, on thine adze-staff resting, 'neath the ship 
Thy strokes have shaped, or hearest loud and brave 

The clangour of the boastful forge, think not 
To strength of limb, to sinews large and tough, 
Are given rights masterless and vantage-proof, 
Which the pale scholar and his puny hand 
Writing his thoughts upon the idle sand, 

May not possess as full : oh, maddened, drink not 

With greedy ear what selfish Passion pours ! 

His a sway peculiar is, no less than yours. 

j The inner world is his, the outer thine — 
' (And both are God's) — a world, maiden and new, 
To shape and finish forth, of rock and wood, 

Iron and brass, to fashion, mould, and hew — 
In countless cunning forms to recreate, 
Till the great God of order shall proclaim it 
« Good !" 
Proportioned fair, as in its first estate. 

It consecrates whate'er it strikes — each blow, 
From the small whisper of the tinkling smith, 

Up to the big-voiced sledge that heaving slow 
Roars 'gainst the massy bar, and tears 
Its entrail, glowing, as with angry teeth — 

Anchors that hold a world should thus-wise grow. 

In the First Builder's gracious spirit-work — 
Through hall, through enginery, and temples 

meek, 
In grandeur towered, or lapsing, beauty-sleek, 

Let order and creative fitness shine : 
Though mountains are no more to rear, 
Though woods may rise again no more, 

The noble task to reproduce is thine ! 

The spreading branch, the firm-set peak, may live 

With thee, and in thy well-sped labours thrive. 

The untried forces of the air, the earth, the sea, 

Wait at thy bidding : oh, compel their powers 
To uses holy ! Let them ever be 

Servants to tend and bless these new-found bow- 
ers, 
And make them household-workers, free and swift, 

On daily use — on daily service bent : 
Her face again old Eden may uplift, 

And God look down the open firmament. 



JEDIDIAH HUNTINGTON. 



[Bom, 1814.] 



The author of " Alice, or the New Una," is of 
the eminent families of Hustikgtos and Trum- 
bull, in Connecticut, and is a brother of Mr. Hun- 
tiwgton the painter, He was born in 1814, and 
was educated for the profession of physic, which 
he practised for several years ; but turning his at- 
tention to theology, he became in 1839 a candidate 
for orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
soon after was appointed one of the professors in 
St. Paul's College, Long Island. He was subse- 
quently, during a short period, rector of a church 
in Middlebury, Vermont; but his health failing, he 
went to Europe, and passed several years in Italy. 

In 1843 he published, in New York, a volume 
of Poems, comprising " The Try sting-Place," a 
romantic story ; " Fragments and Inscriptions from 
the Greek ;" " Inscriptions and fragments from the 



Female Poets of Greece ;" " Sacred Pieces," con- 
sisting chiefly of translations from ancient Latin 
hymns ; " The Northern Dawn," " Sketches in the 
Open Air," and miscellaneous sonnets and other 
short pieces, all of which are in a style of schol- 
arly elegance. 

In 1849 Mr. Huxtixgto^ published, in Lon- 
don, " Alice, or the ^ew Una," a romance which 
attracted much attention for its literary and spec- 
ulative characteristics. Its ingeniously dramatic 
though frequently improbable incidents, its highly- 
finished and poetical diction, and the skill with 
which the views of the author — those of the ex- 
| treme " Tractarians" — are maintained and illus- 
J trated, secured for it at once the favourable consid- 
[ eration of critics in art, and the applause of a reli- 
j gious party. 



SONNETS 

SUGGESTED BY THE CORONATION OF QUEEN 
VICTORIA. 

AUGUST 4, 183S. 
I. THE ABBEY. 

Withix the minster's venerable pile 

What pomps unwonted flash upon our eyes ! 

What galleries, in gold and crimson, rise 
Between the antique pillars of the aisle, 
Crowded with England's gayest life ; the while 

Beneath, her dead, unconscious glory lies; 

Above, her ancient faith still seeks the skies ; 
And with apparent life doth well beguile 
Our senses in that ever-growing roof; 

Whence on the soul return those recollections 
Of her great annals — built to be time-proof, 

Which chiefly make this spot the fittest scene 
Wherein to consecrate those new affections 

We plight this day to Britain's virgin queen. 



II. THE aUEEX. 

How strange to see a creature young and fair 

Assume the sceptre of these widespread lands ! — 

How in her femininely feeble hands 
The orb of empire shall she ever bear ! — 
And crowns, they say, not more with gems than care 

Are weighty : yet with calmest mien she stands ; 

August in innocence herself commands, 
And will that stately burden lightly wear. 
Claims surely inoffensive ! — What is she 1 

Of ancient sovereignty a living shoot ; 
The latest blossom on a royal tree 

Deep in the past extends whose famous root ; 
And realms from age to age securely free, 

Gather of social peace its yet unfailing fruit. 
57 



III. THE CROW.ViyG. 

How dazzling flash the streams of colour'd light, 
When on her sacred brow the crown is placed ! 
And straight her peers and dames with haughty 
haste 

Their coronets assume, as is their right, 

With sudden blaze making the temple bright. 
Does man's enthusiasm run to waste, 
By which a queen's investiture is graced 

With deafening demonstrations of delight, 

That from the cannon's roar protect the ear 1 
We may not dare to think so, for His sake 

Whose word has link'd king's honour and God's 
fear. 
Nor is it servile clamour that we make, 

Who, born ourselves to reign, in her revere 
| The kingly nature that ourselves partake. 



ON READING BRYANT'S POEM OF 
"THE WINDS." 

Ye Winds, whose various voices in his lay 
That bard interpreted — your utterance mild, 
Nor less your ministration fierce and wild, 

Of those resistless laws which ye obey 

In your apparent lawlessness — oh say ! 
Is not your will-less agency reviled 
When it is liken'd unto what is styled 

By such unwise the Spirit of the Day 1 

Not all the islands by tornadoes swept, 
E'er knew such ruin as befalls a state 

When not the winds of God, but mortal breath, 
With threatening sweetness of melodious hate 
Assaults the fabrics reverent ages kept 

To shelter ancient loyalty and faith. 

2p2 449 



450 



JEDIDIAH HUNTINGTON. 



TO EMMELINE : A THRENODIA. 



Sister ! for as such I loved thee, 
May I not the privilege claim 

As thy brother to lament thee, 

Though not mine that sacred name 1 

For though not indeed thy brother, 

Yet fraternal is the grief, 
That in tears no solace meeting, 

Now in words would find relief. 

Who did watch thy final conflict 1 
Who did weep when it was o'er 1 

Whose the voice which then consoled 
One by thee beloved more 1 

Lips that kiss'd thy cold white forehead, 
Sure may sing thy requiem ; 

Hands that closed thy stiffening eyelids, 
Should it not be writ by them 1 

To perform those death-bed honours 
Soften'd much my deep regret ; 

But to celebrate thy virtues 
Is a task more soothing yet. 

O'er thy features death-composed, 
As the life-like smile that play'd, 

By its beauty so familiar 

Tears drew forth which soon it stay'd. 

So the memory of thy goodness 

Calms the grief that from it springs : 

That which makes our loss the greatest, 
Sweetest consolation brings. 

IT. 

When the Christian maiden findeth 
In the grave a maiden's rest, 

We mourn not as did the heathen 
Over beauty unpossess'd. 

As the tender Meleager, 

In that sweetly mournful strain, 

Sung the fate of Clearista 
Borne to nuptial couch in vain : 

How her virgin zone unloosed, 
She in Death's embraces slept; 

As for vainly-woo'd A^tibia 
Pure Anyte hopeless wept. 

For the soul to Christ united 
Need regret no human bliss, 

And there yet remains a marriage 
Better than the earthly is. 

Wedded love is but the symbol 

Of a holier mystery, 
Which unto the stainless only 

Ever shall unfolded be. 

Life and Hope, when they embracing 
Seem like one, are Love on earth ; 

Death and Hope, so reuniting, 
Are the Love of heavenly birth. 

Was it haply this foreknowing 
That thou so wouldst ever be 1 — 

From pursuing ardours shrinking 
In thy saintly chastity. 



In thy fairy-like proportions 

Woman's dignity was yet, 
And in all thy winning actions 

With the grace of childhood met. 

With what light and airy motion 
Wert thou wont to glide or spring 1 

As if were that shape elastic 
Lifted by an unseen wing. 

In what sweet and lively accents 
Flow'd or gush'd thy talk or song ! 

What pure thoughts and gentle feelings 
Did that current bear along ! 

But affliction prematurely 

On thy tender graces breathed, 

And in sweet decay about thee 

W T ere the faded flowerets wreathed. 

Blasts that smite with death the flower, 
Cull for use the ripen'd fruit ; 

Suns the plant that overpower, 
Cannot kill the buried root : 

So the grief that dimm'd thy beauty 
Shower'd gifts of higher worth, 

And the germ of both is hidden 
Safely now within the earth. 

Nature, eldest, truest sybil, 

Writes upon her wither'd leave 5, 

Words of joy restored prophetic 
To the heart her law bereaves. 



Greenly swell the clustering mountains 
Whence thy passing spirit went ; 

Clear the waters they embosom ; 
Blue the skies above them bent. 

Pass'd away the spirit wholly 
From the haunts to us so dear 1 

Or at will their forms assuming, 
In them doth it reappear 1 

For there is a new expression 
Now pervading all the place ; 

Rock and stream do look with meanings 
Such as wore thy living face. 

Nor alone the face of Nature ; 

Human features show it too ; 
Chiefly those by love illumin'd 

Of the heart-united few. 

We upon each other gazing, 
Mystic shadows come and go, 

Over each loved visage flitting, 

Why and whence we do not know. 

In the old familiar dances 
Mingle thy accustom'd feet ; 

Blending with the song familiar 
Still are heard thy concords sweet. 

Hence we know the world of spirits 

Is not far from each of us ; 
Scarce that veil forbids our entrance 

Which thou hast half lifted us. 



JOHN G. SAXE 



[Bom, 1816.] 



John G. Saxe, of Highgate, Franklin county, 
Vermont, was born in that town on the second 
day of June, 1816. His youth was passed in ru- 
ral occupations, until he was seventeen years of 
age, when he determined to study one of the lib- 
eral professions, and with this view entered the 
grammar school at St. Albans, and after the usual 
preliminary course, the college at Middlebury, 
where he graduated bachelor of arts in the sum- 
mer of 1839. He subsequently read law, at Lock- 
port in New York and at St. Albans, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar at the latter place, in September, 
1843, since which time he has been practising in 
the courts, with more than the average success of 
young attorneys. 

I remember that when Mr. Saxe was in college 
he was well known for his manly character, good 
sense, genial humour, and, for an undergraduate, 
large acquaintance with literature. He preserves, 
with fitting increase, his good reputation. " Be- 
sides writing with such delightful point and facil- 
ity," observes a friend of his, " he is one of the 
best of conversationists, and wastes more wit in a 
day than would set up a Yankee ' Punch' or a 
score of < Yankee Doodles.' He is a good general 
scholar, well read in the best English authors, and 
besides his comical compositions, has produced 
many pieces of grace and tenderness that evince 
a genuine poetical feeling and ability." 



Mr. Saxe excels most in fun, burlesque, and 
satire, fields upon the confines of the domain of 
poetry, in which we have many of the finest spe- 
cimens of lyrical expression, and which have fur- 
nished, from the times of Juvenal, a fair propor- 
tion of the noblest illustrations of creative energy. 
His verse is nervous, and generally highly finished ; 
and in almost all cases it is admirably calculated 
for the production of the desired effects. One of 
the happiest exhibitions of his skill in language is 
in the piece printed in the Knickerbocker Maga- 
zine, commencing — 

Singing through the forests, 

Rattling over ridges, 
Shooting under arches, 

Rumbling over bridges ; 
Whizzing through the mountains, 

Buzzing o'er the vale — 
Bless me! this is pleasant, 

Riding on a rail ! 

The whole composition is an echo and reflection 
of the crowded railroad car. 

The longest of his productions is " Progress, a 
Satire," which has passed through two editions, 
and been largely quoted for its felicitous charac- 
terization of popular foibles. His "New Rape of 
the Lock," written in 1847, and "Proud Miss 
MacBride," written in 1848, are in the vein of 
Hooo,but are full of verbal felicities and humour, 
and are fruits of original observation of manners. 



THE PROUD MISS MACBRIDE. 

A LEGEND OF GOTHAM. 

O, terriblt proud was Miss MacBride, 
The very personification of pride, 
As she minced along in fashion's tide, 
Adown Broadway — on the proper side — 

When the golden sun was setting ; 
There was pride in the head she carried so high, 
Pride in her lip, and pride in her eye, 
And a world of pride in the very sigh 

That her stately bosom was fretting : 

A sigh that a pair of elegant feet, 
Sandal'd in satin, should kiss the street — 
The very same that the vulgar greet 
In common leather not over " neat" — 

For such is the common booting ; 
(And Christian tears may well be shed, 
That even among our gentlemen-bred, 
The glorious Day of Morocco is dead, 
And Day and Martin are raigning instead, 

On a much inferior footing !) 



O, terribly proud was Miss MacBride, 
Proud of her beauty, and proud of her pride, 
And proud of fifty matters beside — 

That wouldn't have borne dissection; 
Proud of her wit, and proud of her walk, 
Proud of her teeth, and proud of her talk, 
Proud of " knowing cheese from chalk," 

On a very slight inspection ! — 

Proud abroad, and proud at home, 
Proud wherever she chanced to come — 
When she was glad, and when she was glum 

Proud as the head of a Saracen 
Over the door of a tippling-shop ! — 
Proud as a duchess, proud as a fop, 
" Proud as a boy with a bran-new top," 

Proud beyond comparison ! 

It seems a singular thing to say, 
But her very senses led her astray 

Respecting all humility ; 
In sooth, her dull, auricular drum 
Could find in humble only a " hum," 
And heard no sound of " gentle" come, 

In talking about gentility. 



452 



JOHN G. SAXE. 



What lowly meant she did n't know, 
For she always avoided " everything low," 

With care the most punctilious ; 
And, queerer still, the audible sound 
Of " super-silly" she never had found 

In the adjective supercilious ! 

The meaning of meek she never knew, 
But imagined the phrase had something to do 
With " Moses," a peddling German Jew, 
Who, like all hawkers, the country through, 

Was " a person of no position ;" 
And it seem'd to her exceedingly plain, 
If the word was really known to pertain 
To a vulgar German, it wasn't germane 

To a lady of high condition ! 

Even her graces — not her grace — 
For that was in the " vocative case" — 
Chill'd with the touch of her icy face, 

Sat very stiffly upon her ! 
She never confess'd a favour aloud, 
Like one of the simple, common crowd — 
But coldly smiled, and faintly bow'd, 
As who should say, " You do me proud, 

And do yourself an honour !" 

And yet the pride of Miss MacBride, 
Although it had fifty hobbies to ride, 

Had really no foundation ; 
But like the fabrics that gossips devise — 
Those single stories that often arise 
And grow till they reach a four-story size — 

Was merely a fancy creation ! 

'Tis a curious fact as ever was known 
In human nature, but often shown 

Alike in castle and cottage, 
That pride, like pigs of a certain breed, 
Will manage to live and thrive on " feed" 

As poor as a pauper's pottage ! 

That her wit should never have made her vain, 
Was — like her face — sufficiently plain ; 

And, as to her musical powers, 
Although she sang until she was hoarse, 
And issued notes with a banker's force, 
They were just such notes as we never endorse 

For any acquaintance of ours ! 

Her birth, indeed, was uncommonly high — 
For Miss Mac B hide first opened her eye 
Through a skylight dim, on the light of the sky ; 

But pride is a curious passion — 
And in talking about her wealth and worth, 
She always forgot to mention her birth 

To people of rank and fashion ! 

Of all the notable things on earth, 
The queerest one is pride of birth, 

Among our " fierce democracie !" 
A bridge across a hundred years, 
Without a prop to save it from sneers — 
Not even a couple of rotten peers — 
A thing for laughter, fleers, and jeers, 

Is American aristocracy ! 

English and Irish, French and Spanish, 
German, Italian, Dutch and Danish, 
Crossing their veins until they vanish 



In one conglomeration ; 
So subtle a tangle of blood, indeed, 
No heraldry-HAiivET will ever succeed 

In finding the circulation ! 

Depend upon it, my snobbish friend, 
Your family thread you can't ascend, 
Without good reason to apprehend 
You may find it wax'd at the farther end, 

By some plebeian vocation ; 
Or, worse than that, your boasted line 
May end in a loup of stronger twine, 

That plagued some worthy relation ! 

But Miss MacBride had something beside 
Her lofty birth (o nourish her pride — 
For rich was the old paternal MacBride, 

According to public rumour; 
And he lived " up town," in a splendid square, 
And kept his daughter on dainty fare, 
And gave her gems that were rich and rare, 
And the finest rings and things to wear, 

And feathers enough to plume her. 

An honest mechanic was John MacBride, 
As ever an honest calling plied, 

Or graced an honest ditty ; 
For John had work'd in his early day, 
In "pots and pearls," the legends say — 
And kept a shop with a rich array 
Of things in the soap and candle way, 

In the lower part of the city ! 

No "ram avis" was honest John — 
(That's the Latin for "sable-swan") — 

Though in one of his fancy flashes, 
A wicked wag, who meant to deride, 
Call'd honest John " Old Phoenix MacBride, 

" Because he rose from his ashes !" 

Little by little he grew to be rich, 
By saving of candle-ends and " sich," 
Till he reach'd at last an opulent niche — 

No very uncommon affair; 
For history quite confirms the law 
Express'd in the ancient Scottish saw — 

A Mickle may come to be may'r'* 

Alack for many ambitious beaux ! 
She hung their hopes upon her nose — 

(The figure is quite Horatian !) 
Until, from habit, the member grew 
As very a hook as ever eye knew, 

To the commonest observation. 

A thriving tailor begg'd her hand, 

But she gave " the fellow" to understand 

By a violent manual action, 
She perfectly scorn'd the best of his clan, 
And reckon'd the ninth of any man 

An exceedingly vulgar fraction ! 

Another, whose sign was a golden boot, 
Was mortified with a bootless suit, 

In a way that was quite appalling ; 
For, though a regular suior by trade, 
He wasn't a suitor to suit the maid, 



* "Mickle, wi' thrift may chance to be mair."— Scotch 
Proverb. 



JOHN G. SAXE. 



453 



Who cut him off with a saw — and bade 
" The cobbler keep to his calling !' 

(The muse must let a secret out : 
There isn't the faintest shadow of doubt 
That folks who' oftenest sneer and flout 

At " the dirty, low mechanicals," 
Are they whose sires, by pounding their knees, 
Or coiling their legs, or trades like these — 
Contrived to win their children ease 

From poverty's galling manacles.) 

A rich tobacconist comes and sues, 
And, thinking the lady would scarce refuse 
A man of his wealth and liberal views, 
Began, at once, with " If you choose — 

And could you really love him — " 
But the lady spoil'd his speech in a huff, 
With an answer rough and ready enough, 
To let him know she was up to snuff, 

And altogether above him ! 

A young attorney, of winning grace, 
Was scarce allow'd to " open his face," 
Ere Miss MacBrtde had closed his case 

With true judicial celerity ; 
For the lawyer was poor, and " seedy" to boot, 
And to say the lady discarded his suit, 

Is merely a double verity ! 

The last of those who came to court, 
Was a lively beau, of the dapper sort, 
" Without any visible means of support," 

A crime by no means flagrant 
In one who wears an elegant coat, 
But the very point on which they vote 

A ragged fellow " a vagrant !" 

A courtly fellow was dapper Jim, 
Sleek and supple, and tall and trim, 
And smooth of tongue as neat of limb ; 

And maugre his meagre pocket. 
You'd say from the glittering tales he told, 
That J or had slept in a cradle of gold, 

With Fortunatus to rock it ! 

Now dapper Jim his courtship plied 

(I wish the fact could be denied) 

With an eye to the purse of the old MacBride, 

And really "nothing shorter!" 
For he said to himself, in his greedy lust, 
" Whenever he dies — as die he must — 
And yields to Heaven his vital trust, 
He's very sure to 'come down with his dust,' 

In behalf of his only daughter." 

And the very magnificent Miss MacBride, 
Half in love, and half in pride, 

Quite graciously relented ; 
And, tossing her head, and turning her back, 
No token of proper pride to lack — 
To be a Bride, without the " Mac," 

With much disdain, consented ! 

Alas ! that people who've got their box 
Of cash beneath the best of locks, 
Secure from all financial shocks, 
Should stock their fancy with fancy stocks, 
And madly rush upon Wall-street rocks, 
Without the least apology ! 



Alas ! that people whose money-afifairs 
Are sound, beyond all need of repairs, 
Should ever tempt the bulls and bears 
Of Mammon's fierce zoology ! 

Old Johx MacBriiie, one fatal day, 
Became the unresisting prey 

Of Fortune's undertakers ; 
And staking all on a single die, 
His founder'd bark went high and dry 

Among the brokers and breakers ! 

At his trade again, in the very shop 
Where, years before, he let it drop, 

He follows his ancient calling — 
Cheerily, too, in poverty's spite, 
And sleeping quite as sound at night, 
As when, at fortune's giddy height, 
He used to wake with a dizzy fright 

From a dismal dream of falling. 

But alas for the haughty Miss MacBrtde, 
'T was such a shock to her precious pride ! 
She could n't recover, although she tried 

Her jaded spirits to rally; 
'Twas a dreadful change in human affairs, 
From a Place " up town," to a nook " up stairs," 

From an avenue down to an alley ! — 

'Twas little condolence she had, God wot — 
From her "troops of friends." who hadn't forgot 

The airs she used to borrow ; 
They had civil phrases enough, but yet 
'T was plain to see that their " deepest regret" 

Was a different thing from sorrow ! 

They own'd it could n't have well been worse 

To go from a full to an empty purse : 

To expect a "reversion," and get a reverse, 

Was truly a dismal feature ; 
But it wasn't strange — they whisper'd — at all! 
That the summer of pride should have its fall 

Was quite according to Nature ! 

And one of those chaps who make a pun, 
As if it were quite legitimate fun 
To be blazing away at every one 
With a regular, double-loaded gun — 

Remark'd that moral transgression 
Always brings retributive stings 
To candle-rnakers as well as kings: 
For " making light of cereous things" 

Was a very wick-ed profession ! 

And vulgar people — the saucy churls — 
Inquired about " the price of pearls," 

And mock'd at her situation : 
" She wasn't ruin'd — they ventured to hope — 
Because she was poor, she needn't mope; 
Few people were better off for soap, 

And that was a consolation !" 

And to make her cup of wo run over, 
Her elegant, ardent plighted lover 

Was the very first to forsake her ; 
"He quite regretted the step, 'twas true — 
The lady had pride enough •' for two,' 
But that alone would never do 

To quiet the butcher and baker !" 



454 



JOHN G. SAXE. 



And now the unhappy Miss MacBride — 
The merest ghost of her early pride — 

Bewails her lonely position ; 
Cramp'd in the very narrowest niche, 
Above the poor, and below the rich — 

Was ever a worse condition 1 

MORAL. 

Because you flourish in worldly affairs, 
Don't be haughty, and put on airs, 

With insolent pride of station ! 
Don't be proud, and turn up your nose 
At poorer people in plainer clo'es, 
But learn, for the sake of your mind's repose, 
That wealth 's a bubble that comes — and goes ! 
And that all proud flesh, wherever it grows, 

Is subject to irritation ! 



EXTRACTS FROM "PROGRESS." 

FASHION. 

What impious mockery, when with soulless art 
Fashion, intrusive, seeks to rule the heart; 
Directs how grief may tastefully be borne ; 
Instructs Bereavement just how long to mourn; 
Shows Sorrow how by nice degrees to fade, 
And marks its measure in a riband's shade ! 
More impious still, when through her wanton laws 
She desecrates Religion's sacred cause ; 
Shows how " the narrow road" is easiest trod, 
And how genteelest, worms may worship Gou ; 
How sacred rites may bear a worldly grace, 
And self-abasement wear a haughty face ; 
How sinners, long in Folly's mazes whirl'd, 
With pomp and splendour may " renounce the 

world ;" 
How " with all saints hereafter to appear," 
Yet quite escape the vulgar portion here ! 



THE PHESS. 



might the muse prolong her flowing rhyme, 
(Too closely cramp'd by unrelenting Time, 
Whose dreadful scythe swings heedlessly along, 
And, missing speeches, clips the thread of song), 
How would she strive in fitting verse to sing 
The wondrous progress of the printing king ! 
Bibles and novels, treatises and songs, 
Lectures on " rights," and strictures upon wrongs ; 
Verse in all metres, travels in all climes, 
Rhymes without reason, sonnets without rhymes ; 
" Translations from the French," so vilely done, 
The wheat escaping, leaves the chaff alone ; 
Memoirs, where dunces sturdily essay 
To cheat Oblivion of her certain prey ; 
Critiques, where pedants vauntingly expose 
Unlicensed verses in unlawful prose ; 
Lampoons, whose authors strive in vain to throw 
Their headless arrows from a nerveless bow ; 
'Poems by youths, who, crossing Nature's will, 
Harangue the landscape they were born to till ; 
Huge tomes of law, that lead by rugged routes 
Through ancient dogmas down to modern doubts, 
Where judges oft, with well-affected ease, 
Give learned reasons for absurd decrees, 



Or, more ingenious still, contrive to found 

Some just decision on fallacious ground — 

Or blink the point, and haply, in its place, 

Moot and decide some hypothetic case ; 

•'Smart epigrams, all sadly out of joint, 

And pointless, save the " exclamation point," 

Which stands in state, with vacant wonder fraught, 

The pompous tombstone of some pauper thought ; 

Ingenious systems based on doubtful facts, 

" Tracts for the times," and most untimely tracts ; 

Polemic pamphlets, literary toys, 

And " easy lessons" for uneasy boys ; 

Hebdomadal gazettes and daily news, 

Gay magazines and quarterly reviews : 

Small portion these of all the vast array 

Of darken'd leaves that cloud each passing day, 

And pour their tide unceasingly along, 

A gathering, swelling, overwhelming throng ! 



" ASSOCIATION. 

Hail, social progress ! each new moon is rife 
With some new theory of social life, 
Some matchless scheme ingeniously design'd 
From half their miseries to free mankind ; 
On human wrongs triumphant war to wage, 
And bring anew the glorious golden age. 
" Association" is the magic word 
From many a social " priest and prophet" heard ; 
" Attractive labour" is the angel given, 
To render earth a sublunary heaven ! 
" Attractive labour !" ring the changes round, 
And labour grows attractive in the sound ; 
And many a youthful mind, where haply lurk 
Unwelcome fancies at the name of "work," 
Sees pleasant pastime in its longing view 
Of " toil made easy" and " attractive" too— 
And, fancy-rapt, with joyful ardour, turns 

Delightful grindstones and seductive churns! 

Inventive France ! what wonder-working schemes 
Astound the world whene'er a Frenchman dreams ! 
What fine-spun theories — ingenious, new, 
Sublime, stupendous, everything but true ! 
One little favour, " imperial France :" 
Still teach the world to cook, to dress, to dance ; 
Let, if thou wilt, thy boots and barbers roam, 
But keep thy morals and thy creeds at home ! 



BEREAVEMENT. 

Nat, weep not, dearest, though the child be dead, 
He lives again in heaven's unclouded life, 

With other angels that have early fled 

From these dark scenes of sorrow, sin, and strife ; 

Nay, weep not, dearest, though thy yearning love 
Would fondly keep for earth its fairest flowers, 

And e'en deny to brighter realms above 

The few that deck this dreary world of ours : 

Though much it seems a wonder and a wo 
That one so loved should be so early lost — 

And hallow'd tears may unforbidden flow, 

To mourn the blossom that we cherish'd most — 
Yet all is well : God's good design I see, 
That where our treasure is, our hearts may be ! 



PHILIP P. COOKE. 


[Born 1816. 


Died 1850.] 


Mr. Cooke was born in Martinsburg, Berkeley- 


the Shenandoah, where he resided, in the practice 


county, Virginia, on the twenty-sixth of October, 


of his profession, the study of his favorite authors, 


1816. His father, Joh> t R. Cooke, of Richmond, 


and the occasional enjoyment of the sports of the 


has long been a man of honourable distinction in 


rod and the gun, until his death, which occurred, 


the Virginia bar. Mr. Cooke's first essays in 


after a short illness, on the 20th of January, 1850. 


poetry were contributed to the "Knickerbocker" 


Mr. Cooke is known as a poet, chiefly by a 


magazine, then edited by Charles F. Hoffman, 


volume entitled "Froissart Ballads," published 


while he was a student in the college of Princeton. 


in 1847, but the larger portion of his works may 


Before arriving at the age of twenty-one years, Mr. 


be found in the Southern Literary Messenger, 


Cooke was married, and settled as a lawyer, in 


for which he was a frequent writer. His pieces 


the pleasant village of Millwood, on the banks of 


have remarkable grace and refinement. 


EMILY: 


Maidens who love are full of hope, 


PROEM TO THE " FROISSART BALLADS." 


And crowds hedge in its golden scope ; 





Wherefore they love green solitudes 


You^g Emily has temples fair, 


And silence for their better moods. 


Caress'd by locks of dark brown hair. 


I know some wilds, where tulip trees, 


A thousand sweet humanities 


Full of the singing toil of bees, 


Speak wisely from her hazel eyes. 


Depend their losing branches over 


Her speech is ignorant of command, 


Great rocks, which honeysuckles cover 


And yet can lead you like a hand. 


In rich and liberal overflow. 


Her white teeth sparkle, when the eclipse 


In the dear time of long ago 


Is laughter-moved, of her red lips. 


When I had woo'd young Emily, 


She moves, all grace, with gliding limbs 


And she had told her love to me, 


As a white-breasted cygnet swims. 


I often found her in these bowers, 


In her sweet childhood, Emily 


Quite rapt away in meditation, 


Was wild with natural gayety, 


Or giving earnest contemplation 


A little creature, full of laughter, 


To leaf, or bird, or wild wood flowers ; 


Who cast no thought before or after, 


And once I heard the maiden singing, 


And knew not custom or its chains. 


Until the very woods were ringing — 


The dappled fawns upon the plains, 


Singing an old song to the Hours ! 


The birds that love the upper sky, 


I well remember that rare song, 


Lived not in lovelier liberty. 


It charged the Hours with cruel wrong — 


But with this natural merriment, 


Wrong to the verdure of the boughs — 


Mind, and the ripening years have blent 


Wrong to the lustre of fair brows, 


A thoughtfulness — not melancholy — 


Its music had a wondrous sound, 


Which wins her life away from folly ; 


And made the greenwood haunted ground. 


Checking somewhat the natural gladness, 


But I delay : one jocund morn — 


But saved, by that it checks, from sadness — 


A mom of that blithe time of spring, 


Like clouds athwart a May-morn sailing, 


When milky blossoms load the thorn, 


Which take the golden light they are veiling. 


And birds so prate, and soar, and sing, 


She loves her kind, and shuns no duty, 


That melody is everywhere, 


Her virtues sanctify her beauty, 


On the glad earth, and in the air, — 


And all who know her say that she 


On such a morn I went to seek 


Was born for man's felicity — 


In our wild haunts for Emily. 


I know that she was born for mine. 


I found her where a flowering tree 


Dearer than any joy of wine, 


Gave odours and cool shade. Her cheek 


Or pomp, or gold, or man's loud praise, 


A little rested on her hand ; 


Or purple power, art thou to me — 


Her rustic skill had made a band 


Kind cheerer of my clouded ways — 


Of rare device which garlanded 


Young vine upon a rugged tree. 


The beauty of her bending head ; 

455 



456 



PHILIP P. COOKE. 



Some maiden thoughts most kind and wise 

"Were dimly burning in her eyes. 

When I beheld her — form and face 

So lithe, so fair — the spirit race, 

Of whom the better poets dream'd, 

Came to my thought, and I half deem'd 

My earth-born mistress, pure and good, 

Was some such lady of the wood, 

As she who work'd at spell, and snare, 

With Huon of the dusky hair, 

And fled, in likeness of a doe, 

Before the fleet youth Angelo. 

But these infirm imaginings 

Flew quite away on instant wings. 

I call'd her name. A swift surprise 

Came whitely to her face, but soon 

It fled before some daintier dyes, 

And, laughing like a brook in June, 

With sweet accost she welcomed me, 

And I sat there with Emily. 

The gods were very good to bless 

My fife with so much happiness. 

The maiden on that lowly seat — 

I sitting at her little feet ! 

Two happier lovers never met, 

In dear and talk-charm'd privacy. 

It was a golden day to me, 

And its great bliss is with me yet, 

Warming like wine my inmost heart — 

For memories of happy hours 

Are like the cordials press'd from flowers, 

And madden sweetly. I impart 

Naught of the love-talk I remember, 

For May's young pleasures are best hid 

From the cold prudence of December, 

Which clips and chills all vernal wings ; 

And Love's own sanctities forbid, 

Now as of old, such gossipings 

In Hall, of what befalls in Bower, 

But other matters of the hour, 

Of which it breaks no faith to tell, 

My homely rhyme shall chronicle. 

As silently we sat alone — 
Our love-talk spent — two mated birds 
Began to prate in loving tone ; 
Quoth Emily, « They sure have words ! 
Didst hear them say < My sard,' < My dear' f* 
And as they chirp'd we laugh'd to he 

Soon after this a southern wind 
Came sobbing like a hunted hind 
Into the quiet of the glen : 
The maiden mused awhile, and then 
Worded her thought right playfully. 
" The winds," she said, " of land and sea, 
My friend, are surely living things 
That come and go on unseen wings. 
The teeming air and prodigal, 
Which droops its azure over all, 
Is full of immortalities 
That look on us with unseen eyes. 
This sudden wind that hath come here, 
With its hard sobs of pain or fear, 
It may be, is a spirit kind, 
That loves the bruised flowers to bind, 
Whose task it is to shake the dew 



From the sad violet's eye of blue, 
Or chase the honey-making thieves 
From off the rose, and shut its leaves 
Against the cold of April eves. 
Perhaps its dainty, pink-tipt hands 
Have plied such tasks in far off lands 
And now, perchance, some grim foe follows 
The little wight to these green hollows." 
Such gentle words had Emily 
For the south wind in the tulip tree. 

A runnel, hidden by the trees, 
Gave out some natural melodies. 
She said, " The brook, among the stones, 
Is solemn in its undertones ; 
How like a hymn ! the singing creature 
Is worshipping the God of nature." 
But I replied, " My dear — not so ; 
Thy solemn eyes, thy brow of snow, 
And, more than these, thy maiden merit 
Have won Undine, that gentle spirit, 
To sing her songs of love to thee." 
Swift answer'd merry* Emily — 
« Undine is but a girl, you know, 
And would not pine for love of me ; 
She has been peering from the brook, 
And glimpsed at you." She said and shook 
With a rare fit of silvery laughter. 
I was more circumspect thereafter, 
And dealt in homelier talk. A man 
May call a white-brow'd girl " Dian," 
But likes not to be turn'd upon, 
And nick-named "Young Endymion." 

My Emily loved very well, 
At times, those ancient lays which tell 
Rude natural tales ; she had no lore 
Of trouvere, or of troubadour, 
Nor knew what difference there might be 
Between the tongues of oc and oui; 
But hearing old tales, loved them all 
If truth but made them natural. 
In our good talks, we oft went o'er 
The little horde of my quaint lore, 
Cull'd out of old melodious fable. 
She little cared for Arthur's table, 
For tales of doughty Launcelot, 
Or Tristram, or of him who smote 
The giant, Angoulafre hight, 
And moan'd for love by day and night. 
She little cared for such as these, 
But if I cross'd the Pyrenees, 
With the great peers of Charlemagne, 
Descending toward the Spanish plain, 
Her eye would lighten at the strain ; 
And it would moisten with a tear 
The sad end of that tale to hear — 
How all awcaiy, worn and white, 
And urging his failing steed amain, 
A courier from the south, one night, 
Reach'd the great city of the Seine ; 
And how at that same time and hour, 
The bride of Roland lay in Bower 
Wakeful, and quick of ear to win 
Some rumour of her Paladin — 
And how it came in sudden cries, 
That shook the earth and rent the skies ; 



PHILIP P. COOKE. 



457 



And how the messenger of fate — 
That courier who rode so late — 
Was dragg'd on to her palace gate ; 
And how the lady sat in hall, 
Moaning among her damsels all, 
At the wild tale of Ronceval. 
That story sounds like solemn truth, 
And she would hear it with such ruth 
As sympathetic hearts will pay 
To real griefs of yesterday. 

Pity look'd lovely in the maiden ; 
Her eyes were softer, when so laden 
With the bright dew of tears unshed. 
But I was somewhat envious 
That other bards should move her thus, 
And oft within myself had said, 
" Yea — I will strive to touch her heart 
With some fair songs of mine own art" — 
And many days before the day 
Whereof I speak, I made assay 
At this bold labour. In the wells 
Of Froissart's life-like chronicles 
I dipp'd for moving truths of old. 
A thousand stories, soft and bold, 
Of stately dames, and gentlemen, 
Which good Lord Berners, with a pen 
Pompous in its simplicity, 
Yet tipt with charming courtesy, 
Had put in English words, I learn'd ; 
And some of these I deftly turn'd 
Into the forms of minstrel verse. 
I know the good tales are the worse — 
But, sooth to say, it seems to me 
My verse has sense and melody — 
Even that its measure sometimes flows 
With the brave pomp of that old prose. 

Beneath our trysting tree, that day, 
With dubious face, I read one lay ; 
Young Emily quite understood 
My fears, and gave me guerdon good 
In well-timed praise, and cheer'd me on, 
Into full flow of heart and tone. 
And when, in days of pleasant weather, 
Thereafter, we were met together, 
As our strong love oft made us meet, 
I always took my cosy seat, 
Just at. the damsel's little feet, 
And read my tales. It was no friend 
To me — that day that heard their end. 
It had become a play of love, 
To watch the swift expression rove 
Over the bright sky of her face — 
To steal those upward looks, and trace 
In every change of cheek and eye, 
The influence of my poesy. 

I made my verse for Emily — 
I give it, reader, now to thee. 
The tales which I have toil'd to tell 
Of Dame in hall and knight in Selle, 
Of faithful love, and courage high — 
Sweet flower, strong staff of chivalry — 
These tales indeed are old of date ; 
But why should time their force abate? 
Shall we look back with vision dull 
On the old brave and beautiful, 
58 



And, for they lived so long ago, 

Be careless of their mirth or, wo 1 

If sympathy knows but to-day — 

If time quite wears its nerve away — 

If deeds majestically bold, 

In words of ancient music told, 

Are only food for studious minds 

And touch no hearts — if man but finds 

An abstract virtue in the faith, 

That clung to truth, and courted death, — 

If he can lift the dusky pall 

With dainty hand artistical 

And smile at woes, because some years 

Have swept between them and his tears — 

I say, my friend, if this may be, 

Then burn old books ; antiquity 

Is no more than a skeleton 

Of painted vein and polish'd bone. 

Reader ! the minstrel brotherhood, 
Earnest to soothe thy listening mood, 
Were wont to style thee Gentle, Good, 
Noble or Gracious: — they could bow 
With loyal knee, yet open brow — 
They knew to temper thy decision 
With graces of a proud submission. 
That wont is changed. Yet I, a man 
Of this new land republican, 
Where insolence wins upward better 
Than courtesy — that old dead letter — 
And toil claims pay with utterance sharp, 
Follow the good Lords of the Harp, 
And dub thee with each courtly phrase, 
And ask indulgence for my lays. 



LIFE IN THE AUTUMN WOODS. 

Summer has gone, 
And fruitful autumn has advanced so far 
That there is warmth, not heat, in the broad sun ; 
And you may look, with naked eye, upon 

The ardours of his car ; 
The stealthy frosts, whom his spent looks embolden, 

Are making the green leaves golden. 

What a brave splendour 
Is in the October air ! How rich, and clear, 
And bracing, and all-joyous ! we must render 
Love to the spring-time, with its sproutings tender, 

As to a child quite dear ; 
But autumn is a thing of perfect glory, 

A manhood not yet hoary. 

I love the woods, 
In this good season of the liberal year ; 
I love to seek their leafy solitudes, 
And give myself to melancholy moods, 

With no intruder near, 
And find strange lessons, as I sit and ponder, 

In every natural wonder. 

But not alone, 
As Shakspeare's melancholy courtier loved Ar- 
dennes, 
Love I the browning forest ; and I own 
I would not oft have mused, as he, but flown 

To hunt with Amiens — 



458 



PHILIP P. COOKE. 



And little thought, as up the bold deer bounded, 
Of the sad creature wounded. 

A brave and good, 
B ut world-worn knight* — soul wearied with his part 
In this vext life — gave man for solitude, 
And built a lodge, and lived in Wantley wood, 

To hear the bellingf Hart. 
It was a gentle taste, but its sweet sadness 

Yields to the Hunter's madness. 

What passionate 
And keen delight is in the proud swift chase ! 
Go out what time the lark at heaven's red gate 
Soars joyously singing — quite infuriate 

With the high pride of his place ; 
What time the unrisen sun arrays the morning 

In its first bright adorning. 

Hark ! the quick horn — 
As sweet to hear as any clarion — 
Piercing with silver call the ear of morn ; 
And mark the steeds, stout Curtal and Topthorne 

And Grejrsteil and the Don — 
Each one of them his fiery mood displaying 

With pawing and with neighing. 

Urge your swift horse, 
After the crying hounds in this fresh hour, 
Vanquish high hills — stem perilous streams perforce, 
On the free plain give free wings to your course, 

And you will know the power 
Of the brave chase — and how of griefs the sorest 

A cure is in the forest. 

Or stalk the deer; 
The same red lip of dawn has kiss'd the hills, 
The gladdest sounds are crowding on your ear, 
There is a life in all the atmosphere : — 

Your very nature fills 
With the fresh hour, as up the hills aspiring 

You climb with limbs untiring. 

It is a fair 
And goodly sight to see the antler'd stag, 
With the long sweep of his swift walk repair 
To join his brothers ; or the plethoric Bear 

Lying on some high crag, 
With pinky eyes half closed, but broad head shaking, 

As gad-flies keep him waking. 

And these you see, 
And seeing them, you travel to their death 
With a slow stealthy step, from tree to tree, 
Noting the wind however faint it be. 

The hunter draws a breath 

* Sir Thomas Woktley. 

f Belling is an old word for the peculiar cry of the Hart. 
See a letter, written by George Ellis, in Lockhart's 
Life of Scott, giving an account of Sir Thomas Wort- 
ley and his reason for building his lodge. 



In times like these, which, he will say, repays him 
For all care that waylays him. 

A strong joy fills 
(A joy beyond the tongue's expressive power) 
My heart in autumn weather — fills and thrills ! 
And I would rather stalk the breezy hills, 

Descending to my bower 
Nightly, by the sweet spirit of Peace attended, 

Than pine where life is splendid. 



FLORENCE VANE. 

I loved thee long and dearly, 

Florence Vane; 
My life's bright dream and early 

Hath come again ; 
I renew, in my fond vision, 

My heart's dear pain, 
My hopes, and thy derision, 

Florence Vane. 

The ruin, lone and hoary, 

The ruin old 
Where thou didst hark my story, 

At even told, — 
That spot — the hues Elysian 

Of sky and plain — 
I treasure in my vision, 

Florence Vane. 

Thou wast lovelier than the roses 

In their prime ; 
Thy voice excell'd the closes 

Of sweetest rhyme ; 
Thy heart was as a river 

Without a main. 
Would I had loved thee never, 

Florence Vane ! 

But, fairest, coldest, wonder ! 

Thy glorious clay 
Lieth the green sod under — 

Alas, the day ! 
And it boots not to remember 

Thy disdain — 
To quicken love's pale ember, 

Florence Vane. 

The lilies of the valley 

By young graves weep, 
The daisies love to dally 

Where maidens sleep ; 
May their bloom, in beauty vying, 

Never wane 
Where thine earthly part is lying, 

Florence Vane ! 






EPES SARGENT. 



[Born, 1816.] 



The author of "Velasco" is a native of Glou- 
cester, a town on the sea-coast of Massachusetts, 
and was born on the twenty-seventh of September, 
1816. His father, a respectable merchant, of the 
same name, is still living, and resides in Boston. 
The subject of this sketch was educated in the 
schools of that city and the neighbourhood, where 
he lived until his removal to New York, in 1837. 
His earliest metrical compositions were printed in 
"The Collegian," a monthly miscellany edited by 
several of the students of Harvard College, of the 
junior and senior classes of 1830. One of his 
contributions to that work, entitled "Twilight 
Sketches," exhibits the grace of style, ease of ver- 
sification, and variety of description, which are 
characteristic of his more recent effusions. It was 
a sketch of the Summer Gardens of St. Peters- 
burg, and was written during a visit to that capi- 
tal in the spring of 1828. 

Mr. Sargent's reputation rests principally on 
his dramas, which bear a greater value in the 
closet than on the stage. His first appearance 
as a dramatic author was in the winter of 1836, 
when his "Bride of Genoa" was brought out at the 
Tremont Theatre, in Boston. This was a five-act 
play, founded on incidents in the career of Antonio 
Montaldo, a plebeian, who at the age of twenty- 
two, made himself doge of Genoa, in 1693, and 
who is described in the history of the times as a 
man of " forgi ring temper," but daring and ambi- 
tious, with a genius adequate to the accomplish- 
ment of vast designs. In the delineation of his 
hero, the author has followed the historical record, 
though the other characters and incidents of the 
drama are entirely fictitious. It was successfully 



performed in Boston, and since in many of the 
first theatres of the country. His next production 
was of a much higher order, and as a specimen of 
dramatic art, has received warm commendation 
from the most competent judges. It was the tragedy 
of "Velasco," first performed at Boston, in No- 
vember, 1837, Miss Ellen Tree in the character 
of Izidora, and subsequently at the principal 
theatres in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, 
and New Orleans. It was published in New York 
in 1 839. " The general action of the piece," says 
the author in his preface, "is derived from incidents 
in the career of Rodrigo Diaz, the Cid, whose 
achievements constitute so considerable a portion 
of the historical and romantic literature of Spain." 
The subject had been variously treated by French 
and Spanish dramatists, among others, by Cor- 
neille, but Mr. Sargent was the first to intro- 
duce it successfully upon the English stage. It is 
a chaste and elegant performance, and probably 
has not been surpassed by any similar work by 
so youthful an author. It was written before Mr. 
Sargent was twenty -one years of age. 

In the beginning of 1847 Mr. Sabgent pub- 
lished in Boston a volume entitled " Songs of the 
Sea, and other Poems," and a new edition of his 
plays. The quatorzains written during a voyage 
to Cuba, in the spring of 1835, appear to be among 
the most elaborate of his sea pieces, but some of 
his nautical lyrics are more spirited. 

He has published anonymously several prose 
works, and in 1846 commenced the publication of 
the "Modern Acting Drama," of which several 
volumes have been issued under his editorial su- 
pervision. 



RECORDS OF A SUMMER-VOYAGE TO 
CUBA. 

I. THE DEPARTURE. 

Again thy winds are pealing in mine ear ! 
Again thy waves are flashing in my sight ! 
Thy memory-haunting tones again I hear, 
As through the spray our vessel wings her flight ! 
On thy cerulean breast, now swelling high, 
Again, thou broad Atlantic, am I cast ! 
Six years, with noiseless tread, have glided by, 
Since, an adventurous boy, I hail'd thee last, 
The sea-birds o'er me wheel, as if to greet 
An old companion ; on my naked brow 
The sparkling foam-drops not unkindly beat; [now 
Flows through my hair the freshening breeze — and 
The horizon's ring enclasps me; and I stand 
Gazing where fades from view, cloud-like, my father- 
land ! 



II. THE GALE. 

The night came down in terror. Through the 

air 
Mountains of clouds, with lurid summits, roll'd; 
The lightning kindling with its vivid glare 
Their outlines, as they rose, heap'd fold on fold, 
The wind, in fitful sughs, swept o'er the sea ; 
And then a sudden lull, gentle as sleep, 
Soft as an infant's breathing, seem'd to be 
Lain, like enchantment, on the throbbing deep. 
But, false the calm ! for soon the strengthen'd 

gale 
Burst, in one loud explosion, far and wide, 
Drowning the thunder's voice ! With every sail 
Close-reef 'd, our groaning ship heel'd on her side ; 
The torn waves comb'd the deck ; while o'er the 

mast 
The meteors of the storm a ghastly radiance cast ! 

459 



460 



EPES SARGENT. 



III. MORNING AFTER THE GALE. 

Bravely our trim ship rode the tempest through; 
And, when the exhausted gale had ceased to rave, 
How broke the day-star on the gazer's view! 
How flush'd the orient every crested wave ! 
The sun threw down his shield of golden light 
In fierce defiance on the ocean's bed ; 
Whereat, the clouds betook themselves to flight, 
Like routed hosts, with banners soil'd and red. 
The sky was soon all brilliance, east and west ; 
All traces of the gale had pass'd away — 
The chiming billows, by the breeze caress'd, 
Toss'd lightly from their heads the feathery spray. 
Ah ! thus may Hope's auspicious star again 
Rise o'er the troubled soul where gloom and grief 
have been ! 

IV. TO A LAND-BIRD. 

Thou wanderer from green fields and leafy nooks ! 
Where blooms the flower and toils the honey-bee; 
Where odorous blossoms drift along the brooks, 
And woods and hills are very fair to see — 
Why hast thou left thy native bough to roam, 
With drooping wing, far o'er the briny billow'? 
Thou canst not, like the osprey, cleave the foam, 
Nor, like the petrel, make the wave thy pillow. 
Thou 'rt like those fine-toned spirits, gentle bird, 
Which, from some better land, to this rude life 
Seem borne — they struggle, mid the common herd, 
With powers unfitted for the selfish strife ! 
Haply, at length, some zephyr wafts them back 
To their own home of peace, across the world's 
dull track. 

V. A THOUGHT OF THE PAST. 

I woke from slumber at the dead of night, 
Stirr'd by a dream which was too sweet to last — 
A dream of boyhood's season of delight ; 
It flash'd along the dim shapes of the past ! 
And, as I mused upon its strange appeal, 
Thrilling my heart with feelings undefined, 
Old memories, bursting from time's icy seal, 
Rush'd, like sun-stricken fountains, on my mind. 
Scenes, among which was cast my early home, 
My favourite haunts, the shores, the ancient woods, 
Where, with my schoolmates, I was wont to roam, 
Green, sloping lawns, majestic solitudes — 
All rose before me, till, by thought beguiled, 
Freely I could have wept, as if once more a child. 

VT. TIIOPICAL WEATHER. 

We are afloat upon the tropic sea ! 
Here summer holdeth a perpetual reign : 
How flash the waters in their bounding glee ! 
The sky's soft purple is without a stain ! [blowing, 
Full in our wake the smooth, warm trade-winds 
To their unvarying goal still faithful run ; 
And as we steer, with sails lefore them flowing, 
Nearer the zenith daily climbs the sun. 
The startled flying-fish around us skim, 
Gloss'd, like the hummingbird, with rainbow dyes; 
And, as they dip into the water's brim, 
Swift in pursuit the preying dolphin hies. 
All, all is fair; and, gazing round, we feel 
The south's soft languor gently o'er our senses steal. 



O ! for one draught of cooling northern air ! 
That it might pour its freshness on me now; 
That it might kiss my cheek and cleave my hair, 
And part its currents round my fever'd brow ! 
Ocean, and sky, and earth ! a blistering calm 
Spread over all ! how weary wears the day ! 
O, lift the wave, and bend the distant palm, 
Breeze! wheresoe'er thy lagging pinions stray, 
Triumphant burst upon the level deep, 
Rock the fix'd hull and swell the clinging sail ! 
Arouse the opal clouds that o'er us sleep, 
Sound thy shrill whistle ! we will bid thee hail ! 
Though wrapt in all the storm-clouds of the north, 
Yet from thy home of ice, come forth, 0, breeze, 
come forth ! 

VIII. A WISH. 

That I were in some forest's green retreat, 
Beneath a towering arch of proud old elms ; 
Where a clear streamlet gurgled at my feet — 
Its wavelets glittering in their tiny helms ! 
Thick clustering vines, in many a rich festoon, 
From the high, rustling branches should depend; 
Weaving a net, through which the sultry noon 
Might stoop in vain its fiery beams to send. 
There, prostrate on some rock's gray sloping side, 
Upon whose tinted moss the dew yet lay, 
Would I catch glimpses of the clouds that ride 
Athwart the sky — and dream the hours away ; 
While through the alleys of the sunless wood 
The fanning breeze might steal, with wild-flowers' 
breath imbued. 

IX. TROPICAL NIGHT. 

But, O ! the night ! — the cool, luxurious night, 
Which closes round us when the day grows dim, 
And the sun sinks from his meridian height 
Behind the ocean's occidental rim ! 
Clouds, in thin streaks of purple, green, and red, 
Lattice his parting glory, and absorb 
The last bright emanations that are shed 
In wide profusion, from his failing orb. 
And now the moon, her lids unclosing, deigns 
To smile serenely on the charmed sea, 
That shines as if inlaid with lightning-chains, 
From which it hardly struggled to be free. 
Swan-like, with motion unperceived, we glide, 
Touch'd by the downy breeze, and favour'd by the tide. 

X. THE PLANET JUPITER. 

Ever, at night, have I look'd first for thee, 
O'er all thy astral sisterhood supreme ! 
Ever, at night, have I look'd up to see 
The diamond lustre of thy quivering beam ; 
Shining sometimes through pillowy clouds serene, 
As they part from thee, like a loosen'd scroll; 
Sometimes unveil'd, in all thy native sheen, 
When no pale vapours underneath thee roll. 
Bright planet! that art but a single ray 
From our Creator's throne, illume my soul ! 
Thy influence shed upon my doubtful way 
Through life's dark vista to the immortal goal — 
Gleam but as now upon my dying eyes, [shall rise. 
And hope, from earth to thee, from thee to heaven, 



EPES SARGENT. 



461 



XI. TO EGEB.IA. 

Leagues of blue ocean are between us spread ; 
And I cannot behold thee save in dreams ! 
I may not hear thy voice, nor list thy tread, 
Nor see the light that ever round thee gleams. 
Fairest and best ! mid summer joys, ah, say, 
Dost thou e'er think of one who thinks of thee — 
The Atlantic-wanderer, who, day by day, 
Looks for thine image in the deep, deep sea 1 
Long months, and years, perchance,will pass away, 
Ere he shall gaze into thy face again; 
He cannot know what rocks and quicksands may 
Await him, on the future's shipless main ; 
But, thank'd be memory ! there are treasures still, 
Which the triumphant mind holds subject to its will. 

XII. CUBA. 

What sounds arouse me from my slumbers light 1 
" Land ho ! all hands ahoy /" — I 'm on the deck. 
'Tis early dawn. The day-star yet is bright. 
A few white vapoury bars the zenith fleck. 
And lo ! along the horizon, bold and high, 
The purple hills of Cuba ! hail, all hail ! 
Isle of undying verdure, with thy sky 
Of purest azure ! Welcome, odorous gale ! 
! scene of life and joy ! thou art array'd 
In hues of unimagined loveliness — 
Sing louder, brave old mariner ! and aid 
My swelling heart its rapture to express ; 
For from enchanted memory never more [shore ! 
Shall fade this dawn sublime, this bright, celestial 



THE DAYS THAT ARE PAST. 

We will not deplore them, the days that are past; 
The gloom of misfortune is over them cast ; 
They are lengthen'd by sorrow and sullied by care ; 
Their griefs were too many, their joys were too rare ; 
Yet, now that their shadows are on us no more, 
Let us welcome the prospect that brightens before ! 

We have cherish'd fair hopes, we have plotted 

brave schemes, 
We have lived till we find them illusive as dreams ; 
Wealth has melted like snow that is grasp'd in the 

hand, 
And the steps we have climb'd have departed like 

sand ; 
Yet shall we despond while of health unbereft, 
And honour, bright honour, and freedom are left] 

O ! shall we despond, while the pages of time 
Yet open before us their records sublime ! [gold, 
While, ennobled by treasures more precious than 
We can walk with the martyrs and heroes of old ; 
While humanity whispers such truths in the ear, 
As it softens the heart like sweet music to hear 1 

O ! shall we despond while, with visions still free, 
We can gaze on the sky. and the earth, and the sea ; 
While the sunshine can waken a burst of delight, 
And the stars are a joy and a glory by night: 
While each harmony, running through nature, can 

raise 
In our spirits the impulse of gladness and praise ! 

O ! let us no longer then vainly lament 

Over scenes that are faded and days that are spent: 



But, by faith unforsaken, unawed by mischance, 
On hope's waving banner still fix'd be our glance; 
And, should fortune prove cruel and false to the last, 
Let us look to the future and not to the past ! 

THE MARTYR OF THE ARENA. 

Hoxour'd be the hero evermore, 

Who at mercy's call has nobly died ! 
Echoed be his name from shore to shore, 

With immortal chronicles allied ! 
Verdant be the turf upon his dust, 

Bright the sky above, and soft the air ! 
In the grove set up his marble bust, 

And with garlands crown it, fresh and fair. 
In melodious numbers, that shall live 

With the music of the rolling spheres, 
Let the minstrel's inspiration give 

His eulogium to the future years ! 
Not the victor in his country's cause, 

Not the chief who leaves a people free, 
Not the framer of a nation's laws 

Shall deserve a greater fame than he ! 
Hast thou heard, in Rome's declining day, 

How a youth, by Christian zeal impell'd, 
Swept the sanguinary games away, 

Which the Coliseum once beheld 1 
Fill'd with gazing thousands were the tiers, 

With the city's chivalry and pride, 
When two gladiators, with their spears, 

Forward sprang from the arena's side. 
Rang the dome with plaudits loud and long, 

As, with shields advanced, the athletes stood — 
Was there no one in that eager throng 

To denounce the spectacle of blood 1 
Aye, Teleimachus, with swelling frame, 

Saw the inhuman sport renew'd once more : 
Few among the crowd could tell his name — 

For a cross was all the badge he wore ! 
Yet, with brow elate and godlike mien, 

Stepp'd he forth upon the circling sand ; 
And, while all were wondering at the scene, 

Check'd the encounter with a daring hand. 
" Romans !" cried he — " Let this reeking sod 

Never more with human blood be stain'd ! 
Let no image of the living God 

In unhallow'd combat be profaned ! 
Ah ! too long has this colossal dome 

Fail'd to sink and hide your brutal shows ! 
Here I call upon assembled Rome 

Now to swear, they shall forever close !" 
Parted thus, the combatants, with joy, 

Mid the tumult, found the means to fly; 
In the arena stood the undaunted boy, 

And, with looks adoring, gazed on high. 
Peal'd the shout of wrath on every side ; 

Every hand was eager to assail ! 
" Slay him ! slay !" a hundred voices cried, 

Wild with fury — but he did not quail ! 
Hears he, as entranced he looks above, 

Strains celestial, that the menace drown 1 
Sees he angels, with their eyes of love, 

Beckoning to him, with a martyr's crown ? 
Fiercer swell'd the people's frantic shout ! 

Launch'd against him flew the stones like rain! 
2q2 



462 



EPES SARGENT. 



Death and terror circled him about — 

But he stood and perish'd — not in vain ! 
Not in vain the youthful martyr fell ! 

Then and there he crush'd a bloody creed ! 
And his high example shall impel 

Future heroes to as great a deed ! 
Stony answers yet remain for those 

Who would question and precede the time ! 
In their season, may they meet their foes, 

Like Telemachus, with front sublime ! 



SUMMER IN THE HEART. 

The cold blast at the casement beats, 
The window-panes are white, 

The snow whirls through the empty streets- 
It is a dreary night ! 

Sit down, old friend ! the wine-cups wait ; 
Fill to o'erflowing ! fill ! 

Though Winter howleth at the gate, 
In our hearts 'tis summer still ! 

For we full many summer joys 

And greenwood sports have shared* 
When, free and ever-roving boys, 

The rocks, the streams we dared ! 
And, as I look upon thy face — 

Back, back o'er years of ill, 
My heart flies to that happy place, 

Where it is summer still ! 

Yes, though, like sere leaves on the ground, 

Our early hopes are strown, 
And cherish'd flowers lie dead around, 

And singing birds are flown, — 
The verdure is not faded quite, 

Not mute all tones that thrill ; 
For, seeing, hearing thee to-night, 

In my heart 'tis summer still ! 

Fill up ! the olden times come back ! 

With light andjife once more 
We scan the future's sunny track, 

From youth's enchanted shore ! 
The lost return. Through fields of bloom 

We wander at our will ; 
Gone is the winter's angry gloom — 

In our hearts 't is summer still ! 



THE FUGITIVE FROM LOVE. 

Is there but a single theme 
For the youthful poet's dream ] 
Is there but a single wire 
To the youthful poet's lyre ? 
Earth below and heaven above — 
Can he sing of naught but love ? 

Nay ! the battle's dust I see ! 
God of war! I follow thee! 
And, in martial numbers, raise 
Worthy preans to thy praise. 
Ah ! she meets me on the field — 
If I fly not, I must yield. 

Jolly patron of the grape ! 
To thy arms I will escape ! 



Quick, the rosy nectar bring ; 
" Io Bacche" I will sing. 
Ha ! Confusion ! every sip 
But reminds me of her lip. 

Pallas ! give me wisdom's page, 

And awake my lyric rage ; 

Love is fleeting ; love is vain ; 

I will try a nobler strain. 

O, perplexity ! my books 

But reflect her haunting looks ! 

Jupiter ! on thee I cry ! 
Take me and my lyre on high ! 
Lo ! the stars beneath me gleam ! 
Here, O, poet ! is a theme. 
Madness ! She has come above ! 
Every chord is whispering " Love !' 



THE NIGHT-STORM AT SEA. 

'Tis a dreary thing to be 

Tossing on the wide, wide sea, 

When the sun has set in clouds, 

And the wind sighs through the shrouds, 

With a voice and with a tone 

Like a living creature's moan ! 

Look ! how wildly swells the surge 
Round the black horizon's verge ! 
See the giant billows rise 
From the ocean to the skies ! 
While the sea-bird wheels his flight 
O'er their streaming crests of white. 

List ! the wind is wakening fast ! 
All the sk)^ is overcast ! 
Lurid vapours, hurrying, trail 
In the pathway of the gale, 
As it strikes us with a shock 
That might rend the deep-set rock ! 

Falls the strain'd and shiver'd mast ! 
Spars are scatter'd by the blast ! 
And the sails are split asunder, 
As a cloud is rent by thunder ; 
And the struggling vessel shakes, 
As the wild sea o'er her breaks. 

Ah ! what sudden light is this, 
Blazing o'er the dark abyss 1 
Lo ! the full moon rears her form 
Mid the cloud-rifts of the storm, 
And, athwart the troubled air, 
Shines, like hope upon despair ! 

Every leaping billow gleams 
With the lustre of her beams, 
And lifts high its fiery plume 
Through the midnight's parting gloom: 
While its scatter'd flakes of gold 
O'er the sinking deck are roll'd. 

Father! low on bended knee. 
Humbled, weak, we turn to thee! 
Spare us, mid the fearful ficrht 
Of the raging winds to-night! 
Guide us o'er the threatening wave: 
Save us ! — thou alone canst save ! 



THOMAS W. PARSONS. 



[Bom about 18)7.] 



Dr. Parsons is a native of Boston. After the 
completion of his academical and professional edu- 
cation, he went abroad and passed several years of 
study and observation in Italy and other parts of Eu- 
rope. He is known as a poet by an admirable trans- 
lation of Dante's " Inferno," in the terza rima, of 



which the first ten cantos only have been published ; 
by the " Mail Robber," a series of exceedingly clever 
poetical epistles printed in the " Knickerbocker," and 
other contributions to the literary magazines. He has 
a fine eye for the picturesque, and a lively fancy ; and 
his poems are nearly all in a very chaste style of art. 



THE SHADOW OF THE OBELISK. 

Home returning from the music which had so en- 
tranced my brain, 

That the road I scarce remember'd to the Pincian 
Hill again, 

Nay, was willing to forget it underneath a moon so 
fair, 

In a solitude so sacred, and so summer-like in air — 

Came I to the side of Tiber, hardly conscious 
where I stood, 

Till I mark'd the sullen murmur of the venerable 
flood. 

Rome lay doubly dead around me, sunk in silence 
calm and deep; 

'T was the death of desolation — and the nightly 
one of sleep. 

Dreams alone, and recollections peopled now the 
solemn hour ; 

Such a spot and such a season well might wake 
the Fancy's power ; 

Yet no monumental fragment, storied arch or tem- 
ple vast, 

Mid the mean, plebeian buildings loudly whisper'd 
of the Past. 

Tether'd by the shore, some barges hid the wave's 
august repose ; 

Petty sheds of merchants merely, nigh the Campus 
Martius rose ; 

Hardly could the dingy Thamis, when his tide is 
ebbing low, 

Life's dull scene in colder colours to the homesick 
exile show. 

Winding from the vulgar prospect, through a la- 
byrinth of lanes, 

Forth I stepp'd upon the Corso, where its greatness 
Rome retains. 

Yet it was not ancient glory, though the midnight 
radiance fell 

Soft on many a princely mansion, many a dome's 
majestic swell ; 

Though, from some hush'd corner gushing, oft a 
modern fountain gleam'd, 

Where the marble and the waters in their fresh- 
ness equal seem'd: 

What though open courts unfolded columns of 
Corinthian mould 1 

Beautiful it was — but alter'd ! nought bespoke the 
Rome of old. 



So, regardless of the grandeur, pass'd I tow'rds the 
Northern Gate ; 

All around were shining gardens— churches glit- 
tering, yet sedate, 

Heavenly bright the broad enclosure ! but the o'er- 
whelming silence brought 

Stillness to mine own heart's beating, with a mo- 
ment's truce of thought, 

And I started as I found me walking ere I was 
aware, 

O'er the Obelisk's tall shadow, on the pavement 
of the square. 

Ghost-like seem'd it to address me, and convey'd 
me for a while, 

Backward, through a thousand ages, to the borders 
of the Nile ; 

Where for centuries, every morning saw it creep- 
ing, long and dun, 

O'er the stones perchance of Memphis, or the City 
of the Sun. 

Kingly turrets look'd upon it — pyramids and sculp- 
tured fanes : 

Towers and pyramid have moulder'd — but the 
shadow still remains. 

Tired of that lone tomb of Egypt, o'er the seas 

the trophy flew ; 
Here the eternal apparition met the millions' daily 

view. 
Virgil's foot has touch'd it often — it has kiss'd 

Octavia's face — 
Royal chariots have rolled o'er it, in the frenzy of 

the race, 
When the strong, the swift, the valiant, mid the 

throng'd arena strove, 
In the days of good Augustus, and the dynasty of 

Jove. 

Herds are feeding in the Forum, as in old Evan- 

der's time : 
Tumbled from the steep Tarpeian every pile that 

sprang sublime. 
Strange ! that what seem'd most inconstant should 

the most abiding prove ; 
Strange ! that what is hourly moving no mutation 

can remove : 
Ruin'd lies the cirque ! the chariots, long<"ago, have 

ceased to roll — 
Ev'n the Obelisk is broken — but the shadow still 

is whole. 



464 



THOMAS W. PARSONS. 



Out alas ! if mightiest empires leave so little mark 

behind, 
How much less must heroes hope for, in the wreck 

of humankind! 
Less than ev'n this darksome picture, which I tread 

beneath my feet, 
Copied by a lifeless moonbeam on the pebbles of 

the street; 
Since if Cesar's best ambition, living, was to be 

renown'd, 
What shall Ccesar leave behind him, save the 

shadow of a sound 1 



HUDSON RIVER. 

Rivers that roll most musical in song 
Are often lovely to the mind alone ; 

The wanderer muses, as he moves along 

Their barren banks, on glories not their own. 

When, to give substance to his boyish dreams, 
He flies abroad far countries to survey, 

Oft must he whisper, greeting foreign streams, 
" Their names alone are beautiful, not they." 

And oft, remembering rivulets more fair, 

Whose praise no poet yet has dared to sound, 
He marvels much that deserts dull and bare, 
Soak'd by scant brooks, should be so wide re- 
nown'd. 
If chance he mark the shrunken Danube pour 

A tide more meager than his native Charles ; 
Or views the Rhone when summer's heat is o'er, 
Subdued and stagnant in the fen of Aries; 

Or when he sees the slimy Tiber fling 
His sullen tribute at the feet of Rome, 

Oft to his partial thought must memory bring 
More noble waves that sleep unhymn'd at home ; 

Then will he mourn that not in nature dwell 
The charms which fired him in harmonious verse, 

For numbers veil mean objects with a spell 

Whose mist the reasoning senses must disperse. 

But bid him climb the Catskill to behold 

Thy flood, O Hudson! marching to the deep, 

And tell what strain of any bard of old 

Might paint thy grace and imitate thy sweep. 

In distant lands, ambitious walls and towers 
Declare what robbers once the realm possess'd, 

But here heaven's handiwork surpasses ours, 
And man has hardly more than built his nest. 

No storied castle overawes thy heights, 

Nor antique arches curb thy current's play, 

Nor crumbling architrave the mind invites 
To dream of deities long pass'd away. 

No Gothic buttress, nor decaying shaft 
Of marble yellow'd by a thousand years, 

Rears a proud landmark to the cloudlike craft 
That grows in sight, then melts and disappears. 

But cliffs, unalter'd from their primal form 
Since the subsiding of the deluge, rise 

And lift their savins to the upper storm, 

To screen the skiff that underneath it plies. 



Farms, rich not more in harvests, than in men 

Of Saxon mould, and strong for every toil, 
Gem the green mead or scatter through the glen 

Boeotian plenty in a Spartan soil. 
Then, where the reign of cultivation ends, 

Again the beauteous wilderness begins ; 
From steep to steep one solemn wild extends, 

Till some new hamlet's growth the boscage thins. 
And there deep groves for ever have remain'd 

Touch'd by no axe — by no proud owner nursed ; 
As now they bloom, they bloom'd when Pharaoh 

Lineal descendants of creation's first, [reign'd, 

Thou Scottish Tweed, whose course is holier now, 

Since thy last minstrel laid him down to die, 
Where through the casement of his chamber thou 

Didst mix thy moan with his departing sigh ; 
A single one of Hudson's lesser hills 

Might furnish forests for the whole of thine, 
Hide in thick shade all Humber's feeding rills 

And blacken all the children of the Tyne. 
Whatever waters rush from Albion's heart, 

To float the citadels that crowd her sea, 
In nothing save the meaner pomp of Art, 

Sublimer Hudson ! can be named with thee. 

Could bloated Thames with all his riches buy 
To deck the strand which London loads with gold, 

Sunshine so fresh — such purity of sky 
As bless thy sultry season and thy cold 1 

No deeds we know, are chronicled of thee 
In sacred scrolls ; no tales of doubtful claim 

Have hung a history on every tree, 

And given each rock its fable and a fame. 

But neither here hath any conqueror trod, 
Nor grim invaders from barbarian climes ; 

No horrors feign'd of giant or of god 

Pollute thy stillness with recorded crimes. 

Here never yet have happy fields laid waste, 
And butcher'd flocks and heaps of burning fruit, 

The cottage ruin'd — and the shrine defaced, 
Track'd the foul passage of the feudal brute. 

« Alas, Antiquity !" the stranger sighs — 

" Scenes wanting thee soon pall upon the view ; 

The soul's indifference dulls the sated eyes, 
Where all is fair indeed — but all is new." 

False thought ! is age to musty books confined 1 
To Grecian fragments and Egyptian bones 1 

Hath Time no monuments to raise the mind, 
More than old fortresses and sculptured stones? 

Call not this new which is the only land 

That wears unchanged the same primeval face 

Which, when just budding from its Maker's hand, 
Gladden'd the first great grandsire of our race. 

Nor did Euphrates with an earlier birth [south, 
Glide past green Eden towards the unknown 

Than Hudson flash'd upon the infant earth, 
And kiss'd the ocean with its nameless mouth. 

Twin-born with Jordan, Ganges, and the Nile ! 

Thebes and the pyramids to thee are young ; 
Oh ! had thy fountain burst from Britain's isle, 

Till now perchance it had not flow'd unsung. 



THOMAS W. PARSONS. 



465 



ELEGY IN A NEW ENGLAND CHURCH- 
YARD. 

O thotj that in the beautiful repose 

Of the deep waters, down below the storms, 

Art calmly waiting where the coral grows, 
With many wonderful and lovely forms. 

If thou wert happy in the life above, 

Thou art thrice happier bleaching there below, 
Where no sad pilgrim led by lingering love, 

Can vex thy ghost with his presumptuous wo. 

Or if misfortune dogg'd thee from the womb 
To the last unction, thou art overpaid 

By the majestic silence of thy tomb 

For all the pangs that life a penance made. 

Such rest kings have not in the marble caves 
Before whose doors perpetual tapers burn ; 

Nor saints that sleep in consecrated graves, 
Nor bards whose ashes grace the loftiest urn. 

Nor even those humbler tenants of a mound, 
Under some elm that thrives upon the dead, 

In quiet corners of neglected ground, 

Scarce twice a year disturb'd by living tread. 

For even there the impious throng may stream, 
Startling the silent people of the sod ; 

Fierce wheels may clash, the fiery engine scream, 
And mortal clamours drown the voice of God. 

Such fancies held me as I stray'd at noon 

By the old churchyard, known to few but me, 

Where oft my childhood by the wintry moon 
Saw the pale spectres glide, or fear'd to see. 

Head-stone or mound had never mark'd the spot 
Within man's memory ; weeds had strewn it o'er; 

Yet had no swain profaned it with his cot, 

And the plough spared it for the name it bore. 

Out on this busy age ! that noonday walk 

Show'd strange mutations to my dreaming eye; 

No phantom pass'd me with sepulchral stalk — 
The rush and thunder of the world went by. 

Men, breathing men, no spirits faint and wan, 
But proud and noisy children of to-day, 

Flash'd on my sight an instant and were gone, 
Swift as the shades they seem'd to scare away. 

Curl'd o'er my head a momentary cloud 

From the light vapour that they left behind; 

Then, fitting emblem of that flying crowd, 
It sway'd and melted in the April wind. 

thou that slumberest underneath the sea, 
Down fathoms deep below all living things, 

Who seeks for perfect rest must follow thee, 
And sleep till Gabriel wake him with his wings. 



"AVE MARIA!" 

Ave Maria ! 'tis the evening hymn 
Of many pilgrims on the land and sea; 
Soon as the day withdraws, and two or three 
Faint stars are burning, all whose eyes are dim 
With tears or watching, all of weary limb, 



Or troubled spirit, yield the bended knee, 

And find, Virgin ! life's repose in thee. 
I, too, at nightfall, when the newborn rim 

Of the young moon is first beheld above, 
Tune my fond thoughts to their devoutest key, 
And from all bondage — save remembrance — free, 

Glad of my liberty as Noah's dove, 
Seek the Madonna most adored by me, 

And say mine " Ave Marias" to my love. 



THE BURIAL OF A FRIEND. 

The bier is ready and the mourners wait, 
The funeral car stands open at the gate. 
Bring down our brother ; bear him gently, too ; 
So, friends, he always bore himself with you. 
Down the sad staircase, from the darken'd room, 
For the first time, he comes in silent gloom. 
Who ever left this hospitable door 
Without his smile and warm " good-by," before'? 
Now we for him the parting word must say 
To the mute threshold whence we bear his clay ! 

The slow procession lags upon the road — 
'T is heavy hearts that make the heavy load ; 
And all too brightly glares the burning noon 
On the dark pageant — be it ended soon! 
The quail is piping and the locust sings ; 
Oh grief, thy contrast with these joyous things ! 
What pain to see, amid our task of wo, 
The laughing river keep its wonted flow ! 
His hawthorns there — his proudly waving corn — 
And all so flourishing and so forlorn ! 
His new-built cottage, too, so fairly plann'd, 
Whose chimney ne'er shall smoke at his command. 

Two sounds were heard, that on the spirit fell 
With sternest moral : one the passing bell ! 
The other told the history of the hour, 
Life's fleeting triumphs, mortal pride and power. 
Two trains there met — the iron-sinew'd horse 
And the black hearse — the engine and the corse ! 
Haste on your track, you fiery-winged steed, 
I hate your presence and approve your speed; 
Fly with your eager freight of breathing men, 
And leave these mourners to their march again. 
Swift as my wish they broke their slight delay, 
And life and death pursued their separate way. 

The solemn service in the church was held, 
Bringing strange comfort as the anthem swell'd, 
And back we bore him to his long repose, 
Where his great elm its evening shadow throws — 
A sacred spot ! There often he hath stood, 
Show'd us his harvests, and pronounced them good ; 
And we may come, with eyes no longer dim, 
To watch new harvests and remember him. 

Peace to thee, Steuart, and to us ! th' All- Wise 
Would ne'er have found thee readier for the skies. 
In His large love he kindly waits the best, 
The fittest mood, to summon every guest ; 
So, in his prime, our dear companion went, 
When the young soul is easy to repent. 
No long purgation shall he now require 
In black remorse — in penitential fire ; 
From what few frailties might have stain'd his morn, 
Our tears may wash him pure as he was born. 



466 



THOMAS W. PARSONS. 



ON A BUST OF DANTE. 

See, from this counterfeit of him 

Whom Arno shall remember long, 
How stern of lineament, how grim 

The father was of Tuscan song. 
There but the burning sense of wrong, 

Perpetual care and scorn abide ; 
Small friendship for the lordly throng ; 

Distrust of all the world beside. 

Faithful if this wan image be, 

No dream his life was — but a fight ; 
Could any Beatrice see 

A lover in that anchorite 1 
To that cold Ghibeline's gloomy sight 

Who could have guess'd the visions came 
Of beauty, veil'd with heavenly light, 

In circles of eternal flame ? 

The lips, as Cumae's cavern close, 

The cheeks, with fast and sorrow thin, 
The rigid front, almost morose, 

But for the patient hope within, 
Declare a life whose course hath been 

Unsullied still, though still severe, 
Which, through the wavering days of sin, 

Keep itself icy-chaste and clear. 

Not wholly such his haggard look 

When wandering once, forlorn, he stray 'd, 
With no companion save his book, 

To Corvo's hush'd monastic shade ; 
Where, as the Benedictine laid 

His palm upon the pilgrim guest, 
The single boon for which he pray'd 

The convent's charity was rest.* 

Peace dwells not here — this rugged face 

Betrays no spirit of repose ; 
The sullen warrior sole we trace, 

The marble man of many woes. 
Such was his mien when first arose 

The thought of that strange tale divine, 
When hell he peopled with his foes, 

The scourge of many a guilty line. 

War to the last he waged with all 
The tyrant canker-worms of earth ; 

Baron and duke, in hold and hall, 

Cursed the dark hour that gave him birth; 

* It is told of Dante that when he was roaming over 
Italy, he came to a certain monastery, where he was 
met by one of the friars, who blessed him, and asked 
what was his desire — to which the weary stranger simply 
answered "Pace." 



He used Rome's harlot for his mirth ; 

Pluck'd bare hypocrisy and crime ; 
But valiant souls of knightly worth 

Transmitted to the rolls of Time. 

Time ! whose verdicts mock our own, 

The only righteous judge art thou ; 
That poor, old exile, sad and lone, 

Is Latium's other Virgil now : 
Before his name the nations bow : 

His words are parcel of mankind, 
Deep in whose hearts, as on his brow, 

The marks have sunk of Dante's mind. 



ON A MAGDALEN, BY GUIDO. 

Mart, when thou wert a virgin, 

Ere the first, the fatal sin 
Stole into thy bosom's chamber, 

Leading six companions in ; 
Ere those eyes had wept an error, 

What thy beauty must have been ! 

Ere those lips had paled their crimson, 
Quivering with the soul's despair, 

Ere with pain they oft had parted 
In thine agony of prayer, 

Or, instead of pearls, the tear-drops 
Glisten'd in thy streaming hair. 

While in ignorance of sorrow 
Still thy heart serenely dream' d, 

And the morning light of girlhood 
On thy cheek's young garden beam'd, 

Where th' abundant rose was blushing, 
Not of earth couldst thou have seem'd. 

When thy frailty fell upon thee, 
Lovely wert thou, even then ; 

Shame itself could not disarm thee 
Of the charms that vanquish'd men ; 

Which of Salem's purest daughters 
Match'd the sullied Magdalen 1 

But thy Master's eye beheld thee 
Foul and all unworthy heaven; 

Pitied, pardonM, purged thy spirit 
Of its black, pernicious leaven ; 

Drove the devils from out the temple, 
All the dark and guilty seven. 

Oh the beauty of repentance ! 

Mary, tenfold fairer now 
Art thou with those dewy eyelids, 

And that anguish on thy brow; 
Ah, might every sinful sister 

Grow in beauty ev'n as thou f 



WILLIAM W. LORD. 



[Born about 1818.] 



Mr. Lord is a native of Western New York, 
and is descended through both his parents from the 
New England Puritans. His father was a Pres- 
byterian clergyman, and his mother, who now re- 
sides with her eldest son, the Rev. Dr. Lord of 
Buffalo, is a woman of refinement and cultiva- 
tion. He had therefore the advantages of a good 
domestic training. He exhibited at a very early 
age a love of letters, and soon became familiar 
with Shakspeare and the other great writers of 
the Elizabethan age, and probably few men are 
now more familiar with English literature in all 
its departments. During his college life his health 
failed, and his friends, yielding to a desire for a sea 
voyage, committed him to the care of the master of 
a whale ship, owned by a family friend at New 
London. After being a few weeks at sea he grew 
weary of the monotony of a cabin passage, and, 
against the remonstrances of the captain, forced 
his way into the forecastle, where he soon became 
a sturdy seaman, and, during four years of service 
in the Pacific, endured all the hardships, priva- 
tions and perils of that adventurous life, exhibiting 
on every occasion the boldest traits of character. 
On returning home he resolved to devote his time 
to the study of moral science, and with this view, 
in 1841, entered the theological school at Auburn ; 



but the death of the Rev. Dr. Richards, president 
of that institution, occurring in 1843, he joined 
the senior class of the Princeton Theological Semi- 
nary, in which he completed his course of study, 
with much credit, early in the following year. He 
is now a fellow of the College of New Jersey, and 
is engaged in the preparation of a course of Lec- 
tures on English Literature. 

Mr. Lord has been a laborious and successful 
student; is familiar with the ancient languages 
and literatures ; has been a diligent reader of the 
best German writers ; and has cultivated an ac- 
quaintance with the arts of design. Philosophy 
is his favourite study, however, and Coleridge and 
Wordsworth are his most familiar authors. 

Mr. Lord's only published volume of poems 
appeared in 1 845. Its contents were all written 
during the previous year, and they bear generally 
marks of haste and carelessness, but such proofs 
of genuine poetical taste and power as to win at- 
tention and praise from judicious critics. His mind 
is imbued with the spirit of his favourite authors, 
but many passages in his writings are as original, 
in thought and manner, as they are beautiful. The 
pervading tone of his poetry is that of reverent 
meditation, but occasionally it is distinguished by a 
graceful playfulness. 



KEATS.* 

Oh gold Hyperion, love-lorn Porphyro, 

Ill-fated ! from thine orb'd fire struck back 
Just as the parting clouds began to glow, 

And stars, like sparks, to bicker in thy track ! 
Alas ! throw down, throw down, ye mighty dead, 

The leaves of oak and asphodel 
That ye were weaving for that honour'd head, — 

In vain, in vain, your lips would seek a spell 
In the few charmed words the poet sung, 

To lure him upward in your seats to dwell, — 
As vain your grief! O ! why should one so young 

Sit crown'd midst hoary heads with wreaths di- 
vine ? 
Though to his lips Hymettus' bees had clung, 

His lips shall never taste the immortal wine, 
Who sought to drain the glowing cup too soon, 
For he hath perish'd, and the moon 
Hath lost Endymion — but too well 

The shaft that pierced him in her arms was sped : — 

Into that gulf of dark and nameless dread. 

Star-like he fell, but a wide splendour shed 
Through its deep night, that kindled as he fell. 



Trom "An Ode to England. 



TO MY SISTER. 

Axd shall we meet in heaven, and know and love 1 
Do human feelings in that world above 
Unchanged survive ] blest thought ! but ah, I fear 
That thou, dear sister, in some other sphere, 
Distant from mine, will find a brighter home, 
Where I, unworthy found, may never come ; — 
Or be so high above me glorified, 
That I, a meaner angel, undescried, 
Seeking thine eyes, such love alone shall see 
As angels give to all bestowed on me ; 
And when my voice upon thy ear shall fall, 
Hear only such reply as angels give to all. 

Forgive me, sister, O forgive the love 
Whose selfishness would reach the life above, 
And even in heaven do its object wrong — 
But should I see thee in the heavenly throng, 
Bright as the star I love — the night's first star, 
If, like that star, thou still must shine afar, 
And in thy glory I must never see 
A woman's, sister's look of love from thee, — 
Must never call thee by a sister's name, 
I could but wish thee less, if thus, the same, 
My sister still, dear Sarah ! thou might'st be, 
And I thy brother still, in that blest company. 



408 



WILLIAM W. LORD. 



THE BROOK. 

A little blind girl wandering, 

While daylight pales beneath the moon, 

And with a brook meandering, 
To hear its gentle tune. 

The little blind girl by the brook, 

It told her something— you might guess, 

To see her smile, to see her look 
Of listening eagerness. 

Though blind, a never silent guide 
Flow'd with her timid feet along; 

And down she wander'd by its side 
To hear the running song. 

And sometimes it was soft and low, 
A creeping music in the ground ; 

And then, if something check'd its flow, 
A gurgling swell of sound. 

And now, upon the other side, 

She seeks her mother's cot ; 
And still the noise shall be her guide, 

And lead her to the spot. 

For to the blind, so little free 
To move about beneath the sun, 

Small things like this seem liberty — 
Something from darkness won. 

But soon she heard a meeting stream, 
And on the bank she follow'd still, 

It murmur'd on, nor could she tell 
It was another rill. 

Ah! whither, whither, my little maid? 

And wherefore dost thou wander here 1 
I seek my mother's cot, she said, 

And surely it is near. 

There is no cot upon this brook, 

In yonder mountains dark and drear, 

Where sinks the sun, its source it took, 
Ah, wherefore art thou here 1 

Oh ! sir, thou art not true nor kind, 
It is the brook, I know its sound ; 

Ah ! why would you deceive the blind 1 
I hear it in the ground. 

And on she stepp'd, but grew more sad, 
And weary were her tender feet, 

The brook's small voice seem'd not so glad, 
Its song was not so sweet. 

Ah ! whither, whither, my little maid 1 
And wherefore dost thou wander iiere ? 

I seek my mother's cot she said, 
And surely it is near. 

There is no cot upon this brook ; 

I hear its sound, the maid replied, 
With dreamlike and bewilder'd look — 

I have not left its side. 

go with me, the darkness nears, 
The first pale star begins to gleam ; 

The maid replied with bursting tears, 
It is the stream ! It is the stream ! 



A RIME, 

WHICH IS YET REASON, AND TEACHETH, IN A LIGHT 

MANNER, A GRAVE MATTER IN THE 

LERE OF LOVE. 

As Love sat idling beneath a tree, 

A Knight rode by on his charger free, 

Stalwart and fair and tall was he, 

With his plume and his mantle, a sight to see 

And proud of his scars, right loftily, 

He cried, Young boy, will you go with me! 
But Love he pouted and shook his head, 
And along fared the Warrior, ill-bested : 

Love is not won by chivalry. 

Then came a Minstrel bright of blee, 

Blue were his eyes as the heavens be, 

And sweet as a song-bird's throat sung he, 

Of smiles and tears and ladie's ee, 

Soft love and glorious chivalry, 

Then cried, Sweet boy, will you go with me 1 
Love wept and smiled, but shook his head, 
And along fared the Minstrel ill-bested : 

Love is not won by minstrelsy. 

Then came a Bookman, wise as three, 

Darker a scholar you shall not see 

In Jewrie, Rome, or Araby. 

But list, fair dames, what I rede to ye, 

In love's sweet lere untaught was he, 

For when he cried, Come, love, with me, 
Tired of the parle he was nodding his head, 
And along fared the Scholar ill-bested: 

Love is not won by pedantry. 

Then came a Courtier wearing the key 

Of council and chambers high privity ; 

He could dispute yet seem to agree, 

And soft as dew was his flatterie. 

And with honied voice and low congee 

Fair youth, he said, will you honour me 1 
In courteous wise Love shook his head. 
And along fared the Courtier ill-bested : 

Love is not won by courtesy. 

Then came a Miser blinking his ee, 
To view the bright boy beneath the tree ; 
His purse, which hung to his cringing knee, 
The ransom held of a king's countree ; 
And a handful of jewels and gold showed he, 
And cried, Sweet child, will you go with me 1 
Then loud laugh'd Love as he shook his head, 
And along fared the Monger ill-bested : 
Love is not won by merchandry. 

then to young Love beneath the tree, 
Came one as young and as fair as he, 
And as like to him as like can be, 
And clapping his little wings for glee, 
With nods and smiles and kisses tree, 
He whisper'd, Come, Oh come with me : 

Love pouted and flouted and shook his head, 
But along with that winsome youth he sped 
And love wins love, loud shouted he ! 



GEORGE W. DEWEY. 



[Bora, 1318.] 



Mr. Dewey (whose father was a painter, from 
Westfield, in Massachusetts) was born in Balti- 
more, in 1818, and from an early age has resided 
in Philadelphia, to the journals and literary mis- 
cellanies of which city he has been a frequent con- 
tributor for several years. His numerous poems 



have a natural grace and tenderness which be- 
long to the most genuine expressions of social 
feeling. 

There is no published collection of Mr. Dewey's 
poems, or of his prose writings, which consist of 
moral essays, reviews, etc. 



THE RUSTIC SHRINE. 

" Their names were found cut upon a rural bench, over- 
grown with vines, which proved to be at once Love's shrine 
and cenotaph."— Legends of the Rhine. 

A shadow of the cypress-bough 

Lies on my path to-day ; 
A melancholy — which in vain 

I strive to chase away. 

The angel Memory hath flown 

To old and cherish'd things, 
To bring the light of early years 

Around me on her wings : 

And where the lovelorn birds complain 

Within their green abode, 
Between two elms, a rustic seat 

Invites her from the road. 

There shall she sit, as oft before, 

And sigh as oft again, 
O'er names engraved, which long have braved 

The sunshine and the rain. 

And one — it is the dearest name 
On Love's unnumber'd shrines — 

So dear, that even envious Time 
Hath guarded it with vines ; 

And wreathed it with his choicest flowers, 

As if the bridal claim, 
Which Fate denied unto her brow, 

Should still adorn her name ! 

Ah, well do I remember yet 

The day I carved that name ! 
The rattle of the locusts' drum 

Thrills o'er me now the same : 

Adown the lane the wayward breeze 

Comes with a stealthy pace, 
And brings the perfume of the fields 

To this deserted place. 

Unto her blushing cheek again 

It comes — the blessed air ! 
Caressing, like a lover's hand, 

The tresses of her hair. 

The brook runs laughing at her feet, 

O'erhead the wild-bird sings ; 
The air is fill'd with butterflies, 

As though the flowers had wings. 



But this is Fancy's pilgrimage, 

And lures me back in vain ! 
The brook, the bench, the flowers, and vines, 

I ne'er may see again : 

For this is but an idle dream, 

That mocks me evermore — 
And memory only fills the place 

The loved one fill'd of yore ! 

BLIND LOUISE. 

She knew that she was growing blind — 

Foresaw the dreary night 
That soon would fall, without a star, 

Upon her fading sight : 

Yet never did she make complaint, 
But pray'd each day might bring 

A beauty to her waning eyes — 
The loveliness of Spring ! 

She dreaded that eclipse which might 

Perpetually enclose 
Sad memories of a leafless world — 

A spectral realm of snows. 

She 'd rather that the verdure left 

An evergreen to shine 
Within her heart, as summer leaves 

Its memory on the pine. 

She had her wish : for when the sun 

O'erhung his eastern towers, 
And shed his benediction on 

A world of May-time flowers — 

We found her seated, as of old, 

In her accustom'd place, 
A midnight in her sightless eyes, 

And morn upon her face ! 



A MEMORY. 

It was a bright October day — 

Ah, well do I remember ! 
One rose yet bore the bloom of May, 

Down toward the dark December. 

One rose that near the lattice grew, 
With fragrance floating round it : 

Incarnardined, it blooms anew 
In dreams of her who found it. 

2E 469 



470 



GEORGE W. DEWEY. 



Pale, wither'd rose, bereft and shorn 

Of all thy primal glory, 
All leafless now, thy piercing thorn 

Reveals a sadder story. 

It was a dreary winter day ; 

Too well do I remember! 
They bore her frozen form away, 

And gave her to December ! 

There were no perfumes on the air, 
No bridal blossoms round her, 

Save one pale lily in her hair 

To tell how pure Death found her. 

The thistle on the summer air 

Hath shed its iris glory, 
And thrice the willows weeping there 

Have told the seasons' story, 

Since she, who bore the blush of May, 
Down toward the dark December 

Pass'd like the thorn-tree's bloom away, 
A pale, reluctant ember. 



A BLIGHTED MAY. 

Call not this the month of roses — 
There are none to bud and bloom; 

Morning light, alas ! discloses 
But the winter of the tomb. 

All that should have deck'd a bridal 

Rest upon the bier — how idle ! 
Dying in their own perfume. 

Every bower is now forsaken — 
There 's no bird to charm the air ! 

From the bough of youth is shaken 
Every hope that blossom'd there ; 

And my soul doth now enrobe her 

In the leaves of sere October 
Under branches swaying bare. 

When the midnight falls beside me, 
Like the gloom which in me lies, 

To the stars my feelings guide me, 
Seeking there thy sainted eyes; 

Stars whose rays' seem ever bringing 

Down the soothing air, the singing 
Of thy soul in paradise. 

Oh that I might stand and listen 
To that music ending never, 

While those tranquil stars should glisten 
On my life's o'erfrozen river, 

Standing thus, forever seeming 

Lost in what the world calls dreaming, 
Dreaming, love, of thee, forever ! 



TO AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 

On say, does the cottage yet peer from the shadow 
Of ancestral elms on the side of the hill 1 — 

Its doorway of woodbine, that look'd to the meadow, 
And welcomed the sun as a guest on the sill ; 

The April-winged martin, with garrulous laughter, 
Is he there where the mosses were thatching the 
eave 1 



And the dear little wren that crept under the rafter, 

The earliest to come, and the latest to leave ! 
Oh say, is the hawthorn the hedgerow perfuming 

Adown the old lane 1 are the willows still there, 
Where briery thickets in springtime were blooming, 

And breathing their life on the odorous air 1 
And runs yet the brook where the violets were weep- 
ing, 

Where the white lily sat like a swan of the stream, 
While under the laurel the shepherd-boy sleeping, 

Saw only the glory of life in his dream ! 
Hath the reaper been there with his sickle relentless, 

The stern reaper Death in the harvest of life ! 
Hath his foot crush'd the blossoms, till wither'd and 
scentless 

They lay ere the frosts of the autumn were rife ? 
Ah yes, I can hear the sad villagers hymning 

A requiem that swells from my heart on my ear, 
And a gathering shadow of sorrow is dimming 

Those scenes that must ever arise with a tear. 



THE SHADY SIDE. 

I sat and gazed upon thee, Rose, 

Across the pebbled way, 
And thought the very wealth of mirth 

Was thine that winter day ; 
For. while I saw the truant rays 

Within thy window glide, 
Remember'd beams reflected came 

Upon the shady side. 
I sat and gazed upon thee, Rose, 

And thought the transient beams 
Were leaving on thy braided brow 

The trace of golden dreams; 
Those dreams, which like the ferry-barge 

On youth's beguiling tide, 
Will leave us when we reach old age, 

Upon the shady side. 
Ah ! yes, methought while thus I gazed 

Across the noisy way, 
The stream of life between us flow'd 

That cheerful winter day ; 
And that the bark whereon I cross'd 

The river's rapid tide, 
Had left me in the quietness 

Upon the shady side. 
Then somewhat of a sorrow, Rose, 

Came crowding on my heart, 
Revealing how that current sweeps 

The fondest ones apart; 
But while you stood to bless me there, 

In beauty, like a bride, 
I felt my own contentedness, 

Though on the shady side. 
The crowd and noise divide us, Rose, 

But there will come a day 
When you, with light and timid feet, 

Must cross the busy way; 
And when you sit, as I do now, 

To happy thoughts allied, 
May some bright angel shed her light 

Upon the shady side ! 



ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE. 



[Bora, 

Mr. Coxe is the eldest son of the Reverend j 
Samuel H. Coxe, D. D., of Brooklyn. He was 
born in Mendham, in New Jersey, on the tenth 
day of May, 1818. At ten years of age he was 
sent to a gymnasium at Pittsfield, in Massachu- 
setts, and he completed his studies preparatory to 
entering the University of New York, under the 
private charge of Doctor Bcsu, author of "The 
Life of Mohammed," etc. While in the univer- 
sity he distinguished himself by his devotion to 
classic learning, and particularly by his acquaint- 
ance with the Greek poets. In his freshman year 
he delivered a poem before one of the undergra- 
duates' societies, on "The Progress of Ambition," 
and in the same period produced many spirited 
metrical pieces, some of which appeared in the 
periodicals* of the time. In the autumn of 1837 
he published his first volume, " Advent, a Mys- 
tery," a poem in the dramatic form, to which was 
prefixed the following dedication : 

Father, as he of old who reap'd the field, 
The first young sheaves to Him did dedicate 

Whose bounty gave whate'er the glebe did yield, 
Whose smile the pleasant harvest might create — 
So I to thee these numbers consecrate, 

Thou who didst lead to Silo's pearly spring; 
And if of hours well saved from revels late 

And youthful riot, I these fruits do bring, 

Accept my early vow, nor frown on what I sing. 

This work was followed in the spring of 1838 by 
"Athwold, a Romaunt;" and in the summer of 
the same year were printed the first and second 
cantos of " Saint Jonathan, the Lay of a Scald." j 
These were intended as introductory to a novel 
in the stanza of " Don Juan," and four other can- 
tos were afterward written, but wisely destroyed 
by the author on his becoming a candidate for 
holy orders, an event not contemplated in his 
previous studies. He was graduated in July, and 
on the occasion delivered an eloquent valedictory 
oration. 

From this period his poems assumed a devo- 
tional cast, and were usually published in the I 
periodicals of the church. His " Athanasion" was j 
pronounced before the alumni of Washington j 
College, in Connecticut, in the summer of 1840. 
It is an irregular ode, and contains passages of j 
considerable merit, but its sectarian character will 
prevent its receiving general applause. The fol- 
lowing allusion to Bishop Berkeley is from this \ 
poem : 

Oft when the eve-star, sinking into day, 
Seems empire's planet on its westward way, 
Comes., rn soft light from antique window's groin, 
Thy pure ideal, mitred saint of Cloyne ! 

* Among them "The Blues" and "The Hebrew Muse, 
in "The American Monthly Magazine." 



Taught, from sweet childhood, to revere in thee 
Earth's every virtue, writ in poesie, 
Nigh did I leap, on Clio's calmer line, 
To see thy story with our own entwine. 
On Yale's full walls, no pictured shape to me 
Like Berkeley's seem'd, in priestly dignity, 
Such as he stood, fatiguing, year by year, 
In our behoof, dull prince and cavalier; 
And dauntless still, as erst the Genoese ; 
Such as he wander'd o'er the Indy seas 
To vex'd Bermoothes, witless that he went 
Mid isles that beckon'd to a continent. 
Such there he seem'd, the pure, the undefiled! 
And meet the record! Though, perchance, I smiled 
That those, in him, themselves will glorify, 
Who reap his fields, but let his doctrine die, 
Yet, let him stand : the world will note it well, 
And Time shall thank them for the chronicle 
By such confess'd, Columbus of new homes 
For song, and Science with her thousand tomes. 
Yes — pure apostle of our western lore, 
Spoke the full heart, that now may breathe it more, 
Still in those halls, where none without a sneer 
Name the dear title of thy ghostly fear, 
Stand up, bold bishop — in thy priestly vest; 
Proof that the Church bore letters to the West ! 
In the autumn of the same year appeared Mr. 
Coxe's "Christian Ballads," a collection of reli- 
gious poems, of which the greater number had 
previously been given to the public through the 
columns of « The Churchman." They are ele- 
gant, yet fervent expressions of the author's love 
for the impressive and venerable customs, cere- 
monies, and rites of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. 

While in the university, Mr. Coxe had, besides 
acquiring the customary intimacy with ancient 
literature, learned the Italian language ; and he 
now, under Professor Nordhei^ier, devoted two 
years to the study of the Hebrew and the Ger- 
man. After passing some time in the Divinity 
School at Chelsea, he was admitted to deacon's 
orders, by the Bishop of New York, on the twen- 
ty-eighth of June, 1841. In the following July, on 
receiving the degree of Master of Arts from the 
University, he pronounced the closing oration, by 
appointment of the faculty; and in August he 
accepted a call to the rectorship of Saint Anne's 
church, then recently erected by Mr. GorvERXEUR 
Morris on his family domain of Morrisiana, near 
New York. He was married on the twenty-first 
of September, by the bishop of the diocese, to 
his third cousin, Cathartxe Cleveland, eldest 
daughter of .Mr. Simeon Hyde. 

Since this time Mr. Coxe has become Rector of 
St. Pauls, in Hartford, Connecticut, and has pub- 
lished, besides several works in prose, " Saul, a 
Mystery," and two or three volumes of miscella- 
neous poems. He is among the most prolific, and, 
but for this, would probably be among the best, of 
our younger writers. 



472 



ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE. 



MANHOOD. 

Boyhood hath gone, or ever I was 'ware : 
Gone like the birds that have sung out their season, 
And fly away, but never to return: 
Gone — like the memory of a faiiy vision ; 
Gone — like the stars that have burnt out in heaven: 
Like flowers that open once a hundred years, 
And have just folded up their golden petals: 
Like maidenhood, to one no more a virgin ; 
Like all that's bright, and beautiful, and transient, 
And yet, in its surpassing loveliness, 
And quick dispersion into empty nothing, 
Like its dear self alone, like life, like Boyhood. 
Now, on the traversed scene I leave for ever, 
Doth memory cast already her pale look, 
And through the mellow light of by-gone summers, 
Gaze, like the bride, that leaveth her home-valley, 
And like the Patriarch, goes she knows not where. 
She, with faint heart, upon the bounding hill-top 
Turns her fair neck, one moment, unbeheld, 
And through the sun-set, and her tearful eye, 
Far as her father's dwelling, strains her sight, 
To bless the roof-tree, and the lawn, and gardens, 
Where romp her younger sisters, still at home. 

I have just waken'd from a darling dream, 
And fain would sleep once more. I have been roving 
In a sweet isle, and thither would return. 
I have just come, methinks, from Fairyland, 
And yearn to see Mab's kingdom once again, 
And roam its landscapes with her ! Ah, my soul, 
Thy holiday is over — play-time gone, 
And a stern Master bids thee to thy task. 

How shall I ever go through this rough world ! 
How find me older every setting sun ; 
How merge my boyish heart in manliness ; 
How take my part upon the tricksy stage, 
And wear a mask to seem what I am not ! 
Ah me — but I forgot ; the mimicry 
Will not be long, ere all that I had feign'd. 
Will be so real, that my mask will fall, 
And Age act Self, uncostumed for the play. 
Now my first step I take, adovvn the valley, 
But ere I reach the foot, my pace must change; 
And I toil on, as man has ever done, 
Treading the causeway, smooth with endless travel, 
Since first the giants of old Time descended, 
And Adam leading down our mother Eve, 
In ages elder than Antiquity. 
This voice, so buoyant, must be all unstrung, 
Like harps, that chord by chord grow musicless ; 
These hands must totter on a smooth-topp'd staff, 
That late could whirl the ball-club vigorously: 
This eye grow glassy, that can sparkle now, 
And on the dear Earth's hues look doatingly : 
And these brown locks, which tender hands have 
In loving curls about their taper-fingers, [twined 
Must silver soon, and bear about such snows, 
As freeze away all touch of tenderness. 
And then, the end of every human story 
Is ever this, whatever its beginning, 
To wear the robes of being — in their rags ; 
To bear, like the old Tuscan's prisoners, 
A corpse still with us, insupportable ; 
And then to sink in Earth, like dust to dust, 



And hearse for ever from the gaze of men, [relics! 
What long they thought — now dare to call — our 
Glory to him who doth subject the same, 

In hope of Immortality ! 

I go from strength to strength, from joy to joy; 
From being unto being ! I will snatch 
This germ of comfort from departing youth ; 
And when the pictured primer's thrown aside, 
I'll hoard its early lessons in my heart. 
I shall go on through all Eternity; 
Thank God ! I only am an embryo still ; 
The small beginning of a glorious soul ; 
An atom that shall fill Immensity ; 

The bell hath toll'd ! my birth-hour is upon me ! 
The hour that made me child, has made me man, 
And bids me put all childish things away. 
Keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me ! 
And grant me, Lord, with this, the Psalmist's prayer, 
Remember not the follies of my youth, 
But in thy mercy, think upon me, Lord ! 



OLD CHURCHES. 

Hast been where the full-blossom'd bay-tree is blow- 

With odours like Eden's around"? [ing 

Hast seen where the broad-leaved palmetto is grow- 

And wild vines are fringing the ground ? [ing, 
Hast sat in the shade of catalpas, at noon, 

And ate the cool gourds of their clime ; 
Or slept where magnolias were screening the moon, 

And the mocking-bird sung her sweet rhyme] 
And didst mark, in thy journey, at dew-dropping 

Some ruin peer high o'er thy way, [eve, 

With rooks wheeling round it, and bushes to weave 

A mantle for turrets so gray 1 
Did ye ask if some lord of the cavalier kind 

Lived there, when the country was young 1 ? 
And burn'd not the blood of a Christian, to find 

How there the old prayer-bell had rung 1 

And did ye not glow, when they told ye — the Lord 

Had dwelt in that thistle-grown pile ; 
And that bones ofoldChristianswere under its sward, 

That once had knelt down in its aisle 1 
And had ye no tear-drops your blushes to steep 

When yc thought — o'er your country so broad, 
The bard seeks in vain for a mouldering heap, 

Save only these churches of God ! 

ye that shall pass by those ruins agen, 

Go kneel in their alleys and pray, 
And not till their arches have echoed amen, 

Rise up, and fare on in your way ; [more, 
Pray Gon that those ai?les may be crowded once 

Those altars surrounded and spread, 
While anthems and prayers are upsent as of yore, 

As they take of the wine-cup and bread. 

Ay, pray on thy knees, that each old rural fane 

They have left to the bat and the mole, 
May sound with the loud-pealing organ again, 

And the full swelling voice of the soul, [by, 
Peradventure, when next thou shalt journey there- 

Even-bells shall ring out on the air, 
And the dim-lighted windows reveal to thine eye 

The snowy -robed pastor at prayer. 



ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE. 47 


3 


THE HEART'S SONG. 


And then, those Easter bells, in spring ! 






Those glorious Easter chimes; 




br the silent midnight watches, 


How loyally they hail thee round, 




List — thy bosom-door ! 


Old queen of holy times ! 




How it knocketh, knocketh, knocketh, 


From hill to hill, like sentinels, 




Knocketh evermore ! 


Responsively they cry, 




Say not 'tis thy pulse's beating; 


And sing the rising of the Loud, 




'T is thy heart of sin : 


From vale to mountain high. 




'Tis thy Saviour knocks, and crieth 


T love ye— chimes of Motherland, 




Rise, and let me in ! 


With all this soul of mine, 




m 
Death comes down with reckless footstep 
To the hall and hut : 


And bless the Loan that I am sprung 




Of good old English line ! 




Think you Death will stand a-knocking 
Where the door is shut 1 


And like a son I sing the lay 
That England's glory tells ; 




Jesus waiteth — waiteth — waiteth ; 


For she is lovely to the Lord, 




But thy door is fast ! 


For you, ye Christian bells ! 




Grieved, away thy Saviour goeth : 


And heir of her ancestral fame, 




Death breaks in at last. 


And happy in my birth, 
Thee, too. I love, my forest-land, 

The joy of all the earth ; 
For thine thy mother's voice shall be, 




Then 'tis thine to stand — entreating 




Christ to let thee in : 




At the gate of heaven beating, 


And here — where God is king, 




Wailing for thy sin. 


With English chimes, from Christian spires, 




Nay, alas ! thou foolish virgin, 


The wilderness shall ring. 




Hast thou then forgot, 
Jesus waited long to know thee, 










But he knows thee not ! 


MARCH. 
March — march — march ! 




THE CHIMES OF ENGLAND. 


Making sounds as they tread, 







Ho-ho ! how they step, 




The chimes, the chimes of Motherland, 


Going down to the dead ! 




Of England green and old, 


Every stride, every tramp, 




That out from fane and ivied tower 


Every footfall is nearer; 




A thousand years have toll'd ; 


And dimmer each lamp, 




How glorious must their music be 


As darkness grows drearer; 




As breaks the hallow'd day, 


But ho ! how they march, 




And calleth with a seraph's voice 


Making sounds as they tread ; 




A nation up to pray ! 


Ho-ho ! how they step. 
Going down to the dead ! 




Those chimes that tell a thousand tales, 






Sweet tales of olden time ! 


March — march — march ! 




And ring a thousand memories 


Making sounds as they tread, 




At vesper, and at prime ; 
At bridal and at burial, 


Ho-ho, how they laugh, 




Going down to the dead ! 




For cottager and king — 


How they whirl — how they trip, 




Those, chimes — those glorious Christian chimes, 


How they smile, how they dally, 




How blessedly they ring ! 


How blithesome they skip, 






Going down to the valley; 




Those chimes, those chimes of Motherland, 


Oh-ho, how they march, 




Upon a Christinas morn, 


Making sounds as they tread; 




Outbreaking, as the angels did, 


Ho-ho. how they skip, 




For a Redeemer born ; 


Going down to the dead ! 




How merrily they call afar. 






To cot and baron's hail, 


March — march — march ! 




With holly deck'd and mistletoe, 


Earth groans as they tread ! 




To keep the festival ! 


Each carries a skull ; 




Going down to the dead ! 




The chimes of England, how they peal 


Every stride — every stamp, 




From tower and °-othic pile. 


Every footfall is bolder ; 




Where hymn and swelling anthem fill 


'Tis a skeleton's tramp, 




The dim cathedral aisle ; 


With a skull on his shouldei ■ 




Where windows bathe the holy light 


But ho. how he steps 




On priestly heads that falls, 


With a high-tossing head, 




And stain the florid tracery 


That elay-cover'd bone, 




And banner-dighted walls ! 


Going down to the dead ! 




60 


2p2 





JAMES T. FIELDS. 



[Born, 1820.] 



Mr. Fields is a native of Portsmouth, New- 
Hampshire, but has long resided in Boston. He 
is a partner in a well-known publishing and book- 
selling house in that city. His principal poems 
are " Commerce," read before the Boston Mercan- 
tile Library Association on its anniversary in 1838, 
when he was associated as poet with Edward Ev- 
erett, who delivered on the occasion one of his 
most brilliant orations ; and " The Post of Honour," 
read before the same society in 1 848, when Dan- 
iel Webster preceded him as orator. For several 
years he has been an occasional contributor to the 
magazines, and a few of his poems, as " The Fair 
Wind," " Yankee Ships," and " Dirge for a Young 
Girl," have been copied from them into the news- 
papers of all parts of the Union. The general 
style of his serious pieces is pure, sweet, thought- 
ful, and harmonious ; and though evidently unla- 
bored, they are characterized by much refinement of 
taste and an intuitive perception of metrical propri- 
eties. His lyrics are clear, strong, and bright, in 
expression, and dashing in movement, and have 
that charm which comes from a " polished want of 
polish," in which spontaneous sensibility is allied 
with instinctive taste. The " Sleighing Song" has 



a clear, cold, merry sparkle, and a rapidity of met- 
rical motion (the very verse seeming to go on run- 
ners), which bring the quick jingle of bells and the 
moon making diamonds out of snow-flakes, vividly 
home to the fancy. Perhaps his most character- 
istic poem, in respect to subtlety of sentiment and 
delicacy of illustration, is " A Bridal Melody." 
There is a mystical beauty in it which eludes a 
careless eye and untuned ear. 

Besides his serious poems, he has produced some 
very original mirthful pieces, in which are adroit 
touches of wit, felicitous hits at current follies, and 
instances of quaint humour, laughing through prim 
and decorous lines, which evince a genius for vers 
de societie. 

The poems Mr. Fields has given us are evident- 
ly the careless products of a singularly sensitive 
and fertile mind — indications rather than expo- 
nents of its powers — furnishing evidence of a ca- 
pacity which it is to be hoped the engagements of 
business will not wholly absorb. 

In 1847 and the following year Mr. Fields vi- 
sited Europe, and soon after his return a collection 
of his poems was published by Ticknor and Com- 
pany, of Boston. 



ON A PAIR OF ANTLERS, 

BROUGHT FROM GERMANY. 

Gift, from the land of song and wine — 
Can I forget the enchanted day, 

When first along the glorious Rhine 
I heard the huntsman's bugle play, 

And mark'd the early star that dwells 

Among the cliffs of Drachenfels ! 

Again the isles of beauty rise ; 

Again the crumbling tower appears, 
That stands, defying stormy skies, 

With memories of a thousand years ; 
And dark old forests wave again, 
And shadows crowd the dusky plain. 

They brought the gift, that I might hear 
The music of the roaring pine — 

To fill again my charmed ear 

With echoes of the Rodenstein — 

With echoes of the silver horn, 

Across the wailing waters borne. 

Trophies of spoil ! henceforth your place 
Is in this quiet home of mine ; 

Farewell the busy, bloody chase, 

Mute emblems now of " auld lang syne," 

When Youth and Hope went hand in hand 

To roam the dear old German land. 



BALLAD OF THE TEMPEST. 

We were crowded in the cabin, 
Not a soul would dare to sleep — 

It was midnight on the waters, 
And a storm was on the deep. 

'Tis a fearful thing in winter 
To be shatter'd in the blast, 

And to hear the rattling trumpet 
Thunder, " Cut away the mast !" 

So we shudder'd there in silence — 
For the stoutest held his breath, 

While the hungry sea was roaring, 
And the breakers talked with Death. 

As thus we sat in darkness, 
Each one busy in his prayers — 

" We are lost !" the captain shouted, 
As he stagger'd down the stairs. 

But his little daughter whisper'd, 

As she took his icy hand, 
"Isn't God upon the ocean, 

Just the same as on the land?" 

Then we kiss'd the little maiden, 
And we spoke in better cheer, 

And we anchor'd safe in harbor 
When the morn was shining clear. 
474 



JAMES T. FIELDS. 



475 



A VALENTINE. 

She that is fair, though never vain or proud, 
More fond of home than fashion's changing crowd ; 
Whose taste refined even female friends admire, 
Dress'd not for show, but robed in neat attire ; 
She who has learn'd, with mild, forgiving breast, 
To pardon frailties, hidden or confess'd ; 
True to herself, yet willing to submit, 
More sway'd by love than ruled by worldly wit ; 
Though young, discreet — though ready, ne'er un- 
Blest with no pedant's, but a woman's mind : [kind, 
She wins our hearts, toward her our thoughts in- 
So at her door go leave my Valentine. [cline, 

ON A BOOK OF SEA-MOSSES, 

SENT TO AN EMINENT ENGLISH POET. 

To him who sang of Venice, and reveal'd 
How wealth and glory cluster'd in her streets, 
And poised her marble domes with wondrous skill, 
We send these tributes, piunder'd from the sea. 
These many-colour'd, variegated forms, 
Sail to our rougher shores, and rise and fall 
To the deep music of the Atlantic wave. 
Such spoils we capture where the rainbows drop, 
Melting in ocean. Here are broideries strange, 
Wrought by the sea-nymphs from their golden hair, 
And wove by moonlight. Gently turn the leaf: 
From narrow cells, scoop'd in the rocks, we take 
These fairy textures, lightly moor'd at morn. 
Down sunny slopes, outstretching to the deep, 
We roam at noon, and gather shapes like these. 
Note now the painted webs from verdurous isles, 
Festoon'd and spangled in sea-caves, and say 
What hues of land can rival tints like those, 
Torn from the scarfs and gonfalons of kings 
Who dwell beneath the waters! Such our gift, 
Cull'd from a margin of the western world, 
And ofTer'd unto genius in the old. 



FROM "THE POST OF HONOUR." 



GLORY. 

Unchanging Power! thy genius still presides 
O'er vanquished fields, and ocean's purpled tides ; 
Sits like a spectre at the soldier's board, 
Adds Spartan steps to many a broken sword ; 
For thee and thine combining squadrons form 
To sweep the field with Glory's awful storm ; 
The intrepid warrior shouts thy deathless name, 
And plucks new valour from thy torch of fame ; 
For him the bell shall wake its loudest song, 
For him the cannon's thunder echo long, 
For him a nation weave the unfading crown, 
And swell the triumph of his sweet renown. 
So Neeson watch'd, long ere Trafalgar's days, 
Thy radianl orb, prophetic Glory, blaze — 
Saw Victory wait, to weep his bleeding scars, 
And plant his breast with Honour's burning stars. 
So the young hero, with expiring breath, 
Bequeaths fresh courage in the hour of death, 
Bids his brave comrades hear the inspiring blast, 
A.nd nail their colours dauntless to the mast; 
Then dies, like Lawrence, trembling on his lip 
That cry of Honour, " Don't give up the ship !" 



TRUE HONOUR. 

The painter's skill life's lineaments may trace, 
And stamp the impress of a speaking face ; 
The chisel's touch may make that marble warm 
Which glows with all but breathing manhood's 
But deeper lines, beyond the sculptor's art, [form — 
Are those which write their impress on the heart. 
On Talfourd's page what bright memorials glow 
Of all that's noblest, gentlest, best below ! 
Thou generous brother, guard of griefs conceal'd, 
Matured by sorrow, deep but unreveal'd, 
Let me but claim, for all thy vigils here, 
The noiseless tribute to a heart sincere. 
Though Dryburgh's walls still hold their sacred dust, 
And Stratford's chancel shrines its hallow'd trust, 
To Elta's grave the pilgrim shall repair, 
And hang with love perennial garlands there. 

And thou, great bard of never-dying name, 
Thy filial care outshines the poet's fame ; 
For who, that wanders by the dust of Gray 
While memory tolls the knell of parting day, 
But lingers fondly at the hallow'd tomb, 
That shrouds a parent in its pensive gloom, 
To bless the son who pour'd that gushing tear, 
So warm and earnest, at a mother's bier ! 
Wreaths for that line which woman's tribute gave, 
" Last at the cross, and earliest at the grave." 
Can I forget, a pilgrim o'er the sea, 
The countless shrines of woman's charity 1 
In thy gay capital, bewildering France, [dance, 
Where Pleasure's shuttle weaves the whirling 
Beneath the shelter of St. Mary's dome, 
Where pallid Suffering seeks and finds a home, 
Methinks I see that sainted sister now 
Wipe Death's cold dewdrops from an infant's brow ; 
Can I forget that mild, seraphic grace, 
With heaven-eyed Patience meeting in her face 1 
Ah ! sure, if angels leave celestial spheres, 
W r e saw an angel dry a mortal's tears. 



WEBSTER. 
Let blooming boys, from stagnant cloisters freed, 
Sneer at old virtues and the patriot's creed ; 
Forget the lessons taught at Valour's side, 
And all their country's honest fame deride. 
All are not such : some glowing blood remains 
To warm the icy current of our veins — 
Some from the watch-towers still descry afar 
The faintest glimmer of an adverse star. 
When faction storms,when meaner statesmen quail, 
Full high advanced, our eagle meets the gale ! 
On some great point where Honour takes her stand, 
The Ehrenbreitstein of our native land — 
See, in the front, to strike for Freedom's cause, 
The mail'd defender of her rights and laws ! 
On his great arm behold a nation lean, 
And parcel empire with the island queen ; 
Great in the council, peerless in debate, 
Who follows Webster takes the field too late. 
Go track the globe, its changing climes explore, 
From crippled Europe to the Arab's shore; 
See Albion's lion guard her stormy seas, 
See Gallia's lilies float on every breeze, 
Roam through the world, but find no brighter names 
Than those true honour for Columbia claims. 



476 



JAMES T. FIELDS. 



TEE MEMORY OF A FRIEND. 

Our vanished years ! let Memory's muffled bell 
Toll but one requiem, and but one farewell, 
For him whose eyelids in a wintry grave 
Were closed in anguish by the icy wave. 
Rest, early friend, bemoaned in life's young bloom, 
Gone, like a shadow, to the voiceless tomb. 
When last we climbed to yon high, leafy crest, 
To watch the sunlight fading in the west, 
Ah, little thought I that this hand would trace 
These words of grief above thy burial-place. 
Thou hast our tears ; but lo ! the clouds depart, 
Our brother sleeps with sunshine on his heart ; 
The storm has passed, the seas are silent now, 
And Heaven's sweet smile has settled on his brow. 



SLEIGHING-SONG. 

Oh swift we go, o'er the fleecy snow, 
When moonbeams sparkle round ; 

When hoofs keep time to music's chime. 
As merrily on we bound. 

On a winter's night, when hearts are light, 

And health is on the wind, 
We loose the rein and sweep the plain, 

And leave our cares behind. 

With a laugh and song, we glide along 

Across the fleeting snow ; 
With friends beside, how swift we ride 

On the beautiful track below ! 

Oh, the raging sea has joy for me, 
When gale and tempests roar ; 

But give me the speed of a foaming steed, 
And I'll ask for the waves no more. 



FAIR WIND. 

Oh, who can tell, that never sail'd 

Among the glassy seas, 
How fresh and welcome breaks the morn 

That ushers in a breeze ! 
"Fair wind! fair wind!" alow, aloft, 

All hands delight to cry, 
As, leaping through the parted waves, 

The good ship makes reply. 

While fore and aft, all staunch and tight, 

She spreads her canvass wide, 
The captain walks his realm, the deck, 

With more than monarch's pride; 
For well he knows the sea-bird's wings, 

So swift and sure to-day, 
Will waft him many a league to-night 

In triumph on his way. 

Then welcome to the rushing blast 

That stirs the waters now — 
Ye white-plumed heralds of the deep, 

Make music round her prow ! 
Good sea-room in the roaring gale, 

Let stormy trumpets blow ; 
But chain ten thousand fathoms down 

The sluggish calm below ! 



DIRGE FOR A YOUNG GIRL. 

LVdehneath the sod, low lying, 

Dark and drear, 
Sleepeth one who left, in dying, 

Sorrow here. 
Yes, they're ever bending o'er her, 

Eyes that weep ; 
Forms, that to the cold grave bore her, 

Vigils keep. 
When the summer moon is shining 

Soft and fair, 
Friends she loved in tears are twining 

Chaplets there. 
Rest in peace, thou gentle spirit, 

Throned above ; 
Souls like thine with God inherit 

Life and love ! 



LAST WTSHES OF A CHILD. 

" All the hedges are in bloom, 

And the warm west wind is blowing , 
Let me leave this stifled room — 
Let me go where flowers are growing. 

" Look ! my cheek is thin and pale, 
And my pulse is very low ; 
Ere my sight begins to fail, 
Mother dear, you'll let me go ; 

" Was not that the robin's song 

Piping through the casement wide ? 
I shall not be listening long — 
Take me to the meadow-side ! 

" Bear me to the willow-brook — 

Let me hear the merry mill — 
On the orchard I must look, 

Ere my beating heart is still. 
" Faint and fainter grows my breath — 

Bear me quickly down the lane ; 
Mother dear, this chill is death — 

I shall never speak again !" 
Still the hedges are in bloom, 

And the warm west wind is blowing; 
Still we sit in silent gloom — 

O'er her grave the grass is growing. 



A BRIDAL MELODY. 

She stood, like an angel just wander'd from heaven, 
A pilgrim benighted away from the skies, 

And little we deem'd that to mortals were given 
Such visions of beauty as came from her eyes. 

She look'd up and smiled on the many glnd faces, 
The friends of her childhood, who stood by her side ; 

But she shone o'er them all, like a queen of the 
Graces, 
When blushing she whisper'd the vow of a bride. 

We sang an old song, as with garlands we crown'd 

her, 
And each left a kiss on her delicate brow ; [her, 
And we pray'd that a blessing might ever surround 
And the future of life be unclouded as now. 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



[Born, 1819. 



Mr. Wallace, the son of an eminent Presby- 1 
terian clergyman, who died during his childhood, 
was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1819. He I 
received his general education at the Bloomington j 
and South Hanover colleges in Indiana, and after- I 
ward studied the law, in his native city. When j 
ahout twenty-two years of age, having already ac- j 
quired considerable reputation in literature, by va- j 
rious contributions to western and southern jour- 
nals, he came to the Atlantic states, and with the j 
exception of a few months passed in Philadelphia, i 
and a year and a half in Europe, he has since re- j 
sided in New York, occupied in the practice of his 
profession and in the pursuits of literature. 



The poetical compositions of Mr. Wallace are 
numerous, and they are for the most part distin- 
guished for a sensuous richness of style, earnest- 
ness of temper, and much freedom of speculation. 
The longest of them is " Alban," a romance of 
New York, published in ] 848, and intended to il- 
lustrate the influence of certain prejudices of soci- 
ety and principles of law upon individual character 
and destiny. It has passages of fine description and 
spirited narrative, and some happy touches of satire, 
but is scarcely successful as a moral poem. The 
author is more at home in the serious and stately 
rhythm and solemn fancies of such pieces as " To the 
Hudson," which are the best measures of his powers. 



REST. 

The nation hath gone mad with action now. 
Oh, many-troubled giant, with a heated, brow, 
And sultry heart, within whose wide 
And lofty chambers stalketh Pride, 
And hungry, pale Ambition, scenting power, 
Wilt thou not let the wearied river steal 
Through quiet hills for one short hour, 
And dream, unvexed by the eager keel, 
Of that sweet peace he knew in times of old, 
When only Nature sat near him and roll'd 
Her simple songs amid her flowery fold 1 
And let the forest lift some unshorn plumes 
Amid the ancient glooms: 
For this it pleads with trembling hands, 
Appealing to farHeavenfrom all the invading bands! 
And leave the mountains for a time untrod — 
And thou shalt see 

Their dumb, gray lips yet struggling to be free, 
So that they may shout backward to the sea — 
" We also know and reverence our God." 
Oh, Titan, of the eagle-eye and growing pain! 
Wilt thou not rest on Alabama's plain 1 
O'er Huron lean and let his mirror show, 
Unruffled by thy fiery feet, 
That harmonies of light yet fall below — 
That Heaven and Earth may meet : 
Sleep, sleep, thou wide-brow'd power, 
In Florida's magnolian bower, 
And where New England's pilgrim-feet were prest, 
Or by Ohio's softly wandering wave ; 
Or in the dusk halls of Kentucky's cave, 
Or on the flowery and broad prairies rest 
Of Illinois and Indiana, — slumber, in the west ! 

Your eagles took their lordly ease 
On folded wing, 

After disporting with the braggart Breeze, 
And Thunder, watching by his cloudy spring 
Whose cool stream tumbled to the thirsty seas. 
The birds went all asleep on their high rocks, 
Nor ruffled a feather in the rude fire-shocks. 



Millions, a lesson ye can learn from these. 

And see, the great woods slumber, and the lake 

No longer is awake 

Beneath the stars, that nod and start with sleep 

In their white-clouded deep : 

Fitfully the moon goes nodding through 

The valleys of the vapory blue, 

And dreams, forgetting all her queenly ills, 

Of angels sleeping on Elysian hills: 

The drowsy lake, 

So sweet is slumber, would not yet awake ; 

But — like an infant two years old, 

Before whose closed eyes 

Dreamily move the boys of paradise, 

Singing their little psalms 

Under the stately palms — 

It stirreth softly lest rough motion might 

Put out the moon's delicious light. 

So rest ! and Rest shall slay your many woes. 
Is motion godlike 1 godlike is repose — 
A mountain-stillness, of majestic might, 
Whose peaks are glorious with the quiet light 
Of suns, when Day is at his close. 
Nor deem that quiet must ignoble be. 
Jove laboured lustily once in airy fields ; 
And over the cloudy lea 
He planted many a budding shoot 
Whose liberal nature daily, nightly, yields 
A store of starry fruit : 
His labour done, the weary god went back 
Up the broad mountain-track 
To his great house ; there he did wile away 
With lightest thought a well-won holy day ; 
And all the powers croon'd softly an old tune, 
Wishing their sire might sleep 
Through all the sultry noon 
And cold blue night; and very soon 
They heard the awful thunderer breathing low and 

deep. 
And in the hush that dropp'd adown the spheres, 
And in the quiet of the awe-struck space, 
The worlds learn'd worship at the birth of years ■ 

477 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



They look'd upon their Lord's calm, kingly face, 
And bade Religion come and kiss each starry place. 
At least, I must have peace, afar from strife — 
No motion save enough to leave me life. 
And I shall lay me gently in a nook 
Where a small bay the sluggish tide receives, 
And, reading, hear some bland old poet's book 
Shake delicate music from its mystic leaves, 
While under drowsy clouds the dull waves go, 
And echo softly back the melody in their flow. 

Will ye not also lend your souls to Song? 
Ye ! of the land where Nature's noblest rhyme, 
Niagara, sounds the myth of Time; 
And where the Mississippi darkly goes 
Amid the trembling woods, 
Gloomily murmuring legends of the floods 
That troubled space before the worlds arose 

Or sleep. Why lose its wondrous world 1 
Look on its valleys, on its mountains look, 
And cloudy streams; 
Behold the arabesque land of dreams! 
The golden mists are lazily curl'd ; 
And see in yonder fflen, 
Beside a little brook 
Mid sleeping flocks, some sleeping men : 
And one, who tries to watch, for danger's sake, 
Nods and winks, 

And vainly hums a tune to keep awake, 
And now beside his'brethren slowly sinks. 

Ah, sleep like him ! why lose its world ? 
Now when the banners of the day are furl'd 
And safely put away : 
Now when a languid glory binds 
The long dim chambers of the darkling west, 
While far below yon azure river winds 
Like a blue vein on sleeping Beauty's breast 

Then, millions, rest or dream with me : 
Let not the struggle thus forever be. 
Not from the gold that wounded Earth reveals; 
Not from your iron wheels 
That vex the valleys with their thunder-peals; 
Not from the oceans pallid with your wings ; 
Not from the power that labour brings — 
The enduring grandeur of a nation springs. 
The wealth may perish as a fleeting breath — 
The banner'd armament may find a death 
Deep in the hungry waters — and the crown 
Of empire from your tall brows topple down : 
But that which rains true glory o'er 
The low or lofty, and the rich or poor, 
Shall never die — 
Daughter of Truth and Ideality, 
Large Virtue towering on the throne of will ! 
The nations drink the heroic from her eye, 
And march triumphing over every ill. 
Therefore with Silence sometimes sit apart 
From rude Turmoil, and dignify the heart: 
And in that noble hour 
All hates shall be forgotten, and sweet Love 
Shall gently win us like a mild-eyed dove 
That shames the storm to silence ; and a power, 
Unknown before, shall lap us in delight, 
As troubled waves are soothed by starry night. 
Then manhood shall forget the vengeful thought 
In action's fierce volcano wrought ; 



The poor old man sha'l bow his snow-white head 

To bless the past, forgiving all his wrongs; 

And feel the breathing of his childhood's songs 

Once more around him shed. 

The weary slave shall rest upon the chain, 

And woo to his shut eyes 

The ardent aspect of his native skies — 

The forms of wife and children once again 

Watching for his return along the palmy plain 

Nor in repose a tentless desert fear — 
The gardenless wide waste of a blank heart : 
Full many a rich oasis there shall start 
Between horizons to illume and cheer: 
Time's misty Nile shall slowly wander through 
The slumberous plain that never knoweth storms ; 
Eternity's calm pyramidal forms 
Shall meet our dreamy view, 
Duskily towering mid the hazy blue, 
And freezing contemplation in the giddy air. 
Then all the weary myriads resting there — 
Quiet beneath the hollow sky 
As shapes that in a pictured landscape lie — 
Shall know that bliss, that perfect, heavenly bliss 
Which falls as moonlight music on a scene like this. 



WORDSWORTH. 

Sunset is on the dial : and I know 
My hands are feeble and my head is white 
With many snows, and in my dim old eyes 
Iiight plays the miser with a frugal care, 
And soon the curtain drops. But still I know, 
The soul in sceptred majesty of will 
Leaves not the iroyal dais. 

The ancient winds 
Still chant around me all the solemn themes 
I learn'd when young ; and in the hollow flower 
I hear the murmur left there by the bee; 
And jubilant rivers laugh and clap their hands 
Amid the leaning hills that nurse them there ; 
And far away I see the mountains lift 
Their silent tops to heaven, like thoughts 
Too vast for speech ; and over all, the sun 
Stands by his flaming altar, and beholds, 
As he beheld through many centuries gone, 
The holocausts of light roll up to Heaven ; 
And when the evening calls her starry flock, 
I know that Mazzaroth will sit and sing 
Within his azure house ; and I shall hear 
The inmost melody of every star, 
And know the meaning of the mystic sea : 
And in the deep delight their presence gives 
I shall be calm, and nevermore complain 
That still the play — a venerable play, 
World-wide — of this humanity goes on, 
Still dark the plot, the issues unperceived. 
So, with all things thus filling every sense, 
The soul in sceptred majesty of will, 
Sits on her royal dais. 

Then why should I 
My office yield, and let the general hymn 
Unheeded harmonize the jangling space 1 
By action only doth Creation hold 
Her charter — and, that gone, the worlds are dead 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



479 



Nor is't in souls which would the noblest find, 

To rest contentedly upon old wreaths. 

I will not rest and unmelodious die ; 

But with my full wreath round these thin, white 

hairs, 
And rhythmic lips, and vision kindling up, 
March through the silent halls, and bravely pass 
Right on into the land that lies beyond, 
Where he, my brother-bard,* whose spirit seem'd 
A mystical bright moon, whose influence wrought 
The dull earth's ocean of dim sleep to life 
And spectral motion — that majestic bard, 
Who went before, choiring his lofty hymn, 
Watches my coming on the Aiden hills. 

But what the burden of that latest song 
Will be, as yet I know not — nor the rhythm 
That shall go beating with her silver feet 
The sounding aisles of thought : but this I hope — 
A listening world will hear that latest lay, 
And seat it near the fireside of its heart 
Forevermore, and by the ember,s' light 
Look fondly on its face, as men of old 
Look'd on the faces of the angel guests 
Who tarried sometimes in their pastoral homes — 
As this last hymn, befitting well the time 
And circumstance, shall wear a holiest smile, 
And show the might, the loveliness of song, 
For Poetry is enthroned by his own right. 
I hear his cadences in every breeze ; 
I see his presence fill the dark-blue lake, 
Like an eld melody ; and I know 
He is a living and immortal power. 
No matter where he lifts his natural voice, 
All men shall crown him as a gentle god 
Who, wandering through his heritage of earth, 
Makes pleasant music in the lowly huts 
Where poor men ply their rugged toil ; who smiles 
Within the mellow sunbeams, when they pain," 
The swelling upland,- where October sits, 
Holding her hands to catch the dropping fruit; 
Who stands upon the hazy mountain-top, 
Beautiful as the light; who, solemn, chants 
Full many a rune in every sunless hall 
Down in the deep, deep sea, and sways all things, 
The angel of the world ; who soars at will 
Into the ample air, and walks the storm ; 
Or waves his wand upon the solemn stars, 
Orion and the Pleiades, and rules 
Their people by a gentle law ; or stands 
Imperial in the large red sun, and charms 
The sky until its glorious passion finds 
A language in the thunder and the cloud, 
And in the rainbow, chorusing all hues, 
And in the splendour of the broad, bright moon 
That builds her Venice in a sea of air. 

Most haply I shall sing some simple words, 
Rich with the wealth experience gives to Time — 
An antique tale of beauty and of tears : 
Or I may wander in my thought afar 
Where men have built their homes in forests vast, 
And see the Atlantic rest his weary feet 
And lift his large blue eyes on other stars : 
Or hear the sire of many watersf hoarse 



Coleridge. 



t The Mississippi. 



With counting centuries, and rolling through 

The dim magnificence of stately woods, 

Whose huge trunks sentinel a thousand leagues 

His deep lihation to the waiting sea ; 

Then would I join the choral preludes swelling 

Between the wondrous acts of that great play 

Which Time is prompting in another sphere: 

Or I may wander in my thought after 

To ruins gray of columns overthrown, 

And then lift up a song of tender grief 

Amid the glorious temples crumbling there — 

The beautiful records of a world which was, 

Majestic types of what a world must be : 

Or I may turn to themes that have no touch 

Of sorrow in them, piloted by Joy, 

And raise the burial-stone from shrouded years, 

And hear the laugh of youth clear ringing out, 

Or feel once more a sweet religious awe, 

Such as I felt when floated holy chimes 

In boyhood's ear, and such as stern men feel 

When, passing by cathedral doors, they hear 

A dim-remembered psalm roll softly out 

And fill their eyes with tears, they know not why : 

Then shall I sing of children blooming o'er 

The desolate wide heath of life, like flowers 

Which daring men had stolen from paradise, 

When near its gate the wearied cherub slept 

And dream'd of heaven. Or to some pastoral vale 

Shall pass my trembling feet ? There shall I pour 

To Nature, loved in all her many moods, 

A chant sublimely earnest. I shall tell 

To all the tribes with what a stately step 

She walks the silent wilderness of air, 

Which always puts its starry foliage on 

At her serene approach, or in her lap 

Scatters its harvest-wealth of golden suns : 

And many a brook shall murmur in my verse ; 

And many an ocean join his cloudy bass ; 

And many a mountain tower aloft, whereon 

The black storm crouches, with his deep-red eyes 

Glaring upon the valleys stretch'd below : 

And many a green wood rock the small, bright birds 

To musical sleep beneath the large, full moon; 

And many a star shall lift on high her cup 

Of luminous cold chrysolite — set in gold 

Chased subtily over by angelic art — 

To catch the odorous dews which seraphs drink 

In their wide wanderings; and many a sun 

Shall press the pale lips of the timorous morn 

Couch'd in the bridal east : and over all 

Will brood the visible presence of the Oxe 

To whom my life has been a solemn chant. 

Then let the sunset fall and flush Life's dial ! 
No matter how the years may smite my frame, 
And cast a piteous blank upon my eyes 
That seek in vain the old accustomed stars 
Which skies hold over blue Winandermere ; 
Be sure that T, a crowned bard, will sing 
Until within the murmuring bark of verse 
My spirit bears majestically away, 
Charming to golden hues the gulf of death — 
Well knowing that upon my honour'd grave, 
Beside the widow'd lakes that wail for me, 
Haply the dust of four great worlds will fall 
And mingle — thither brought by pilgrims' feet. 



480 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



THE MOUNDS OF AMERICA.* 

Come to the mounds of death with me. They 
stretch 
From deep to deep, sad, venerable, vast, 
Graves of gone empires — gone without a sigh, 
Like clouds from heaven. They stretch'd from 

deep to deep 
Before the Roman smote his mail'd hand 
On the gold portals of the dreaming East; 
Before the pleiad, in white trance of song, 
Beyond her choir of stars went wandering. 

The great old trees, rank'd on these hills of death, 
Have melancholy hymns about all this ; 
And when the moon walks her inheritance 
With slow, imperial pace, the trees look up 
And chant in solemn cadence. Come and hear. 

" patient Moon ! go not behind a cloud, 
But listen to our words. We, too, are old, 
Though not so old as thou. The ancient towns, 
The cities throned far apart like queens, 
The shadowy domes, the realms majestical, 
Slept in thy younger beams. In every leaf 
We hold their dust, a king in every trunk. 
We, too, are very old : the wind that wails 
In our broad branches, from swart Ethiop come 
But now, wail'd in our branches long ago, 
Then come from darken'd Calvary. The hills 
Lean'd ghastly at the tale that wan wind told ; 
The streams crept shuddering through the dark; 
The torrent of the North, from morn till eve, 
On his steep ledge hung pausing ; and o'er all 
Such silence fell, we heard the conscious rills 
Drip slowly in the caves of central earth. 
So were the continents by His crowned grief 
And glory bound together, ere the hand 
Of Albion tamed the far Atlantic : so 
Have we, whose aspect faced that time, the right 
Of language unto all, while memory holds. 

'* patient Moon ! go not behind a cloud, 
But hear our words. We know that thou didst see 
The whole that we would utter — thou that wert 
A worship unto realms beyond the flood — 
But we are very lonesome on these mounds, 
And speech doth make the burden of sad thought 
Endurable; while these, the people new, 
That take our land, may haply learn from us 
What wonder went before them ; for no word 
E'er came from thee, so beautiful, so lone, 
Throned in thy still domain, superbly calm 
And silent as a god. 

Here empires rose and died ; 
Their very dust, beyond the Atlantic borne 
In the pale navies of the charter'd wind, 
Stains the white Alp. Here the proud city ranged 
Spire after spire, like star ranged after star, 

* '• The mounds" are scattered over the whole of North 
America. Some of them are of vast size. They are full 
of skeletons (crumbling at the touch), that evidently were 
deposited there many centuries since. The Indians cannot 
give us any account of the oii_ r in of the mounds, and they 
must have been erected by a people that lived in America 
at a very ancient period — a people (as the ruins of large 
cities, still faintly visible in the forests, naturally suggest) 
far advanced in civilization. 



Along the dim empyrean, till the air 

Went mad with splendour, and the dwellers cried, 

' Our walls have married Time !' — Gone are the 

marts, 
The insolent citadels, the fearful gates, 
The glorious domes that rose like summer clouds; 
Gone are their very names ! The royal ghost 
Cannot discern the old imperial haunts, 
But goes about perplexed like a mist 
Between a ruin and the awful stars. 
Nations are laid beneath our feet. The bard 
Who stood in Song's prevailing light, as stands 
The apocalyptic angel in the sun, 
And rain'd melodious fire on all the realms ; 
The prophet pale, who shudder'd in his gloom, 
As the white cataract shudders in its mist ; 
The hero shattering an old kingdom down 
With one clear trumpet's peal ; the boy, the sage, 
Subject and lord, the beautiful, the wise — 
Gone, gone to nothingness. 

" The years glide on, 
The pitiless years ; and all alike shall fail, 
State after state rear'd by the solemn sea, 
Or where the Hudson goes unchallenged past 
The ancient warder of the Palisades, 
Or where, rejoicing o'er the enormous cloud, 
Beam the blue Alleganies — all shall fail: 
The Ages chant their dirges on the peaks; 
The palls are ready in the peopled vales ; 
And nations fill one common sepulchre. 
Nor goes the Earth on her dark way alone. 
Each star in yonder vault doth hold the dead 
In its funereal deeps : Arcturus broods 
Over vast sepulchres that had grown old 
Before the Earth was made : the universe 
Is but one mighty cemetery, 
Rolling around its central, solemn sun. 

" patient Moon ! go not behind a cloud, 
But listen to our words. We, too, must die — 
And thou ! — the vassal stars shall fail to hear 
Thy queenly voice over the azure fields 
Calling at sunset. They shall fade. The Earth 
Shall look, and miss their sweet, familiar eyes, 
And crouching die beneath the feet of God. 
Then come the glories, then the nobler times, 
For which the Orbs travail'd in sorrow ; then 
The mystery shall be clear, the burden gone; 
And surely men shall know why nations came 
Transfigured for the pangs ; why not a spot 
Of this wide world but hath a tale of wo ; 
Why all this glorious universe is Death's. 

" Go, Moon ! and tell the stars, and tell the suns, 
Impatient of the wo, the strength of Him 
Who doth consent to death ; and tell the climes 
That meet thy mournful eyes, one after one, 
Through all the lapses of the lonesome night, 
The pathos of repose, the might of Death !" 

The voice is hush'd ; the great old wood is still : 
The moon, like one in meditation, walks 
Behind a cloud. We, too, have theme for thought, 
While, as a sun, God takes the west of Time 
And smites the pyramid of Eternity. 
The shadow lengthens over many worlds 
Doom'd to the dark mausoleum and mound. 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



481 



GREENWOOD CEMETERY. 

Here are the houses of the dead. Here youth 
And age and manhood, stricken in his strength, 
Hold solemn state and awful silence keep, 
While Earth goes murmuring in her ancient path, 
And troubled Ocean tosses to and fro 
Upon his mountainous bed impatiently, 
And many stars make worship musical 
In the dim-aisled abyss, and over all 
The Lord of Life, in meditation sits 
Changeless, alone, beneath the large white dome 
Of Immortality. 

I pause and think 
Among these walks lined by the frequent tombs; 
For it is very wonderful. Afar 
The populous city lifts its tall, bright spires, 
And snowy sails are glancing on the bay, 
As if in merriment — but here all sleep; 
They sleep, these calm, pale people of the past: 
Spring plants her rosy feet on their dim homes — 
They sleep 1 — Sweet Summer comes and calls, and 
With all her passionate poetry of flowers [calls 
Wed to the music of the soft south wind — 
They sleep ! — The lonely Autumn sits and sobs 
Between the cold white tombs, as if her heart 
Would break — they sleep ! — Wild Winter comes 

and chants 
Majestical the mournful sagas learn 'd 
Far in the melancholy North, where God 
Walks forth alone upon the desolate seas — 
They slumber still ! — Sleep on, passionless dead ! 
Ye make our world sublime : ye have a power 
And majesty the living never hold. 
Here Avarice shall forget his den of gold ! 
Here Lust his beautiful victim, and hot Hate 
His crouching foe. Ambition here shall lean 
Against Death's shaft, veiling the stern, bright eye 
That, over-bold, would take the height of gods, 
And know Fame's nothi ngness. The si re shal 1 come, 
The matron and the child, through many years, 
To this fair spot, whether the plumed hearse 
Moves slowly through the winding walks, or Death 
For a brief moment pauses: all shall come 
To feel the touching eloquence of graves: 
And therefore it was well for us to clothe 
The place with beauty. No dark terror here 
Shall chill the generous tropic of the soul, 
But Poetry and her starred comrade Art 
Shall make the sacred country of the dead 
Magnificent. The fragrant flowers shall smile 
Over the low, green graves ; the trees shall shake 
Their soul-like cadences upon the tombs ; 
The little lake, set in a paradise 
Of wood, shall be a mirror to the moon 
What time she looks from her imperial tent 
In long delight at all below ; the sea 
Shall lift some stately dirge he loves to breathe 
Over dead nations, while calm sculptures stand 
On every hill, and look like spirits there 
That drink the harmony. Oh, it is well ! 
Why should a darkness scowl on any spot 
Where man grasps immortality ] Light, light, 
And art, and poetry, and eloquence, 
And all that we call glorious, are its dower. 
61 



Oh, ye whose mouldering frames were brought 
and placed 
By pious hands within these flowery slopes 
And gentle hills, where are ye dwelling now? 
For man is more than element. The soul 
Lives in the body as the sunbeam lives 
In trees or flowers that were but clay without. 
Then where are ye, lost sunbeams of the mind 1 
Are ye where great Orion towers and holds 
Eternity on his stupendous front 1 
Or where pale Neptune in the distant space 
Shows us how far, in His creative mood, 
With pomp of silence and concentred brows, 
Walk'd forth the Almighty ? Haply ye have gone 
W T here other matter roundeth into shapes 
Of bright beatitude : or do ye know 
Aught of dull space or time, and its dark load 
Of aching weariness 1 ? 

They answer not. 
But He whose love created them of old, 
To cheer his solitary realm and reign, 
With love will still remember them. 



HYMN TO THE HUDSON RIYER. 

Lose not a memory of the glorious scenes, 
Mountains, and palisades, and leaning rocks, 
Steep white-wulfd towns and ships that lie beneath, 
By which, like some serene, heroic soul 
Revolving noble thoughts, thou calmly cam'st, 
O mighty river of the North ! Thy lip 
Meets Ocean here, and in deep joy he lifts 
His great white brow, and gives his stormy voice 
A milder tone, and murmurs pleasantly 
To every shore, and bids the insolent blast 
To touch thee very gently ; for thy banks 
Held empires broad and populous as the leaves 
That rustle o'er their grave — republics gone 
Long, long ago, before the pale men came, 
Like clouds into the dim and dusty past : 
But there is dearer reason ; for the rills 
That feed thee, rise among the storied rocks 
Where Freedom built her battle-tower ; and blow 
Their flutes of silver by the poor man's door; 
And innocent childhood in the ripple dips 
Its rosy feet ; and from the round blue sky 
That circles all, smiles out a certain Godhead. 

Oh, lordly river ! thou shalt henceforth be 
A wanderer of the deep ; and thou shalt hear 
The sad, wild voices of the solemn North 
Utter uncertain words in cloudy rhythm, 
But full of terrible meaning, to the wave 
That moans by Labrador ; and thou shalt pause 
To pay thy worship in the coral temples, 
The ancient Meccas of the reverent sea ; 
And thou shalt start again on thy blue path. 
To kiss the southern isles ; and thou shalt know 
What beauty thrones the blue Symplegades, 
What glory the long Dardanelles; and France 
Shall listen to thy calm, deep voice, and learn 
That Freedom must be calm if she would fix 
Her mountain moveless in a heaving world ; 
And Greece shall hear thee chant by Marathon, 



482 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



And Italy shall feel thy breathing on her shores, 
Where Liberty once more takes up her lance ; 
And when thou hurriest back, full of high themes, 
Great Albion shall joy through every cliff, 
And lordly hall, and peasant-home, and old 
Cathedral where earth's emperors sleep — whose 

crowns 
Were laurel and whose sceptres pen and harp — 
The mother of our race shall joy to hear 
Thy low, sweet murmuring : her sonorous tongue 
Is thine, her glory thine ; for thou dost bear 
On thy rejoicing tide, rejoicing at the task, 
The manly Saxon sprung from her own loins 
In far America. 

Roll on ! roll on, 
Thou river of the North ! Tell thou to all 
The isles, tell thou to all the continents 
The grandeur of my land. Speak of its vales 
Where Independence wears a pastoral wreath 
Amid the holy quiet of his flock ; 
And of its mountains with their cloudy beards 
Toss'd by the breath of centuries ; and speak 
Of its tall cataracts that roll their bass 
Among the choral of its midnight storms, 
And of its rivers lingering through the plains, 
So long, that they seem made to measure Time ; 
And of its lakes that mock the haughty sea; 
And of its caves where banish'd gods might find 
Night large enough to hide their crownless heads ; 
And of its sunsets, glorious and broad 
Above the prairies spread like oceans on 
And on, and on over the far dim leagues, 
Till vision shudders o'er immensity.* 



Roll 



roll on, thou river of the North! 



Bear on thy wave the music of the crash 
That tells a forest's fall, wide woods that hold 
Beneath their cloister'd bark a registry 
Where Time may almost find how old he is.f 
Keep in thy memory the frequent homes, 
That from the ruin rise, the triumphs these 
Of real kings whose conquering march shines up 
Into the wondering Oregon. 

Oh, tell, 
Thou glorious stream! to Europe's stately song, 
Whose large white brows are fullest of the god — 
To Asia's mighty hordes, whose dark eyes gaze 
With wonder and unchangeable belief 
On mountains where Jkhovah sat, when Earth 
Was fit to hold Jehovah on her thrones — 
To Afric, with her huge, rough brain on fire, 
And Titan energy gone mad — tell thou to all, 
That Freedom hath a home ; that man arose 
Even as a mountain rises when its heart 
Of flame is stirr'd, and its indignant breast 
Heaves, and hurls off the enormous chain of ice 
That marr'd its majesty. • Say to the tribes, 
" There is a hope, a love, a home for all ; 
The rivers woo them to their lucent lengths; 
The woods to their green haunts ; the prairies sigh 
Throughout their broad and flowery solitudes 



* A reference to American geographv will show that 
there is no extravagance in ttaeselines. Witness NiHgnra, 
the Mississippi river, Lake Superior, the Mammoth Cave 
in Kentucky, the Grand Prairie of Illinois. 

t The concentric circles of trees designate their age. 



For some companionship. True, there are chains 
On certain swarthy limbs. It shall not be 
Forever. Yes! the fetter'd shall be loosed, 
And liberty beam ample as the land !" 

And, fearless river ! tell to all the tribes 
The might that lives in every human soul, 
And what a feeble thing a tyrant is ! 
So speaking, that their hearts will bow 
Before the beautiful, which holds the true, 
As heaven in its sweet azure holds the sun ; 
So speaking, that they see the universe 
Was made for Beauty's sake, and like a robe 
It undulates around the inner soul, 
A feeling and a harmony, a thought 
That shows a deeper thought, until the soul 
Trembles before the vision, and the voice, 
Made musical by worship, whispers, " Joy !" 
But utter all most calmly, with thy voice 
Low as a seraph's near the eternal throne, 
For mighty truths are always very calm. 



CHANT OF A SOUL. 

My youth has gone — the glory, the delight 

That gave new moons unto the night, 

And put in every wind a tone 

And presence that was not its own. 

I can no more create, 

What time the Autumn blows her solemn tromp, 

And goes with golden pomp 

Through our unmeasurable woods: 

I can no more create, sitting in youthful state 

Above the mighty floods, 

And peopling glen, and wave, and air, 

With shapes that are immortal. Then 

The earth and heaven were fair, 

While only less than gods seem'd all my fellow-men. 

Oh ! the delight, the gladness, 
The sense yet love of madness, 
The glorious choral exultations, 
The far-off sounding of the banded nations, 
The wings of angels at melodious sweeps 
Upon the mountain's hazy steeps — 
The very dead astir within their coffm'd deeps ; 
The dreamy veil that wrapp'd the star and sod — 
A swathe of purple, gold, and amethyst ; 
And, luminous behind the billowy mist, 
Something that look'd to my young eyes like God. 

Too late I learn I have not lived aright, 
And hence the loss of that delight 
Which put a moon into the moonless night. 
I mingled in the human maze ; 
I sought their horrid shrine; 
I knelt before the impure blaze ; 
I made their idols mine. 
I lost mine early love — that land of balms 
Most musical with solemn psalms 
Sounding beneath the tall and graceful palms. 

Who lives aright ] 
Answer me, all ye pyramids and piles 
That look like calmest power in your still might. 
Ye also do I ask, O continents and isles ! 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



4So 



Blind though with blood ye be, 

Your tongues, though torn with pain, I know are 

free. 
Then speak, all ancient masses ! speak 
From patient obelisk to idle peak ! 
There is a heaving of the plains, 
A trailing of a shroud, 
A clash of bolts and chains — 
A low, sad voice, that comes upon me like a cloud, 

" Oh, misery ! oh, misery !" — 
Thou poor old Earth ! no more, no more 
Shall I draw speech from thee, 
Nor dare thy crypts of legendary lore : [shore. 
Let silence learn no tongue ; let night fold every 

Yet I have something left — the will, 
That Mont Blanc of the soul, is towering still. 
And I can bear the pain, 
The storm, the old heroic chain; 
And with a smile 

Pluck wisdom from my torture, and give back 
A love to Fate from this my mountain-rack. 
I do believe the sad alone are wise; 
I do believe the wrong'd alone can know 
Why lives the world, why spread the burden'd skies, 
And so from torture into godship grow. 
Plainer and plainer beams this truth, the more 
I hear the slow, dull dripping of my gore; 
And now, arising from yon deep, 
'Tis plain as a white statue on a tall, dark steep. 

Oh, suffering bards ! oh, spirits black 
With storm on many a mountain-rack ! 
Our early splendour's gone, 
Like stars into a cloud withdrawn — 
Like music laid asleep 

In dried-up fountains — like a stricken dawn 
Where sudden tempests sweep. 
I hear the bolts around us falling, 
And cloud to cloud forever calling: 
Yet we must nor despair nor weep. 
Did we this evil bring? 
Or from our fellows did the torture spring ? 
Titans ! forgive, forgive ! 
Oh, know ye not 'tis victory but to live? 
Therefore I say, rejoice with harp and voice ! 
We are the prophets of the beautiful. 
And thou, O Earth! rejoice 
With many waters rising like a voice. 
Thou, too, art full of beauty : thou ! 
Though thorns are piercing thy pale brow, 
And thy deep, awful eyes look dull. 
Wherever beauty is, is hope ; 
And thou for His great sake hadst being: 
From central deep to starry cope 
Beauty is the all-seeing. 
Oh, yet thou shalt be a majestic creature, 
Redeem'd in form and every feature ; 
New moons on high, thy plains continuous bowers, 
And in thy snow-white hand another Eden's flowers. 



" Earth shall rejoice : we do rejoice, 
Each with his harp and thorny crown ; 
And reverent hear, from dreary year to year, 
Without a frown amid our patient fold 



Upon the rocks beside the frozen fountains, 

The avalanches of God's judgments roll'd 

With stately motion and far thunder down 

Eternity's old mountains: 

We hear, and calmly smile 

Amid the mist on this our rocky pile." 

Oh, sulfering but heroic souls ! 
Your voices come to me like muffled rolls 
Of brave but mournful thunders at their goals : 
And, gaining strength, once more I cry aloud 
From mine own stormy peak and clinging shroud, 
" Still, stiJI rejoice, with harp and voice ! 
I know not what our fate may be : 
I only know that he who hath a time 
Must also have eternity : 

One billow proves and gives a whole wide sea. 
On this I build my trust, 
And not on mountain-dust, 
Or murmuring woods, or starlit clime, 
Or ocean with melodious chime, 
Or sunset glories in the western sky : 
Enough, I am, and shall not choose to die. 
No matter what our future fate may be : 
To live is in itself a majesty ! 
Oh ! there we may again create 
Fair worlds as in our youthful state ; 
Or Wo may build for us a fiery tomb 
Like Faiiixata's in the nether gloom : 
Even then we will not lose the name of man 
By idle moan or coward groan, 
But say, ' It was so written in the mighty plan !' " 



THE GODS OF OLD: AN ODE. 

Not realmless sit the ancient gods 

Upon their misty thrones. 

In that old glorious Grecian heaven 

Of regal zones 

A languor on their awful forms may lie, 

And a deep grief on their large white brows, 

King-dwellers of the sky ! 

But still they show the might of god, 

In rustless panoply. 

They cannot fade, though other creeds 

Came burden'd with their curse, 

And oxe's apotheosis was 

A darken'd universe : 

No tempest heralded the orient light ; 

No fiery portent walk'd the solemn night; 

No conqueror's blood-red banner was unfurl'd ; 

No volcan shook its warning torch on high ; 

No earthquake tore the pulses of the world ; 

No pale suns wander'd through the swarthy sky ; 

Only the silent Spheres 

Amid the darkness shed some joyous tears ; 

And then, as rainbows come, it came 

With morning's lambent flame. 

The Stars look'd from their palaces, whose spires 

And windows caught afar the prophet-glow, 

And bade their choirs sing to the sweetest lyres, 

"Peace and good will unto the orb below !" 

The monarchs shudder d and turn'd sick at heart; 

And from their bright hands fell 



484 



WILLIAM WALLACE. 



Gemm'd sceptres with a thunderous sound 

Before the miracle : 

Ah ! sick at soul — but they, the bards. 

Song's calm immortals in the eclipse, 

Throng'd up and held the nectar-cup 

To their pale lips ; 

And each, with an eager, fond look, stirr'd 

Certain melodious strings, 

While the startled tempest-bearing bird, 

Poised tremblingly his wings : 

Then loftier still their harps resounded, 

And louder yet their voices roll'd 

Between the arches, and rebounded 

Dreamily from the roof of gold : 

" Ye cannot leave your throned spheres, 
Though faith is o'er, 
And a mightier One than Jove appears 
On Earth's expectant shore !" 
Slowly the daring words went trampling through 

the halls — 
" Not in the earth, nor hell, nor sky, 
The ideal, O ye gods ! can ever die, 
But to the soul of man immortal calls. 

" Still, Jove, sublime, shall wrap 
His awful forehead in Olympian shrouds, 
Or take along the heavens' dark wilderness 
His thunder-chase behind the hunted clouds : 
And mortal eyes upturned shall behold 
Apollo's rustling robe of gold 
Sweep through the corridors of the ancient sky 
That kindling speaks its Deity : 
And he the ruler of the sunless land 
Of restless ghosts shall fitfully illume 
With smouldering fires that stir in cavern'd eyes 
Hell's house of shuddering gloom : 
Still the ethereal huntress, as of old, 
Shall roam amid the sacred Latinos mountains, 
And lave her virgin limbs in waters cold 
That, earth holds up for her in marble fountains : 
And in his august dreams along the Italian* streams, 
The poor old throneless god, with angry frown, 
Will feebly grasp the air for his lost crown — 
Then murmur sadly low of his great overthrow. 
And wrapp'd in sounding mail shall he appear, 
War's giant charioteer ! — 
And where the conflict reels, 
Urge through the swaying lines his crashing wheels; 
Or pause to list amid the horrent shades. 
The deep, hoarse cry of battle's thirsty blades, 
Led by the hungry spear — 
Till at the weary combat's close, 
They gave their passionate thanks, 
Amid the panting ranks of conquer'd foes; 
Then, drunken with their king's red wine, 
Go swooning to repose around his purple shrine. 

" And he the trident-wielder still shall sec 
The adoring billows kneel around his feet, 
While, at his call, the winds in ministry 
Before their altar of thfe tempest meet : 
Or — leaning gently o'er the Paphian isles, 
Cheer'd by the music of some Triton's horn — 
Lift up the shadowy curtains of the night 



Saturn was banished to Italy. 



To their hid window-tops above, 

And bathe thy drowsy eyelids with the light, 

Voluptuous queen of love! 

And thou, ah, thou, 

Born of the white sea-foam 

That dreams a-troubled still around thy home — 

Awaking from thy slumbers, thou shalt press 

Thy passionate lips on his resplendent brow 

In some sweet, lone recess, 

Where waters murmur and the dim leaves bow : 

And young Endymion 

At midnight's pallid noon 

Shall still be charm'd from his dewy sleep 

By the foolish, lovesick Moon, 

Who thrills to find him in some lovely vale 

Before her silver lamp may fail : 

And Pan shall play his pleasant reed 

Down in the hush'd arcades, 

And fauns shall prank the sward amid 

Thessalia's sunny shades. 

" Nor absent she whose eyes of azure throw* 
Truth's sunburst on the world below: 
Still shall she calmly watch the choral years 
Circling fast the beamy spheres 
That tremble as she marches through their plains, 
While momently rolls out a sullen sound 
From Error's hoary mountains tumbling round — 
Heard by the Titan, who from his high rock, 
Fill'd with immortal pains 
That his immortal spirit still can mock, 
Exultant sees — despite the oppressor's ire, 
The frost, the heat, the vulture, and the storm — 
Earth's ancient vales rejoicing in his fire, 
The homes, the loves of men — those beings wrought 
To many a beauteous formj" 
In the grand quiet of his own great thought : 
And over all, bright, beautiful, serene, 
And changeless in thy prime, 
Thou, Psyche, glory-cinctured shalt be seen, 
Whispering forever that one word sublime, 
Down through the peopled gallery of Time — 
1 Eternity !' — in whose dread cycles stand 
Men and their deities, alike on common land." 

Like far-off stars that glimmer in a cloud, 
Deathless, O gods!, shall ye illume the past; 
To ye the poet-voice will cry aloud, 
Faithful among the faithless to the last — 
" Ye must not die !" 
Long as the dim robes of the ages trail 
O'er Delphi's steep or Tempe's flowery vale — 
Ye shall not die ! 

Though time and storm your calm old temples rend, 
And, rightly, men to our " One only" bend — 
Ye were the things in which the ancient mind 
Its darkling sense of Deity enshrined. 
To Sinai still Olympus reverent calls, 
And Ida leans to hear Mount Zion's voice: 
Gods of the past! your shapes are in our halls; 
Upon our clime your mighty presence falls, 
And Christian hearts with Grecian souls rejoice. 



* " Thou, Pallas. Wisdom's blue-eyed queen !" 
t According to the Greek mythology, Prometheus stole 
fire from heaven and created man, for which Jove pun- 
ished him. 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 



[Born, 1819.] 



Mr. Lowell is a native of Boston, where his 
father is an eminent Congregational clergyman. 
He completed his education at Harvard College 
when about twenty years of age, and subsequently- 
studied the law, but I believe with no intention of 
entering the courts. His first appearance as an 
author was in 1839, when he printed a class poem 
recited at Cambridge. It was a composition in 
heroic verse, which, though it betrayed marks of 
haste, contained many strokes of vigorous satire, 
much sharp wit, and occasional bursts of feeling. 
Two years afterward he published a volume of 
miscellaneous poems, under the title of" A Year's 
Life." This bore no relationship to his first pro- 
duction. Tt illustrated entirely different thoughts, 
feelings, and habits. It not only evinced a change 
of heart, but so entire a revolution in his mode of 
thinking as to seem the production of a different 
mind. The staple of one forms the satire of the 
other. Not more unlike are Carltle's «• Life of 
Schiller" and his "Sartor Resartus." Though 
" A Year's Life" was by no means deficient in 
merit, it had so many weak points as to be easily 
accessible to satirical criticism. The author's lan- 
guage was not pure. When he would " wreak 
his thoughts upon expression," in the absence of 
allowable words, he corrupted such as came near- 
est his meaning into terms which had an intelli- 
gible sound, but would not bear a close scrutiny. 
With all its faults, however, the book had gleams 
and flashes of genius, which justified warm praises 
and sanguine expectations. The new poet, it was 
evident, had an observing eye, and a suggestive 
imagination ; he had caught the tone and spirit 
of the new and mystical philosophy ; he had a 
large heart ; and he aimed, not altogether unsuc- 
cessfully, to make Nature the representative and 
minister of his feelings and desires. If he failed 
in attempts to put thin abstractions and ever-fleet- 
ing shades of thought and emotion into palpable 
forms, the signs, in " A Year's Life," of the strug- 
gling of a larger nature than appeared in defined 
outlines, made for the author a watchful and hope- 
ful audience. 

In 1844 Mr. Lowell published a new volume, 
evincing very decided advancement in thought, and 
feeling, and execution. The longest of its contents, 
" A Legend of Brittany," is without any of the stri- 
king faults of his previous compositions, and in 
imagination and artistic finish is the best poem he 
has yet printed. A knight loves and betrays a 
maiden, and, to conceal his crime, murders her, 
and places her corpse for temporary concealment 
behind the altar of his church, whence he is pre- 
vented by a mysterious awe from removing it. 
Meanwhile a festival is held there, and when the 



people are all assembled, and the organ sounds, 
the templar hears the voice of the wronged spirit, 
complaining that she has no rest in heaven be- 
cause of the state of the unbaptized infant in her 
womb, for which she implores the sacrament. Her 
prayer is granted, and the repentant lover dies of 
remorse. The illustration of this story gives oc- 
casion for the finest of Mr. Lowell's exhibitions 
of love, and the poem is in all respects beautiful 
and complete. In the same volume appeared the 
author's " Prometheus," " Rhoecus," and some of 
his most admired shorter pieces. He put forth in 
it his best powers, and though it embraced occa- 
sional redundancies, and he was sometimes so ill- 
satisfied with his poem as to give in its conclusion 
a versified exposition of its meaning in the form 
of a moral, it secured the general consent to his 
admission into the company of men of genius. 

In 1845 appeared his "Conversations on some 
of the Old Poets," consisting of a series of criticisms 
and relevant discussions which evince careful study, 
delicate perception, and a generous catholicity of 
taste ; but the book docs not contain the best spe- 
cimens of his criticism or of his prose diction. 

He gave to the public a third collection of his 
poems in 1848. In this there is no improvement 
of versification, no finer fancy, or braver imagina- 
tion, than in the preceding volume ; but it illus- 
trates a deeper interest in affairs, and a warm par- 
tisanship for the philanthropists and progressists 
of all classes. Among his subjects are " The Pres- 
ent Crisis," "Anti-Texas," "The Capture of Fu- 
gitive Slaves," " Hunger and Cold," " The Land- 
lord," &c. He gives here the first examples of a 
peculiar humour, which he has since cultivated 
with success, and many passages of finished decla- 
mation and powerful invective. He had been mar- 
ried, in 1S44, to Miss Maria White, whose abili- 
ties are shown in a graceful composition included 
in this volume, and by others which lhave quoted 
in the " Female Poets of America." 

In the same year Mr. Lowell published " A 
Fable for Critics, or a Glance at a Few of our 
Literary Progenies," a rhymed essay, critical and 
satirical, upon the principal living writers of the 
country. It abounds in ingenious turns of ex- 
pression, and felicitous sketches of character; it 
is witty and humorous, and for the most part in a 
spirit of genial appreciation ; but in a few instan- 
ces the judgments indicate too narrow a range of 
sympathies, and the caustic severity of others has 
been attributed to desires of retaliation. 

The " Fable for Critics" was soon followed by 

" The Biglow Papers," a collection of verses in 

the dialect of New England, with an introduction 

and notes, written hi the character of a pedantic 

2s2 485 



486 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



but sharp-witted and patriotic country parson. 
The book is a satire upon the defences of our re- 
cent war against Mexico, and it exhibits in various 
forms of indigenous and homely humour the in- 
dignation with which the contest was regarded by 
the best sort of people in the eastern states. The 
sectional peculiarities of idiom are perhaps exag- 
gerated, but the entire work has an appearance 
of genuineness. 

About the same time appeared Mr. Lowell's 
" Vision of Sir Launfal," a poem founded upon 
the legend of the search for the Holy Grail, (the 
cup out of which our Lord drank with his disci- 



ples at the last supper.) This is one of his long- 
est and most beautiful poems, but an objection to 
it is poetically as well as metaphysically just, that 
the actions of Sir Launfal are induced by convic- 
tions of duty rather than by simple love. 

Besides these works, Mr. Lowell has written 
much for the periodicals. He edited several 
months a monthly miscellany called " The Pio- 
neer," and he is now an associate editor of the 
" Anti-Slavery Standard." He is the author of 
some of the best papers in the " North American 
Review," and under various disguises is a con- 
tributor to other magazines and journals. 



TO THE DANDELION. 

Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, 
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, 

First pledge of blithesome May, 
Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold, 

High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they 
An Eldorado in the grass have found, 

Which not the rich earth's ample round 
May match in wealth — thou art more dear to me 
Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be. 

Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow 
Through the primeval hush of Indian seas, 

Nor wrinkled the lean brow 
Of age, to rob the lover's heart of ease ; 

'Tis the Spring's largess, which she scatters now 
To rich and poor alike, with lavish hand, 

Though most hearts never understand 
To take it at God's value, but pass by 
The offer'd wealth with unrewarded eye. 

Thou art my trophies and mine Italy ; 
To look at thee unlocks a warmer clime ; 

The eyes thou givest me 
Are in the heart, and heed not space or time ; 

Not in mid June the golden-cuirass'd bee 
Feels a more summer-like, warm ravishment 
In the white lily's breezy tint, 
His conquer'd Sybaris, than I, when first 
From the dark green thy yellow circles burst. 

Then think I of deep shadows on the grass — 
Of meadows where in sun the cattle graze, 

Where, as the breezes pass, 
The gleaming rushes lean a thousand ways — 

Of leaves that slumber in a cloudy mass, 
Or whiten in the wind — of waters blue 

That from the distance sparkle through 
Some woodland gap — and of a sky above, [move. 
Where one white cloud like a stray lamb doth 

My childhood's earliest thoughts are link'd with 
The sight of thee calls back the robin's song, [thee ; 

Who, from the dark old tree 
Beside the door, sang clearly all day long, 

And I, secure in childish piety, 
Iiisten'd as if I heard an angel sing 

With news from heaven, which he did bring 
Fresh every day to my untainted ears, 
When birds and flowers and I were happy peers. 



How like a prodigal doth Nature seem, 
When thou, for all thy gold, so common art ! 

Thou teachest me to deem 
More sacredly of every human heart, 

Since each reflects in joy its scanty gleam 
Of heaven, and could some wondrous secret show, 
Did we but pay the love we owe, 
And with a child's undoubting wisdom look 
On all these living pages of Gon's book. 



TO THE MEMORY OF THOMAS HOOD. 

Another star 'neath Time's horizon dropp'd, 
To gleam o'er unknown lands and seas ! 

Another heart that beat for freedom stopp'd : 
What mournful words are these ! 

Oh ! Love divine, thou claspest our tired earth, 

And lullest it upon thy heart, 
Thou knovvest how much a gentle soul is worth, 
To teach men what thou art. 

His was a spirit that to all thy poor 

Was kind as slumber after pain : 
Why ope so soon thy heaven-deep Quiet's door 

And call him home again 1 

Freedom needs all her poets : it is they 

W x ho give her aspirations wings, 
And to the wiser law of music sway 

Her wild imaginings. 

Yet thou hast call'd him, nor art thou unkind, 

Oh! Love divine, for 'tis thy will 
That gracious natures leave their love behind 

To work for Freedom still. 

Let laurell'd marbles weigh on other tombs, 

Let anthems peal for other dead, 
Rustling the banner'd depth of minster-glooms 

With their exulting spread : 

His epitaph shall mock the short-lived stone, 

No lichen shall its lines efface ; 
He needs these few and simple lines alone 

To mark his resting-place : — 

" Here lies a poet : stranger, if to thee 

His claim to memory be obscure, 
If thou wouldst learn how truly great was he, 

Go, ask it of the poor." 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



487 



SONNETS. 

I. TO . 

Through suffering and sorrow thou hast pass'd 
To show us what a woman true may be : 
They have not taken sympathy from thee, 
Nor made thee any other than thou wast ; 
Save as some tree, which, in a sudden blast, 
Sheddeth those blossoms, that are weakly grown, 
Upon the air, but keepeth every one 
Whose strength gives warrant of good fruit at last ; 
So thou hast shed some blooms of gayety, 
But never one of steadfast cheerfulness; 
Nor hath thy knowledge of adversity 
Eobb'd thee of any faith in happiness, 
But rather clear'd thine inner eyes to see 
How many simple ways there are to bless. 



II. THE FIERY TRIAL. 

The hungry flame hath never yet been hot 

To him who won his name and crown of fire ; 

But it doth ask a stronger soul and higher 

To bear, not longing for a prouder lot, 

Those martyrdoms whereof the world knows not, — 

Hope sneaped with frosty scorn, the faith of youth 

Wasted in seeming vain defence of Truth, 

Greatness o'ertopp'd with baseness, and fame got 

Too late : — Yet this most bitter task was meant 

For those right, worthy in such cause to plead, 

And therefore God sent poets, men content 

To live in humbleness and body's need, 

If they may tread the path where Jesus went, 

And sow one grain of Love's eternal seed. 



in. 
I ask not for those thoughts, that sudden leap 
From being's sea, like the isle-seeming Kraken, 
With whose great rise the ocean all is shaken 
And a heart-tremble quivers through the deep ; 
Give me that growth which some perchance deem 
Wherewith the steadfast coral-stems uprise, [sleep, 
Which, by the toil of gathering energies, 
Their upward way into clear sunshine keep, 
Until, by Heaven's sweetest influences, 
Slowly and slowly spreads a speck of green 
Into a pleasant island in the seas, 
Where, mid tall palms, the cane-roof 'd home is seen, 
And wearied men shall sit at sunset's hour, 
Hearing the leaves and loving God's dear power. 



IV. TO , ON HER BIRTH-DAT. 

Maiden, when such a soul as thine is born, 
The morning-stars their ancient music make, 
And, joyful, once again their song awake, 
Long silent now with melancholy scorn; 
And thou, not mindless of so blest a morn, 
By no least deed its harmony shalt break, 
But shalt to that high chime thy footsteps take, 
Through life's most darksome passes, unforlorn; 
Therefore from thy pure faith thou shalt not fall, 
Therefore shalt thou be ever fair and free, 
And, in thine every motion, musical 
As summer air, majestic as the sea, 
A mystery to those who creep and crawl 
Through Time, and part it from Eternity. 



V. TO THE SAME. 

My Love, I have no fear that thou shouldst die ; 

Albeit I ask no fairer life than this, 

Whose numbering-clock is still thy gentle kiss. 

While Time and Peace with hands enlocked fly,- — 

Yet care I not where in Eternity 

We live and love, well knowing that there is 

No backward step for those who feel the bliss 

Of Faith as their most lofty yearnings high : 

Love hath so purified my heart's strong core, 

Meseems I scarcely should be startled, even, 

To find, some morn, that thou hadst gone before ; 

Since, with thy love, this knowledge too was given, 

Which each calm day doth strengthen more and 

more, 
That they who love are but one step from Heaven. 



IV. TO THE SPIRIT OF KEATS. 

Great soul thou sittest with me in my room, 
Uplifting me with thy vast, quiet eyes, 
On whose full orbs, with kindly lustre, lies 
The twilight warmth of ruddy ember-gloom : 
Thy clear, strong tones will oft bring sudden bloom 
Of hope secure, to him who lonely cries, 
Wrestling with the young poet's agonies, 
Neglect and scorn, which seem a certain doom ; 
Yes ! the few words which, like great thunder-drops, 
Thy large heart down to earth shook doubtfully, 
Thrill'd by the inward lightning of its might, 
Serene and pure, like gushing joy of light, 
Shall track the eternal chords of Destiny, 
After the moon-led pulse of ocean ' 



VII. to . 

Our love is not a fading, earthly flower; 

Its wing'd seed dropp'd down from Paradise, 

And, nursed by day and night, b} T sun and shower, 

Doth momently to fresher beauty rise : 

To us the leafless autumn is not bare, 

Nor winter's rattling boughs lack lusty green, 

Our summer hearts make summer's fulness, where 

No leaf, or bud, or blossom may be seen : 

For nature's life in love's deep fife doth lie, 

Love, — whose forgetfulness is beauty's death, 

Whose mystic keys these cells of Thou and I 

Into the infinite freedom openeth, 

And makes the body's dark and narrow grate 

The wide-flung leaves of Heaven's palace-gate. 



VIII. IN ABSENCE. 

These rugged, wintry days I scarce could bear, 
Did I not know, that, in the early spring, ' 
When wild March winds upon their errands sing, 
Thou wouldst return, bursting on this still air, 
Like those same winds, when, startled from their 
They hunt up violets, and free swift brooks [lair, 
From icy cares, even as thy clear looks 
Bid my heart bloom, and sing, and break all care : 
When drops with welcome rain the April day, 
My flowers shall find their April in thine eyes, 
Save there the rain in dreamy clouds doth stay, 
As loath to fall out of those happy skies ; 
Yet sure, my love, thou art most like to May, 
That comes with steady sun when April dies. 



488 



JAMES EUSSELL LOWELL. 



THE POET. 

Ix the old days of awe and keen-eyed wonder, 

The Poet's song with blood-warm truth was rife ; 
He saw the mysteries which circle under 

The outward shell and skin of daily life. 
Nothing to him were fleeting time and fashion, 

His soul was led by the eternal law ; 
There was in him no hope of fame, no passion, 

But with calm, godlike eyes, he only saw. 
He did not sigh o'er heroes dead and buried, 

Chief mourner at the Golden Age's hearse, 
Nor deem that souls whom Charon grim had ferried 

Alone were fitting themes of epic verse : 
He could believe the promise of to-morrow, 

And feel the wondrous meaning of to-day ; 
He had a deeper faith in holy sorrow 

Than the world's seeming loss could take away. 
To know the heart of all things was his duty, 

All things did sing to him to make him wise, 
And, with a sorrowful and conquering beauty, 

The soul of all looked grandly from his eyes. 
He gazed on all within him and without him, 

He watch'd the flowing of Time's stead}' tide, 
And shapes of glory floated all about him 

And whisper'd to him, and he prophesied. 
Than all men he more fearless was and freer, 

And all his brethren cried with one accord, — 
« Behold the holy man ! Behold the Seer ! 

Him who hath spoken with the unseen Lord !" 
He to his heart with large embrace had taken 

The universal sorrow of mankind, 
And, from that root, a shelter never shaken, 

The tree of wisdom grew with sturdy rind. 
He could interpret well the wondrous voices 

Which to the calm and silent spirit come ; 
He knew that the One Soul no more rejoices 

In the star's anthem than the insect's hum. 
He in his heart was ever meek and humble, 

And yet with kingly pomp his numbers ran, 
As he foresaw how all things false should crumble 

Before the free, uplifted soul of man : 
And, when he was made full to overflowing 

With all the loveliness of heaven and earth, 
Out rush'd his song, like molten iron glowing, 

To show God sitting by the humblest hearth. 
With calmest courage he was ever ready 

To teach that action was the truth of thought, 
And, with strong arm and purpose firm and 
steady, 

The anchor of the drifting world he wrought, 
So did he make the meanest man partaker 

Of all his brother-gods unto him gave ; 
All souls did reverence him and name him Maker, 

And when he died heaped temples on his grave. 
And still his deathless words of li^ht are swimming 

Serene throughout the great, deep infinite 
Of human soul, unwaning and undimming, 

To cheer and guide the mariner at night. 
But now the Poet is an empty rhymer 

Who lies with idle elbow on the grass, 
And fits his singing, like a cunning timer, 

To all men's prides and fancies as they pass. 
Not his the song, which, in its metre holy, 

Chimes with the music of the eternal stars, 



Humbling the tyrant, lifting up the lowly, 

And sending sun through the soul's prison-bars. 
Maker no more,— -0, no ! unmaker rather, 

For he unmakes who doth not all put forth 
The power given by our loving Father 

To show the body's dross, the spirit's worth. 
Awake ! great spirit of the ages olden ! 

Shiver the mists that hide thy starry lyre, 
And let man's soul be yet again beholden 

To thee for wings to soar to her desire. 
0, prophesy no more to-morrow's splendor, 

Be no more shame-faced to speak out for Truth, 
Lay on her altar all the gushings tender, 

The hope, the fire, the loving faith of youth ! 
0, prophesy no more the Maker's coming, 

Say not his onward footsteps thou canst hear 
In the dim void, like to the awful humming 

Of the great wings of some new-lighted sphere ! 
0, prophesy no more, but be the Poet ! 

This longing was but granted unto thee 
That, when all beauty thou couldst feel and know it, 

That beauty in its highest thou couldst be. 
0, thou who moanest, tost with sealike longings, 

Who dimly hearest voices call on thee, 
Whose soul is overfill'd with mighty throngings 

Of love, and fear, and glorious agony, 
Thou of the toil-strung hands and iron sinews 

And soul by Mother Earth with freedom fed, 
In whom the hero-spirit yet continues, 

The old free nature is not chain'd or dead, 
Arouse ! let thy soul break in music-thunder, 

Let loose the ocean that is in thee pent, 
Pour forth thy hope, thy fear, thy love, thy wonder, 

And tell the age what all its signs have meant. 
Where'er thy wilder'd crowd of brethren jostles, 

Where'er there lingers but a shade of wrong, 
There still is need of martyrs and apostles, 

There still are texts for never-dying song : 
From age to age man's still aspiring spirit 

Finds wider scope and sees with clearer eyes, 
And thou in larger measure dost inherit 

What made thy great forerunners free and wise. 
Sit thou enthroned where the Poet's mountain 

Above the thunder lifts its silent peak, 
And roll thy songs down like a gathering fountain, 

That all may drink and find the rest they seek. 
Sing ! there shall silence grow in earth and heaven, 

A silence of deep awe and wondering; 
For, listening gladly, bend the angels, even, 

To hear a mortal like an angel sing. 

Among the toil-worn poor my soul is seeking 

For one to bring the Maker's name to light, 
To be the voice of that almighty speaking 

Which every age demands to. do it right. 
Proprieties our silken bards environ ; 

He who would be the tongue of this wide land 
Must string his harp with chords of sturdy iron 

And strike it with a toil-embrowned hand ; 
One who hath dwelt with Nature well-attended. 

Who hath learnt wisdom from her mystic books, 
Whose soul with all her countless lives hath blended, 

So that all beauty awes us in his looks ; 
Who not with body's waste his soul hath pamper'd, 

Who as the clear northwestern wind is free, 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



489 



Who walks with Form's observances unhamper'd, 

And follows the One Will obediently; 
Whose eyes, like windows on a breezy summit, 

Control a lovely prospect every way ; 
Who doth not sound God's sea with earthly plummet, 

And find a bottom still of worthless clay ; 
Who heeds not how the lower gusts are working, 

Knowing that one sure wind blows on above, 
And sees, beneath the foulest faces lurking, 

One God-built shrine of reverence and love; 
Who sees all stars that wheel their shining marches 

Around the centre fix'd of Destiny, 
Where the encircling soul serene o'erarches 

The moving globe of being, like a sky ; [nearer 
Who feels that God and Heaven's great deeps are 

Him to whose heart his fellow-man is nigh, 
Who doth not hold his soul's own freedom dearer 

Than that of all his brethren, low or high ; 
Who to the right can feel himself the truer 

For being gently patient with the wrong, 
Who sees a brother in the evildoer, 

And finds in Love the heart's blood of his song ; — 
This, this is he for whom the world is waiting 

To sing the beatings of its mighty heart, 
Too long hath it been patient with the grating 

Of scrannel-pipes, and heard it misnamed Art. 
To him the smiling soul of man shall listen, 

Laying awhile its crown of thorns aside, 
And once again in every eye shall glisten 

The glory of a nature satisfied. 
His verse shall have a great, commanding motion, 

Heaving and swelling with a melody 
Learnt of the sky, the river, and the ocean, 

And all the pure, majestic things that be. 
Awake, then, thou ! we pine for thy great presence 

To make us feel the soul once more sublime, 
We are of far too infinite an essence 

To rest contented with the lies of Time. 
Speak out ! and, lo ! a hush of deepest wonder 

Shall sink o'er all his many-voiced scene, 
As when a sudden burst of rattling thunder 

Shatters the blueness of a sky serene. 



EXTRACT FROM A LEGEND OF BRIT- 
TANY. 

Then swell'd the organ : up through choir and nave 
The music trembled with an inward thrill 

Of bliss at its own grandeur : wave on wave 
Its flood of mellow thunder rose, until 

The hush'd air shiver'd with the throb it gave, 
Then, poising for a moment, it stood still, 

And sank and rose again, to burst in spray 

That wander'd into silence far away. 

Like to a mighty heart the music seem'd, 
That yearns with melodies it cannot speak, 

Until, in grand despair of what it dream'd, 
In the agony of effort it doth break, 

Yet triumphs breaking ; on it rush'd and stream'd 
And wanton 'd in its might, as when a lake, 

Long pent among the mountains, bursts its walls 

And in one crowding gush leaps forth and falls. 
62 



Deeper and deeper shudders shook the air, 
As the huge bass kept gathering heavily, 

Like thunder when it rouses in its lair, 

And with its hoarse growl shakes the low-hung 

It grew up like a darkness everywhere, [sky: 

Filling the vast cathedral ; — suddenly, 

From the dense mass a boy's clear treble broke 

Like lightning, and the full-toned choir awoke. 

Through gorgeous windows shone the sun aslant, 
Brimming the church with gold and purple mist, 

Meet atmosphere to bosom that rich chant, 
Where fifty voices in one strand did twist 

Their varicolour'd tones, and left no want 
To the delighted soul, which sank abyss'd 

In the warm music-cloud, while, far below, 

The organ heaved its surges to and fro. 

As if a lark should suddenly drop dead 

While the blue air yet trembled with its song, 

So snapped at once that music's golden thread, 
Struck by a nameless fear that leapt along 

From heart to heart, and like a shadow spread 
With instantaneous shiver through the throng, 

So that some glanced behind, as half aware 

A hideous shape of dread were standing there. 

As, when a crowd of pale men gather round, 
Watching an eddy in the leaden deep, 

From which they deem'd the body of one drown'd 
Will be cast forth, from face to face doth creep 

An eager dread that holds all tongues fast bound, 
Until the horror, with a ghastly leap, 

Starts up, its dead blue arms stretch'd aimlessly, 

Heaved with the swinging of the careless sea, — 

So in the faces of all these there grew, 
As by one impulse, a dark, freezing awe, 

Which with a fearful fascination drew 
All eyes toward the altar; damp and raw 

The air grew suddenly, and no man knew 
Whether perchance his silent neighbour saw 

The dreadful thing, which all were sure would rise 

To scare the strained lids wider from their eyes. 

The incense trembled as it upward sent 

Its slow, uncertain thread of wandering blue, 

As 't were the only living element 

In all the church, so deep the stillness grew; 

It seem'd one might have heard it, as it went, 
Give out an audible rustle, curling through 

The midnight silence of that awe-struck air, 

More hush'd than death, though so much life was 
there. 



THE SYRENS. 

The sea is lonely, the sea is dreary, 
The sea is restless and uneasy ; 
Thou seekest quiet, thou art weary, 
Wandering thou knowest not whither ;— 
Our little isle is green and breezy, 
Come and rest thee! come hither! 
Come to this peaceful home of ours, 

Where evermore 
The low west-wind creeps panting up the shore 
To be at rest among the flowers ; 



490 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 


Full of rest, the green moss lifts, 


That waves its arms so lank and brown, 


As the dark waves of the sea 


Beckoning for thee ! 


Draw in and out of rocky rifts, 


Look down beneath thy wave-worn bark 


Calling solemnly to thee 


Into the cold depth of the sea ! 


With voices deep and hollow, — 


Look down ! Look down ! 


" To the shore 


Thus, on Life's lonely sea, 


Follow ! follow ! 


Heareth the marinere 


To be at rest for evermore ! 


Voices sad, from far and near, 


For evermore ! 


Ever singing full of fear, 


Look how the gray, old Ocean 


Ever singing drearfully. 


From the depth of his heart rejoices, 


Here all is pleasant as a dream ; 


Heaving with a gentle motion, 


The wind scarce shaketh down the dew, 


When he hears our restful voices ; 


The green grass floweth like a stream 


List how he sings in an undertone, 


Into the ocean's blue : 


Chiming with our melody ; 


Listen ! listen ! 


And all sweet sounds of earth and air 


Here is a gush of many streams, 


Melt into one low voice alone, 


A song of many birds, 


That murmurs over the weary sea, — 


And every wish and longing seems 


And seems to sing from everywhere, — 


Lull'd to a number'd flow of words, — 


" Here may est thou harbour peacefully, 


Listen - ! listen! 


Here mayest thou rest from the aching oar ; 


Here ever hum the golden bees 


Turn thy curved prow ashore, 


Underneath full-blossom'd trees, 


And in our green isle rest for evermore ! 


At once with glowing fruit and flowers crown'd ; — 


For evermore !" 


The sand is so smooth, the yellow sand, 


And Echo half wakes in the wooded hill, 


That thy keel will not grate, as it touches the land ; 


And, to her heart so calm and deep, 


All around, with a slumberous sound, 


Murmurs over in her sleep, 


The singing waves slide up the strand, 


Doubtfully pausing and murmuring still, 


And there, where the smooth, wet pebbles be, 


" Evermore !" 


The waters gurgle longingly, 


Thus, on Life's weary sea, 


As if they fain would seek the shore, 


Hearelh the marinere 


To be at rest from the ceaseless roar, 


Voices sweet, from far and near, 


To be at rest for evermore, — 


Ever singing low and clear, 


For evermore. 


Ever singing longingly. 


Thus, on Life's gloomy sea, 




Heareth the marinere 


Is it not better here to be, 


Voices sweet, from far and near, 


Than to be toiling late and soon ] 


Ever singing in his ear, 


In the dreary night to see 


" Here is rest and peace for thee !" 


Nothing but the blood-red moon 




Go up and down into the sea; 
Or, in the loneliness of dav, 






To see the still seals only 


AN INCIDENT IN A RAILROAD CAR. 


Solemnly lift their faces gray, 
Making it yet more lonely 1 
Is it not better, than to hear 
Only the sliding of the wave 
Beneath the plank, and feel so near 


He spoke of Burns : men rude and rough 
Press'd round to hear the praise of one 
Whose heart was made of manly, simple stuff, 
As homespun as their own. 


A cold and lonely grave, 


And, when he read, they forward leaned, 


A restless grave, where thou shalt lie 


Drinking, with thirsty hearts and ears, 


Even in death unquietly 1 


His brook-like songs whom glory never weaned 


Look down beneath thy wave-worn bark, 


Frozn humble smiles and tears. 


Lean over the side and see 




The leaden eye of the side-long shark 

Upturned patiently, 
Ever waiting there for thee : 


Slowly there grew a tender awe, 
Sun-like, o'er faces brown and hard, 
As if in him who read they felt and saw 


Look down and see those shapeless forms, 


Some presence of the bard. 


Which ever keep their dreamless sleep 


It was a sight for sin and wrong 


Far down within the gloomy deep, 


And slavish tyranny to see, 
A sight to make our faith more pure and strong 
In high humanity. 


And only stir themselves in storms, 
Rising like islands from beneath, 
And snorting through the angry spray, 


As the frail vessel perisheth 


I thought, these men will carry hence 


In the whirls of their unwieldy play; 


Promptings their former life above, 


Look dov/n ! Look down ! 


And something of a liner reverence 


Upon the seaweed, slimy and dark, 


For beauty, truth, and love. 

Jl 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



491 



God scatters love on every side, 
Freely among his children all, 
And always hearts are lying open wide, 
Wherein some grains may fall. 

There is no wind but soweth seeds 
Of a more true and open life, 
Which burst, unlook'd-for, into high-soul'd deeds 
With wayside beauty rife. 

We find within these souls of ours 
Some wild germs of a higher birth, 
Which in the poet's tropic heart bear flowers 
Whose fragrance fills the earth. 

Within the hearts of all men he 
These promises of wider bliss, 
Which blossom into hopes that cannot die, 
In sunny hours like this. 

All that hath been majestical 
In life or death, since time began, 
Is native in the simple heart of all, 
The angel heart of man. 

And thus, among the untaught poor, 
Great deeds and feelings find a home, 
That cast in shadow all the golden lore 
Of classic Greece and Rome. 

mighty brother-soul of man, 
Where'er thou art, in low or high, 
Thy skyey arches with exulting span 
O'er-roof infinity ! 

All thoughts that mould the age begin 
Deep down within the primitive soul, 
And from the many slowly upward win 
To one who grasps the whole : 

In his broad breast the feeling deep 
That struggled on the many's tongue, 
Swells to a tide of thought, whose surges leap 
O'er the weak thrones of wrong. 

All thought begins in feeling, — wide 
In the great mass its base is hid, 
And, narrowing up to thought, stands glorified, 
A moveless pyramid. 

Nor is he far astray who deems 
That every hope, which rises and grows broad 
In the world's heart, by order' d impulse streams 
From the great heart of God. 

God -wills, man hopes : in common souls 
Hope is but vague and undefined, 
Till from the poet's tongue the message rolls 
A blessing to his kind. 

Never did Poesy appear 
So full of heaven to me, as when 
I saw how it would pierce through pride and fear 
To the lives of coarsest men. 

It may be glorious to write 
Thoughts that shall glad the two or three 
High souls, like those far stars that come in sight 
Once in a century; — 



But better far it is to speak 
One simple word, which now and then 
Shall waken their free nature in the weak 
And friendless sons of men ; 

To write some earnest verse or fine, 
Which, seeking not the praise of art, 
Shall make a clearer faith and manhood shine 
In the untutor'd heart. 

He who doth this, in verse or prose, 
May be forgotten in his day, 
But surely shall be crown'd at last with those 
Who five and speak for aye. 



THE HERITAGE. 

The rich man's son inherits lands, 

And piles of brick, and stone, and gold, 

And he inherits soft, white hands, 
And tender flesh that fears the cold, 
Nor dares to wear a garment old ; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

One scarce would wish to hold in fee. 

The rich man's son inherits cares ; 

The bank may break, the factory burn, 

A breath may burst his bubble shares, 
And soft, white hands could hardly earn 
A living that would serve his turn; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

One scarce would wish to hold in fee. 

The rich man's son inherits wants. 
His stomach craves for dainty fare ; 

With sated heart, he hears the pants 
Of toiling hinds with brown arms bare, 
And wearies in his easy chair ; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

One scarce would wish to hold in fee. 

What doth the poor man's son inherit 1 
Stout muscles and a sinewy heart, 

A hardy frame, a hardier spirit; 

King of two hands, he does his part 
In every useful toil and art; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

A king might wish to hold in fee. 

Wnat doth the poor man's son inherit] 
Wishes o'erjoy'd with humble things, 

A rank adjudged by toil-won merit, 

Content that from employment springs, 
A heart that in his labour sings ; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

A king might wish to hold in fee. 

What doth the poor man's son inherit 1 
A patience learn'd by being poor, 

Courage, if sorrow come, to bear it, 
A fellow-feeling that is sure 
To make the outcast bless his door , 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

A kins: might wish to hold in fee. 



492 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



O, rich man's son ! there is a toil, 
That with all others level stands ; 

Large charity doth never soil, 

But only whiten, soft, white hands, — 
This is the best crop from thy lands ; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

Worth being rich to hold in fee. 

0, poor man's son, scorn not thy state ; 
There is worse weariness than thine, 

In merely being rich and great ; 
Toil only gives the soul to shine, 
And makes rest fragrant and benign ; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

Worth being poor to hold in fee. 

Both, heirs to some six feet of sod, 
Are equal in the earth at last ; 

Both, children of the same dear God, 
Prove title to your heirship vast 
By record of a well-fill'd past ; 

A heritage, it seems to me, 

Well worth a life to hold in fee. 



TO THE FUTURE. 

O, Land of Promise ! from what Pisgah's height 
Can I behold thy stretch of peaceful bowers 1 
Thy golden harvests flowing out of sight, 

Thy nestled homes and sun-illumined towers 1 
Gazing upon the suuset's high-heap'd gold, 

Its crags of opal and of crysolite, 
Its deeps on deeps of glory that unfold 
Still brightening abysses, 
And blazing precipices, 
Whence but a scanty leap it seems to heaven, 
Sometimes a glimpse is given, 
Of thy more gorgeous realm, thy more unstinted 
blisses. 

O, Land of Quiet ! to thy shore the surf 

Of the perturbed Present rolls and sleeps ; 
Our storms breathe soft as June upon thy turf 

And lure out blossoms: to thy bosom leaps, 
As to a mother's, the o'er-wearied heart, 
Hearing far off and dim the toiling mart, 

The hurrying feet, the curses without numoer, 
And, circled with the glow Elysian, 
Of thine exulting vision, 
Out of its very cares wooes charms for peace and 
slumber. 

To thee the Earth lifts up her fetter'd hands 
And cries for vengeance ; with a pitying smile 
Thou blessest her, and she forgets her bands, 
And her old wo-worn face a little while 
Grows young and noble ; unto thee the Oppressor 
Looks, and is dumb with awe; 
The eternal law 
Which makes the crime its own blindfold redresser, 
Shadows his heart with perilous foreboding, 



And he can see the grim-eyed Doom 
From out the trembling gloom 
Its silent-footed steeds toward his palace goading. 

What promises hast thou for Poets' eyes, 

Aweary of the turmoil and the wrong ! 
To all their hopes what overjoy'd replies ! 

What undream'd ecstasies for blissful song! 
Thy happy plains no war-trumps brawling clangor 
Disturbs, and fools the poor to hate the poor;, 
The humble glares not on the high with anger ; 

Love leaves no grudge at less, no greed for more ; 
In vain strives self the godlike sense to smother ; 
From the soul's deeps 
It throbs and leaps ; 
The noble 'neath foul rags beholds his long lost 
brother. 

To thee the Martyr looketh, and his fires 

Unlock their fangs and leave his spirit free ; 

To thee the Poet 'mid his toil aspires, 

And grief and hunger climb about his knee 

Welcome as children : thou upholdest 

The lone Inventor by his demon haunted ; 

The Prophet cries to thee when hearts are coldest, 
And, gazing o'er the midnight's bleak abyss, 
Sees the drowsed soul awaken at thy kiss, 
And stretch its happy arms and leap up disen- 
chanted. 

Thou bringest vengeance, but so loving-kindly 

The guilty thinks it pity ; taught by thee 
Fierce tyrants drop the scourges wherewith blindly 
Their own souls they were scarring; con- 
querors see 
With horror in their hands the accursed spear 
That tore the meek One's side on Calvary, 
And from their trophies shrink with ghastly fear ; 
Thou, too, art the Forgiver, 
The beauty of man's soul to man revealing ; 
The arrows from thy quiver 
Pierce error's guilty heart, but only pierce for 
healing. 

O, whither, whither, glory-winged dreams, 

From out Life's sweat and turmoil would ye 
bear me 1 
Shut, gates of Fancy, on your golden gleams, 
This agony of hopeless contrast spare me ! 
Fade, cheating glow, and leave me to my night ! 
He is a coward who would borrow 
A charm against the present sorrow 
From the vague Future's promise of delight: 
As life's alarums nearer roll, 
The ancestral buckler calls, 
Self-clanging, from the walls 
In the high temple of the soul; 
Where are most sorrows, there the poet's sphere is, 
To feed the soul with patience, 
To heal its desolations 
With words of unshorn truth, with love that never 
wearies. 



J. M. LEGARE 



[Born, 18—.] 

Mr. Legare is of Charleston, South Carolina, I of various but progressive excellence. Hisfavour- 

and is of the family of the late eminent scholar ite themes are of love and nature, and his writings 

and orator Hugh S. Leg-are. He published, in are often pervaded by a religious feeling. His taste 

Boston, in 1848, " Orta Undis, and other Poems," is elegant, and his tone chivalrous and manly, 

in Latin and English, and he has since contribu- | His verse is occasionally abrupt and harsh — per- 

ted to the literary miscellanies many compositions ! haps from attempted condensation. 



THANATOKALLOS. 

I think we faint and weep more than is manly ; 
I think we more mistrust than Christians should. 
Because the earth we cling to interposes 
And hides the lower orbit of the sun, 
We have no faith to know the circle perfect, 
And that a day will follow on the night : 
Nav, more, that when the sun we see, is setting, 
He is but rising on another people, 
And not his face but ours veil'd in darkness. 
We are less wise than were the ancient heathen 
Who temper'd feasting with a grisly moral. 

With higher hope, we shrink from thoughts of 
dying, 
And dare not read, while yet of death unbidden, 
As gipsies in the palm, those seams, and circles, 
And time-worn lineaments, which kings in purple 
Have trembled to behold, but holy men, 
Interpreting aright, like martyr' d Stephen, 
In singleness of heart have sunk to sleep ; 
God's children weary with an evening ramble. 
Unthinking custom from our very cradle 
Makes us most cowards where we should be bold. 
The house is closed and hush'd ; a gloom funereal 
Pervades the rooms once cheerful with the light; 
Sobs and outcries from those we love infect us 
With strange disquiet, making play unsought 
Before they take us on the knee and tell us 
We must no more be joyful, for a dread 
And terrible calamity has smitten one. , 

And then, poor innocents, with frighted hearts 
Within the awful chamber are we led 
To look on death ; the hard, impassive face, 
The formal shroud, which the stiff feet erect 
Into the semblance of a second forehead, 
Swathed and conceal'd ; the tumbler whence he 

drank 
Who ne'er shall drink again ; the various adjuncts 
Of a sick room ; the useless vials 
Half emptied only, on the hearth the lamp, 
Even the fly that buzzes round and settles 
Upon the dead man's mouth, and walking thence 
Into his nostril, starts him not from slumber. 
All portions of the dreary, changeless scene 



In the last drama, with unwholesome stillness 
Succeeding to the weepings and complaints 
Of Heaven's own justice, and loud cries for succour 
That fill the dving ear not wholly dead, 
Distract the fluttering spirit, and invest 
A death-bed with a horror not its own. 
I thought of these things sadly, and I wonder'd 
If in this thanatopsis, soul as clay 
Took part and sorrow'd. While I this debated, 
I knew my soul was loosing from my hold, 
And that the pines around, assuming shape 
Of mournful draperies, shut out the day. 
Then I lost sight and memory for a moment, 
Then stood erect beside my usual couch, 
And saw my longwhile tenement, a pallid 
And helpless symbol of my former self. 
The hands laid heavily across the breast, 
The eyelids down, the mouth with final courage 
That aim'd a smile for sake of her who watch'd, 
But lapsed into a pang and so congeal'd, 
Half sweet, half suffering : Aria to Caecinna. 
Poor sinful clod, erewhile the spirit's master 
Not less than servant, with desire keen 
Alloying love, and oft with wants and aohings 
Leading the mind astray from noblest deeds 
To sell its birthright for an Esau's portion. 
I all forgave, for I was all forgiven. 
Phosphor had brought a day too broad for twilight 
Or mist upon its confines. All the old 
Sad mysteries that raise gigantic shadows 
Betwixt our mortal faces and God's throne, 
Had fainted in its splendour ; pride and sin, 
Sorrow and pain, and every mortal ill, 
In the deserted tenement remain'd, 
A palace outwardly, a vault within. 
And so, because she thought it still a palace 
And not a prison with the prisoner fled, 
She stood before the gates accustom'd. Weeping, 
Laid her moist cheek upon its breast, and cried, 
" My lord ! my life !" to what had ceased from living, 
And could no more command with word or eyes. 
It moved my pity sorely, for these fingers, 
Now lock'd in agonizing prayer, once turn'd 
Gently the pages of his life who slumber'd ; 
And this brave mouth, with words of faith and cheer 
2T 493 



494 



J. M. LEGARE. 



Strew'd flowers in the path he needs must tread ; 
That as a conqueror and not a captive, 
Dragg'd at the heavy chariot-wheels of Time, 
And through an arch triumphal, where for others 
A narrow portal opens in the sod, 
Silent, and sad, and void of outlet, he 
The kingdom of his Lord might enter in. 
Thus she made dying sweet and full of beauty 
As life itself. There was no harsh transition ; 
He that slept twofold, woke a single nature 
Beatified and glad. But she who stay'd, 
Poor little Roman heart, no longer brave 
Now that the eyes were shut forevermore, 
Which- made all virtues sweeter for their praise, 
Saw not the joy and greatness of the change. 
And I drew near her, as a spirit may 
Not to the mortal ear, but that the words 
Seem'd teachings of her bruised and lowly soul : 
"Is this the poet of thy summer days, 
The thoughtful husband of maturer years? 
Are these the lips whose kindly words could reach 
The deepness of thy nature ] If they be, 
Let them resume their own, nor tarry. Nay, 
Thou knqwest all that thou didst ever love 
Is lifted out, and all that thou didst hate 
Lived in the flesh, and with the flesh remains. 
What matters it to thee if this decays, 
And mingling with the sod, is trampled on 
Of clownish feet, by gleaming share upturn'd, 
Or feeds a rose, or roots a noisome weed \ 
How canst thou halve thy heart, half to the grave, 
Half to high Heaven yield 1 Thank Gon instead, 
That he who was so dear to thee, released 
From sin and care, at length has found great peace." 
While she thus mused, her silent tears were stay'd, 
And kneeling down, with her sweet, patient face 
Lifted toward heaven, itself sufficient prayer — 
" Loud God !" she cried, '* thou kuowest best how 

weak 
And frail I am, and faithless ; give me strength 
To take the rod thou sendest for a staff, 
And falter never more in this lone journey!" 
Then she went forth and gather'd freshest flowers, 
And strew'd them on the dead : young violets 
Upon the breast, verbena round the temples, 
Loose rose-leaves o'er the mouth, to hide the pang, 
And in his hand a lily newly open'd, 
In token of her faith and his transition. 
And in her eyes there reign'd such quietude, 
That those who saw her, said, " An angel surely 
Has spoken with her, or her reason's moved 
By sufferings prolong'd." But none might say 
She loved but lightly, or with levity 
Look'd forward to the common lot of all. 



MAIZE IN TASSEL. 

The blades of maize are broad and green, 
The farm-roof scarcely shows between 
The long and softly-rustling rows 
Through which the farmer homeward goes. 
The blue smoke curling through the trees, 
The children round their mother's knees, 
He sees, and thanks God while he sees. 



He holds one in his sturdy hands 

Aloft, when at the threshold stands 

(None noticed whence) a stranger. " Dame," 

The stranger said, as half with shame 

He made request ; " astray and poor, 

By hunger guided to your door, 

I" — " Hush," she answer'd, " say no more !" 

The farmer set the prattler down — 

(Soft heart, although his hands were brown !) 

With words of welcome brought and pour'd 

Cool water from the spring : the board 

The wife set out. What mellow light 

Made ihe mean hovel's walls as white 

As snow ! how sweet their bread that night ! 

Long while their humble lot had been 

To dwell with poverty : between 

Them all one pallet and a bed 

W T ere shared. But to the latter led, 

The guest in peaceful slumber lay, 

While, with what broken sleep they may, 

The dame and host await the day. 

So pass'd the night. At length the dawn 

Arrived, and show'd the stranger gone. 

To none had e'er been closed their door 

Who ask'd for alms ; yet none before 

Had so much lack'd in courtesy. 

So spoke the wife. Her husband, he 

Sat musing by most anxiously — 

Of sterner need. A drought that year 

Prevail'd, and though the corn in ear 

Began to swell, must perish all 

Unless a kindly rain should fall. 

God send it straight! — or toil from morn 

To eve, the hoard of buried corn, 

Ay, food itself, were lost and gone. 

Such thoughts now bring him to the door: 

Perchance some cloud sails up before 

7'he morning breeze. None — none; in vain 

His eyes explore the blue again : 

With sighs to earth returns his gaze. 

Ha ! what is here ? — to God be praise ! 

See, see the glad drops on the maize ! 

No mist had dimm'd the night, and yet 

The furrows all lay soft and wet, 

As if with frequent showers ; nay, 

More — all bloom that shuns the day, 

And tassel tall, and ear and blade, 

With heavy drops were downward weighed, 

And a swift stream the pathway fray'd. 

Long while might I prolong this strain, 
Relating thence how great his gain ; 
How he who held not from the poor, 
Now saw his corncribs running o'er; 
And how his riches grew amain, 
And on his hillside ripen'd grain 
When parch'd was that within the plain. 
But who the guest was of that night 
Conjecture thou — I dare not write. 
We know that angels, with the mien 
Of men, of men the guests have been ; 
That he who giveth to the poor, 
Lends to the Lord. (I am not sure — ) 
The promise here deep meaning bore. 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



[Born, 1822. ] 



Mr. Re ab was born in Chester county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the twelfth of March, 1822. His 
family having separated, in consequence of the 
death of his father, he in 1839 went to Cincin- 
nati, where he was employed in the studio of 
Cleyenger the sculptor, and there his attention 
was first directed to painting, which he chose for 
his profession, and soon practised with such skill 
as to arrest the favourable notice of some of the 
most eminent persons of the city and adjoining 
country, several of whom, including the late Presi- 
dent Harrison sat to him for portraits, which he 
carried as specimens of his abilities to New York, 
when he settled in that city, in 1841, while he was 
still under twenty years of age. After a few months 
he removed to Boston, where he remained until 
1846, when he went to Philadelphia, where he has 
since resided. 

Mr. Read's earliest poems were a series of lyr- 
ics published in the "Boston Courier" in 1843 
and 1844. In 1847 his first volume appeared in 
Boston, under the title of " Poems," and in 1 848 
he printed in Philadelphia a second collection, un- 
der the name of " Lays and Ballads." 

Mr. Read's distinguishing characteristic is a 
delicate and varied play of fancy. His more ambi- 
tious productions display its loftier exercise, rather 
than that of a distinct and creative imagination ; 
he is a lark nickering aloft hi the pure air of song, 
not an eagle, courting its storms and undazzled by 
its meridian splendour. And. to extend the com- 
parison, his muse most delights in common and 
humble subjects. The flowers that spring by the 
dusty wayside, the cheerful murmur of the mead- 
ow brook, the village tavern and rustic mill, and 
all quiet and tender impulses and affections, are 
his most favourite sources of inspiration. He ex- 
cels in homely description, marked frequently by 
a quaintness of epithet and a quiet and natural 
pathos. ' Many of his lyrics on simple and com- 
mon themes have become widely popular. 

His verse, though sometimes irregular, is al- 
ways musical. Indeed, in the easy flow of his 
stanzas and in the melody of their cadences, he 
seems to follow some chime of sound within his 
brain. This is the pervading expression of his 
poems, most of which might more properly be 
called songs. Though he has written in the dra- 
matic form with freedom and unaffected feeling, 
his province is evidently the lyrical. Some of the 
brief songs in his last volume, among which " The 
Nameless," " Bring me the Juice of the Honey 
Fruit," and " The Light of our Home," may be 
cited, are fine specimens of the school in which 
Barry Cornwall attained his poetical fame. 

Mr. Read's familiarity with the rural life of this 
country gives a peculiar freshness to his descrip- 



tions of rural scenery and objects. His early re- 
collections are of the country, and of the habits 
of the primitive Pennsylvania farmers, in many re- 
spects the most picturesque and truly pastoral to 
be found in these active and practical times. A 
school of American pastoral poetry is yet to be 
established. The fresh and luxuriant beauty of 
our inland scenery has been sung in noble verse 
by Bryant and Whittier, and with less power 
in the sweet and plaintive strains of Carlos Wil- 
cox, and the striking productions of Street and 
Gallagher ; but the life of an American farmer 
has not yet received a just degree of attention from 
our poets. Mr. Read has touched on this ground 
very successfully in his " Stranger on the Sill," 
"The Deserted Road," and other illustrations of 
country life. Their graphic truth and healthful 
sentiment will be recognised by readers familiar 
with their subjects. Like most of our poets, how- 
ever, in his earlier poems Mr. Read wrote from 
the inspiration of foreign song and story, and he 
seems but lately to have perceived that the most ap- 
propriate field for the exercise of his fancy is to be 
found at home. In one of the finest of his pieces, 
in which he inscribes his last volume to a friend, 
he discloses the range of his truest sympathies: 

Come thou, my friend ! — the cool autumnal eves 
' About the hearth have drawn their magic lings ; 
There, while his song of peace the cricket weaves, 

The simmering hickory sings 

The leafless branches chafe the roof all night, 

And through the house the troubled noises go, 
While, like a ghostly presence, thin and white, 

The frost foretells the snow. 
The muffled owl within the swaying elm 

Thrills all the air with sadness as he swings, 
Till Sorrow seems to spread her shadowy realm 

About all outward things. 
Come, then, my friend, and this shall seem no more — 

Come when October walks his red domain, 
Or when November from his windy floor 

Winnows the snow and rain. 
And when old Winter through his fingers numb 

Blows till his breathings on the windows gleam ; 
And when the mill-wheel, spiked with ice, is dumb 

Within the neighbouring stream. 
Then come, for nights like these have power to wake 

The calm delight no others may impart, 
When round the tire true souls communing make 

A summer in the heart. 
And I will weave athwart the mystic gloom, 

With hand grown weird in strange romance, for thee 
Bright webs of fancy from the golden loom 

Of charmed Poesy ! 
And let no censure in thy looks be shown, 

That I, with hands adventurous and bold, 
Should grasp the enchanted shuttle which was thrown 
Through mightier warps of old ! 

Mr. Read is never more successful than when 
his poems reflect his own observation and emotion. 



496 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER. 



GTACOMO, the Alchemist. 

BERNARDO, his son in-law. 

ROSAT.l A, his daughter, and Bernardo's wife. 

LORENZO, his servant. 



Scene I. — Ferrara. — The interior of Giacomo's house. 
Giacomo and Lorenzo discovered together. — Time, a 
little before daybreak. 

Giacomo. Art sure of this 1 

Lorenzo. Ay, signor, very sure. 
'T is but a moment since I saw the thing ; 
Bernardo, who last night was sworn thy son, 
Hath made a villanous barter of thine honour : 
Thou mayst rely the duke is where I said. 

Gia. If so — no matter — give me here the light. 

[Exit GIACOMO. 

Lor. (alone). Oh, what a night ! It must be all 
a dream ! 
For twenty years, since that I wore a beard, 
I've served my melancholy master here, 
And never until now saw such a night ! 
A wedding in this silent house, forsooth — 
A festival ! The very walls in mute 
Amazement stared through the unnatural light ; 
And poor Rosalia, bless her tender heart, 
Look'd like her mother's sainted ghost ! Ah me, 
Her mother died long years ago, and took 
One half the blessed sunshine from our house — 
The other half was married off last night. 
My master, solemn soul, he walk'd the halls 
As if in search of something which was lost ; 
The groom, I liked not him, nor ever did, 
Spake such perpetual sweetness, till I thought 
He wore some sugar'd villany within ; 
But then he is my master's ancient friend, 
And always known the favourite of the duke, 
And, as I know, our lady's treacherous lord ! 
Oh, holy Mother, that to villain hawks 
Our dove should fall a prey ! poor gentle dear ! 
Now if I had their necks within my grasp, 
These fingers should be adders at their throats ! 
No matter — if my master be himself, 
Nor time nor place shall bind up his revenge. 
He's not a man to spend his wrath in noise, 
But when his mind is made, with even pace 
He walks up to the deed and does his will. 
In fancy I can see him to the end: 
The duke perchance already breathes his last, 
And, for Bernardo, he will join him soon; 
And for Rosalia, she will take the veil, 
To which she hath been heretofore inclined ; 
And for my master, he will take again 
To alchemy — a pastime well enough, 
For aught I know, and honest Christian work. 
Still it was strange how my poor mistress died, 
Found, as she was, within her husband's study. 
The rumour went she died of suffocation ; 
Some cursed crucible, which had been left 
By Giacomo aburning, fill'd the room, 
And when the lady enter'd, took her breath. 
He found her there, and from that day the place 
Has been a home for darkness and for dust ! 
I hear him coming ! by his hurried step 
There's something done, or will be very soon. 

Enter GIACOMO. (He sets the light upon the table, and confronts 
LORENZO with a stern look.) 



Gia. Lorenzo, thouhast served me twenty years, 
And faithfully. Now answer me, how wast 
That thou wert in the street at such an hour 1 

Lor. When that the festival was o'er last night, 
I went to join some comrades in their wine, 
To pass the time in memory of the event, [drink ] 

Gia. And doubtless thou wert blinded soon with 

Lor. Indeed, good signor, tho' the wine flow'dfree, 
I could not touch it, though much urged by all; 
Too great a sadness sat upon my heart ; 
I could do naught but sit and sigh, and think 
Of our Rosalia in her bridal dress. 

Gia. And sober, too ! so much the more at fault. 
But, as I said, thou'st served me long and well, 
Perchance too long — too long by just a day. 
Here, take this purse, and find another master. 

Lor. Oh, signor, do not drive me thus away ! 
If I have made mistake — 

Gia. No, sirrah, no ! 
Thou hast not made mistake, but something worse. 

Lor. Oh, pray you, what is that, then, I have 

Gia. A lie ! [made ] 

Lor. Indeed, good master, on my knees 
I swear that what I said is sainted truth. [not go 

Gia. Pshaw, pshaw ! — no more of this. Did I 
Upon the instant to my daughter's room, 
And find Bernardo sleeping at her side? 
Some villain's gold hath bribed thee unto this. 
Go, go ! 

Lor. Well, if it must be, then it must: 
But I would swear that what I said was truth, 
Though all the devils from the deepest pit 
Should rise to contradict me ! 

Gia. Prating still ? 

Lor. No, signor — I am going ; stay — see here : 

(He draws a paper from his bosom.) 

Oh, blessed Virgin, grant some proof of this ! 
This paper, as they changed their mantles, dropp'd 
Between them to the ground, and when they pass'd 
I pick'd it up and placed it safely here. 

Gia. (examining if). Who forged the lie, could 
fabricate this too. 
Get to thy duties, sir, and mark me well, 
Let no word pass thy lips about the matter — 

[Exit LORENZO. 

Bernardo's very hand indeed is here ! 
Oh, compact villanous and black ! Conditions, 
The means, the hour, the signal — everything 
To rob my honour of its holiest pearl ! 
Lorenzo, shallow fool — he does not guess 
The mischief was all done, and that it was 
The duke he saw departing. Oh, brain — brain! 
How shall I hold this river of my wrath ! 
It must not burst — no, rather it shall sweep 
A noiseless maelstrom, whirling to its centre 
All thoughts and plans to further my revenge, 
And rid me of this most accursed blot ! 

(He rests lasjorehcad on his hand afeio minutes, and exclaims)— 

The past returns to me again — the lore 
I gladly had forgot, comes like a ghost, 
And points with shadowy finger to the means 
Which best shall consummate my just design. 
The laboratory hath been closed too long ; 
The door smiles welcome to me once again ; 
The dusky latch invites my hand. I come ! 

(He unlocks the door, and stands upon the threshold ' 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



497 



thou, whose life was stolen from me here, • 
Stand not to thwart me in this great revenge ; 
But rather come with large, propitious eyes, 
Smiling encouragement with bygone looks ! 
Ye sages, whose pale, melancholy orbs 
Gaze through the darkness of a thousand years, 
Oh, pierce the solid blackness of to-day, 
And fire anew this crucible of thought, 
Until my soul flames up to the result ! 

(He enters, and the door closes.) 
Scene II. — Another apartment in the Alchemist's house. — 
Enter Rosalia and Bernardo. 

Rosalia. You tell me he has not been seen to-day? 

Bernardo. Save by your trusty servant here, who 
says 
He saw his master, from without, unclose 
The shutters of his laboratory while 
The sun was yet unrisen. It is well ; 
This turning to the past pursuits of youth 
Argues how much the aspect of to-day 
Hath driven the ancient darkness from his brain. 
And now, my dear Rosalia, let thy face, 
And thoughts, and speech, be dress'd in summer 

smiles, 
And naught shall make a winter in our house. 

Ros. Ah, sir, I think that I am happy ! 

Ber. Happy ? 
Why so, indeed, dear love, I trust thou art ! 
But thou dost sigh, and look along the floor 
So vaguely, that thy happiness seems rather 
The constant sense of duty than true joy. 

Ros. Nay, chide me not, good sir ; the world to me 
A riddle is at best : my heart has had 
No tutor. From my childhood until now 
My thoughts have been on simple, honest things. 

Ber. On honest things ? Then let them dwell 
henceforth 
On love, for nothing is more honest than 
True love. 

Ros. I hope so, sir — it must be so ! 
And if to wear thy happiness at heart 
With constant watchfulness, and if to breathe 
Thy welfare in my orisons, be love, 
Thou never shalt have cause to question mine. 
To-day I feel, and yet I know not why, 
A sadness which I never knew before ; 
A puzzling shadow swims upon my brain, 
Of something which has been or is to be. 
My mother coining to me in my dream, 
My father taking to that room again, 
Have somehow thrill'd me with mysterious awe. 

Ber. Nay, let not that o'ercast thy gentle mind : 
For dreams are but as floating gossamer, 
And should not blind or bar the steady reason ; 
And alchemy is innocent enough, 
Save when it feeds too greedily on gold, 
A crime the world not easily forgives. 
But if Rosalia likes not the pursuit 
Her sire engages in, my plan shall be 
To lead him quietly to other things. 
But see — the door uncloses, and he comes. 

Enter GIACOMO in loose-gown and dishevelled hair. 

Gia. (not perceiving them). Ha, precious vil- 
lains, ye are caught at last ! 
Both. Good-morrow, father 

63 



Gia. Ah, my pretty doves ! 

Ber. Come, father, we are jealous of the art 
Which hath deprived us all the day of thee. 

Gia. Are ye indeed ? (Aside.) How smoothly to 
the air 
Slides that word father from his slippery tongue ! 
Come hither, daughter — let me gaze on thee ; 
For I have dream'd that thou wert beautiful — 
So beautiful, our very duke did stop 
To smile upon thy brightness. What sayst thou, 
Bee.nahiio, didst thou ever dream such things? 

Ber. That she is beautiful I had no cause to dream: 
Mine eyes have known the fact for many a day. 
What villains didst thou speak of even now ? 

Gia. Two precious villains, Carbon and Azote : 
They have perplex'd me heretofore ; but now 
The thing is plain enough. This morning, ere 
I left my chamber, all the mystery stood 
Asudden in an awful revelation : 

Ber. I'm glad success has crown'd thy task to- 
day ; 
But do not overtoil thy brain. These themes 
Are dangerous things, and they who master'd most 
Have fallen at last but victims to their slaves. 

Gia. It is a glorious thing to fall and die 
The victim of a noble cause. 

Ber. Ay, true. 
The man who battles for his country's right 
Hath compensation in the world's applause ; 
The victor when returning from the field 
Is crown'd with laurel, and his shining way 
Is full of shouts and roses. If he fall, 
His nation builds his monument of glory. 
But mark the alchemist who walks the streets: 
His look is down, his step infirm, his hair 
And cheeks are burn'd to ashes by his thought; 
The volumes he consumes, consume in turn; 
They are but fuel to his fiery brain, 
Which, being led, requires the more to feed on. 
The people gaze on him with curious looks, 
And step aside to let him pass untouch'd, 
Believing Satan hath him arm-in-arm. 

Gia. Are there no wrongs but what a nation 
feeis 1 
No heroes but among the martial throng ? 
Nay, there are patriot souls who never grasp'd 
A sword, or heard the crowd applaud their names; 
Who lived and labour'd, died and were forgot, 
And after whom the world came out and reap'd 
The field, and never question'd who had sown. 

Ber. I did not think of that. 

Gia. Now mark ye well, 
T am not one to follow phantom themes, 
To waste my time in seeking for the stone, 
Or crystallizing carbon to o'erflood 
The world with riches which would keep it poor ; 
Nor do I seek the elixir that would make 
Not life alone, but misery, immortal; 
But something far more glorious than these. 

Ber. Pray what is that ? 

Gia. A cure, sir, for the heart-ache. 
Come, thou shalt see. The day is on the wane : 
Mark how the moon, as by some unseen arm, 
Is thrust toward heaven like a bloody shield ! 
On such an hour the experiment must begin. 
2t2 



498 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



Come, thou shalt be the first to witness this 
Most marvellous discovery. And thou, 
My pretty one, betake thee to thy bower, 
And I will dream thou'rt lovelier than ever. 
Come, follow me. (To Bernardo.) 

Ros. Nay, father, stay ; I 'm sure 
Thou art not well; thine eyes are strangely lit; 
The task, I fear, has overwork'd thy brain. 

Gia. Dearest Rosalia, what were eyes or brain 
Compared with banishment of sorrow] Come. 

Ber. (aside to Rosalia). I will indulge awhile 
this curious humour : 
Adieu ! I shall be with thee soon again. 

Gia. (overhearing him). When Satan shall re- 
gain his wings, and sit 
Approved in heaven, perchance, but not till then. 

Ber. What, "not till then?" 

Gia. Shall he be worthy deem'd 
To walk, as thou hast said the people thought, 
Link'd with the mighty-soul'd philosopher: 
And yet the people sometimes are quite right — 
The devil 's at our elbow oftener than 
We know. 

(He gives BERNARDO fat arm, and they enter the laboratory.) 

"Ros. (alone). He never look'd so strange before ; 
His cheeks are suddenly grown pale and thin ; 
His very hair seems whiter than it did. 
Oh, surely, 'tis a fearful trade that crowds 
The work of years into a single day ! 
It may be that the sadness which I wear 
Hath clothed him in its own peculiar hue. 
The very sunshine of this cloudless morn 
Seem'd but a world of broad, white desolation ; 
While in my ears small melancholy bells 
Knoll'd their long, solemn, and prophetic chime. 
But hark! a louder and a holier toll, 
Shedding its benediction on the air, 
Proclaims the vesper hour — Ave Maria ! 

[Exit ROSALIA. 

Scexe III. — Giacomo and Rernardo discovered in the 
laboratory. 

Gia. What sayst thou now, Bernardo ? 

Ber. Let me live 
Or die in drawing this delicious breath : 
I ask no more ! 

Gia. (aside). Mark, how with wondering eyes 
He gazes on the burning crucibles, 
As if to drink the rising vapour with 
His every sense. 

Ber. Is this the balm thou spak'st of! 

Gia. Ay, sir, the s.ime. 

Ber. Oh, would that now my heart 
Were torn with every grief the earth hath known, 
Then would this sense be sweeter by tenfold! 
Where didst thou learn the secret, and from whom ? 

Gia. PromGfiBBBB down to Paracelsus, none 
Have mention'd the discovery of this: 
The need of it was parent to the thought, [out? 

Ber. How long will these small crucibles hold 

Gia. A little while, but there are two beside, 
That when thy sense is toned up to the point, 
May then be fired, and when thou breath'st their 

fumes. 
Nepenthe deeper it shall seem than that 
Which Helen gave the guests of Menelaus. 



But come, thou 'It weary of this thickening air; 
Let us depart. 

Ber. Not for the wealth of worlds 

Gia. Nay, but thy bride awaits thee — 

Ber. Go to her 
And say I shall be there anon. 

Gia. I will. [spell, 

(Aside.) Now while he stands enchained within the 
I'll to Rosalia's room, and don his cloak 
And cap, and sally forth to meet the duke. 
'Tis now the hour, and if he come — so be it. 

[Exit GIACOMO. 

Ber. (alone.) These delicate airs seem wafted 

from the fields 
Of some celestial world. I am alone — 
Then wherefore not inhale that deeper draught, 
That sweet nepenthe which these other two, 
When burning, shall dispense ? 'T were quickly 

done, 
And I will do it ! 

(He places the two crucibles on the Jurnace.) 

Now, Sir Alchemist, 

Linger as long as it may suit thy pleasure — 

'Tis mine to tarry here. Oh, by St. John, 

I'll turn philosopher myself, and do 

Some good at last in this benighted world ! 

Now how like demons on the ascending smoke, 

Making grimaces, leaps the laughing flame, 

Filling the room with a mysterious haze, 

Which rolls and writhes along the shadowy air, 

Taking a thousand strange, fantastic forms; 

And every form is lit with burning eyes, 

Which pierce me through and through like fiery 

arrows ! 
The dim walls grow unsteady, and I seem 
To stand upon a reeling deck. Hold, hold ! 
A hundred crags are toppling overhead. 
I faint, I sink — now let me clutch that limb — 
Oh, devil ! It breaks to ashes in my grasp L 
What ghost is that which beckons through the mist ! 
The duke ! the duke ! and bleeding at the breast ! 
Whose dagger struck the blow ! 

Enter GIACOMO. 

Gia. Mine, villain, mine ! 
What! thou'st set the other two aburning: 
Impatient dog, thou cheat'st me to the last ! 
I should have done the deed — and yet 'tis well; 
Thou diest by thine own dull hardihood ! 

Ber. Ha ! is it so ! Then follow thou ! 

Gia. My time 
Is not quite yet ; this antidote shall place 
A bar between us for a little while. 

(lie raises a vial to his lips, drinks, and Jlings it aside.) 

Ber. (rallying). Come, give it me — 

Gia. Ha, ha ! I drain'd it all! 
There is the broken vial. 

Ber. Is there no arm 
To save me from the abyss! 

Gia. No, villain, sink ! 
And take this cursed record of thy plot, 

(lie thrusts a paper into BERNARDO'S hand.) 

And it shall gain thee speedy entrance at 
The infernal gate ! 

(BERNARDO reads, reels, and falls.) 

Gia. (looking on the body). Poor miserable dust ! 
This body now is honest as the best, 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



499 



The very best of earth, lie where it may. 

My mantle must conceal the thing from sight ; 

For soon Rosalia, as I bade her, shall 

Be here. O Heaven ! vouchsafe to me the power 

To do this last stern act of justice. Thou 

Who call'dst the child of Jairus from the dead, 

Assist a stricken father now to raise 

His sinless daughter from the bier of shame 

And may her soul, unconscious of the deed, 

Forever walk the azure fields of heaven ! 



Enter ROSALIA, dressed in simple white, bee 
cifix in her hand. 



ig a small golden cm- 



Ros. Dear father, in obedience, I have come — 
But where 's Bernardo'? 

Gia. Gone to watch the stars ; 
To see old solitary Saturn whirl 
Like poor Ixion on his burning wheel — 
He is our patron orb to-night, my child. 

Ros. I do not know what strange experiment 
Thou 'dst have me see, but in my heart I feel 
That He, in whose remembrance this was made, 

(Looking at the cross.) 

Should be chief patron of our thoughts and acts. 
Since vesper time — I know not how it was — 
I could do naught but. kneel and tell my prayers. 
Gia. Ye blessed angels, hymn the word to heav'n. 
Come, daughter, let me hold thy hand in mine, 
And gaze upon the emblem which thou bearest. 

(He looks upon the crucifix a while, and presses it to his lips.) 

Ros. Pray, tell me, father, what is in the air 1 

Gia. Seest thou the crucibles, my child 1 Now 
I'll drop a simple essence into each. [mark — 

Ros. My sense is flooded with perfume ! 

Gia. Again. 

Ros. My soul, asudden, thrills with such delight, 
It seems as it had won a birth of wings! 

Gia. Behold, now when I throw these jewels in, 
The glories of our art ! 

Ros. A cloud of hues 
As beautiful as morning fills the air; 
And every breath I draw comes freighted with 
Elysian sweets! An iris-tinted mist, 
In perfumed wreaths, is rolling round the room. 
The very walls are melting from my sight, 
And surely, father, there's the sky o'eihead! 
And on that gentle breeze did we not hear 
The song of birds and silvery waterfalls'? 
And walk we not on green and flowery ground 1 
Ferrara, father, hath no ground like this : 
The ducal gardens are not half so fair! 
Oh, if this be the golden land of dreams, 
Let us forever make our dwelling here. 
Not lovelier in my earliest visions seem'd 
The paradise of our first parents, fill'd 
With countless angels whose celestial light 
Thrill'd the sweet foliage like a gush of song. 
Look how the long and level landscape gleams, 
And with a gradual pace goes mellowing up 
Into the blue ! The very ground we tread 
Seems flooded with the tender hue of heaven ; 
An azure lawn is all about our feet, 
And sprinkled with a thousand gleaming flowers. 

Gia. Nay, dear Rosalia, cast thy angel ken 
Far down the shining pathway we have trod, 
And see behind us those enormous gates 



To which the world has given the name of death ; 
And note the least among yon knot of lights, 
And recognise your native orb, the earth ! 
For we are spirits threading fields of space, 
Whose gleaming flowers are but the countless stars. 
But now, dear love, adieu ! — a flash from heaven, 
A sudden glory in the silent air — 
A rustle as of wings, proclaims the approach 
Of holier guides to take thee into keep. 
Behold them gliding down the azure hill, 
Making the blue ambrosial with their light! 
Our paths are here divided. I must go 
Through other ways, by other forms attended ! 



THE REALM OF DREAMS. 

" The baseless fabric of a vision." 

Oft have I wander'd through the realm of dreams, 
By shadowy mountains and clear running streams, 
Catching at times strange, transitory gleams 
Of Eden-vistas, glimmering through a haze 
Of floral splendour, where the birds, ablaze 
With colour, streak'd the air like flying stars, 
With momentary bars ; 
And heard low music breathe above, around, 
As if the air within itself made sound — 
As if the soul of Melody were pent 
Within some unseen instrument, 
Hung in a viewless tower of air, 
And with enchanted pipes beguiled its own despair. 
But stranger than all other dreams which led, 
Asleep or waking, my adventurous tread, 
Were these which came of late to me 
Through fields of slumber, and did seem to be 
Wrapp'd in an awful robe of prophecy, [boughs 
I walk'd the woods of March, and through the 
The earliest bird was calling to his spouse; 
And in the shelter'd nooks 
Lay spots of snow, 
Or with a noiseless flow 
Stole down into the brooks ; 

And where the springtime sun had longest shone 
The violet look'd up and found itself alone. 
Anon I came unto a noisy river, 
And felt the bridge beneath me sway and quiver; 
Below, the hungry waters howl'd and hiss'd, 
And upward blew a blinding cloud of mist; 
But there the friendly Iris built its arch, 
And I in safety took my onward march. 
Now coming to a mighty hill, 
Along the shelvy pathway of a rill 
Which danced itself to foam and spray, 
I clomb my steady way. 
It may be that the music of the brook 
Gave me new strength — it may be that I took 
Fresh vigour from the mountain air 
Which cool'd my cheek and fann'd my hair; 
Or was it that adown the breeze 
Came sounds of wondrous melodies — 
Strange sounds as of a maiden's voice 
Making her mountain-home rejoice 1 
Following that sweet strain, I mounted still 
And gained the highest hemlocks of the hill, 



500 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



Old guardians of a little lake, which sent 

Adown the brook its crystal merriment, 

Blessing the valley where the planter went [tent. 

Sowing the furrow'd mould and whistling his con- 

Tbrough underwood of laurel, and across 

A little lawn shoe-deep with sweetest moss, 

I pass'd, and found the lake, which, like a shield 

Some giant long had ceased to wield, 

Lay with its edges sunk in sand and stone, 

With ancient roots and grasses overgrown ; 

But far more beautiful and rare 

Tli an any strange device that e'er 

Glitter'd upon the azure field 

Of ancient warrior's polish'd shield, 

Was the fair vision which did lie 

Emboss'd upon the burnish'd lake, 

And in its sweet repose did make 

A second self that sang to the inverted sky. 

Not she who lay on banks of thornless flowers 

Ere stole the serpent into Eden's bowers ; 

Not she who rose from Neptune's deep abodes 

The wonder of Olympian gods ; 

Nor all the fabled nymphs of wood or stream 

Which bless'd the Arcadian's dream, 

Could with that floating form compare, 

Lying with her golden harp and hair 

Bright as a cloud in the sunset air. 

Her tresses gleam'd with many stars, 

And on her forehead one, like Mars, 

A lovely crown of light dispread 

Around her shining head. 

And now she touch'd her harp, and sung 

Strange songs in a forgotten tongue ; 

And as my spirit heard, it seem'd 

To feel what it had lived or dream'd 

In other worlds beyond our skies — 

In ancient spheres of paradise ; 

And as I gazed upon her face, 

It seem'd that I could dimly trace 

Bear lineaments long lost of yore 

Upon some unremember'd shore, 

Beyond an old and infinite sea, 

In the realm of an unknown century. 

For very joy I clapp'd my hands, 

And leap'd upon the nearer sands ! — 

A moment, and the maiden glanced 

Upon me where I stood entranced ; 

Then noiselessly as moonshine falls 

Adown the ocean's crystal walls, 

And with no stir or wave attended, 

Slowly through the lake descended ; 

Till from her hidden form below 

The waters took a golden glow, 

As if the star which made her forehead bright 

Had burst and fill'd the lake with light ! 

Long standing there I watch'd in vain — 

The vision would not rise again. 

Again, in sleep, I walk'd by singing streams, 
And it was May-day in my realm of dreams: 
The flowering pastures and the trees 
Were full of noisy birds and bees ; 
And swinging roses, like sweet censers, went 
The village children making merriment, 
Follow'd by older people ; as they pass'd, 
One beckon'd, and I join'd the last. 



We cross'd the meadow, cross'd the brook, 
And through the scented woodland took 
Our happy way, until we found 
An open space of vernal ground ; 
And there around the flowery pole 
I join'd the joyous throng and sang with all my soul ! 
But when the little ones had crown'd their queen, 
And danced their mazes to the wooded scene 
To hunt the honeysuckles, and carouse 
Under the spice-wood boughs — 
I turn'd, and saw with wondering eye 
A maiden in a bower near by, 
Wreathed with unknown blossoms, such as bloom 
In orient isles with wonderful perfume. 
And she was very beautiful and bright ; 
And in her face was much of that strange light 
Which on the mountain lake had bless'd my sight ; 
Her speech was like the echo of that song 
Which on the hillside made me strong. 
Now with a wreath, now with a coin she play'd, 
Pursuing a moot marvellous trade — 
Buying the lives of young and old, 
Some with fame, and some with gold ! 
And there with trembling steps I came, 
But ere I ask'd for gold or fame, 
Before I could announce my name, 
The wreath fell wither'd from her head, 
And from her face the mask was shed ; 
Her mantle dropp'd — and lo ! the morning sun 
Look'd on me through a nameless skeleton ! 
Again I stood within the realm of dreams, 
At midnight, on a huge and shadowy tower; 
And from the east the full moon shed her beams, 
And from the sky a wild meteoric shower 
Startled the darkness; and the night 
Was full of ominous voices and strange light, 
Like to a madman's brain ; below 
Prophetic tongues proclaiming wo 
Echo'd the sullen roar 
Of Ocean on the neighboring shore ; 
And in the west a forest caught the sound 
And bore it to its utmost bound. 
And then, for hours, all stood as to behold 
Some great event by mighty seers foretold ; 
And all the while the moon above the sea 
Grew strangely large and red — and suddenly, 
Follow'd by a myriad stars, 
Swung at one sweep into the western sky, 
And, widening with a melancholy roar, 
Broke to a hundred flaming bars, 
Grating the heavens as with a dungeon door. 
Then to that burning gate 
A radiant spirit came, and through the grate 
Smiled till I knew the angel, Fate ! 
And in its hand a golden key it bore 
To open that celestial door. 
Sure, I beheld that angel thrice ; 
Twice met on earth, it mock'd me twice ; 
But now behind those bars it beam'd 
Such love as I had never dream'd, 
Smiling my prison'd soul to peace 
With eyes that promised quick release ; 
And looks thus spake to looks, where lips on earth 

were dumb, 
" Behold, behold the hour is come !" 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



501 



THE BRICKMAKER. 



Let the blinded horse go round 
Till the yellow clay be ground, 
And no weary arms be folded 
Till the mass to brick be moulded. 

In no stately structures skill'd, 
What the temple we would build 1 
Now the massive kiln is risen — 
Call it palace — call it prison ; 
View it well : from end to end 
Narrow corridors extend — 
Long, and dark, and smother'd aisles : 
Choke its earthy vaults with piles 

Of the resinous yellow pine ; 
Now thrust in the fetter'd Fire — 
Hearken ! how he stamps with ire, 

Treading out the pitchy wine; 
Wrought anon to wilder spells, 

Hear him shout his loud alarms ; 

See him thrust his glowing arms 
Through the windows of his cells. 

But his chains at last shall sever; 
Slavery lives not forever ; 
And the thickest prison wall 
Into ruin yet must fall. 
Whatsoever falls away 
Springeth up again, they say; 
Then, when this shall break asunder, 
And the fire be freed from under, 
Tell us what imperial thing 
From the ruin shall upspring? 

There shall grow a stately building — 
Airy dome and column'd walls; 

Mottoes writ in richest gilding 
Blazing through its pillar'd halls. 

In those chambers, stern and dreaded, 
They, the mighty ones, shall stand; 

There shall sit the hoary-headed 
Old defenders of the land. 

There shall mighty words be spoken, 
Which shall thrill a wondering world ; 

Then shall ancient bonds be broken, 
And new banners be unfurl'd. 

But anon those glorious uses 
In these chambers shall lie dead, 

And the world's antique abuses, 
Hydra-headed, rise instead. 

But this wrong not long shall linger — 

The old capitol must fall ; 
For, behold ! the fiery finger 

Flames along the fated wall. 



Let the blinded horse go round 
Till the yellow clay be ground, 
And no weary arms be folded 
Till the mass to brick be moulded — 
Till the heavy walls be risen, 
And the fire is in his prison : 



But when break the walls asunder, 
And the fire is freed from under, 
Say again what stately thing 
From the ruin shall upspring? 

There shall grow a church whose steeple 

To the heavens shall aspire ; 
And shall come the mighty people 

To the music of the choir. 

On the infant, robed in whiteness, 

Shall baptismal waters fall, 
While the child's angelic brightness 

Sheds a halo over all. 

There shall stand enwreathed in marriage 
Forms that tremble — hearts that thrill — 

To the door Death's sable carriage 

Shall bring forms and hearts grown still ! 

Deck'd in garments richly glistening, 
Rustling wealth shall walk the aisle; 

And the poor without stand listening, 
Praying in their hearts the while. 

There the veteran shall come weekly 
With his cane, oppress'd and poor, 

Mid the horses standing meekly, 
Gazing through the open door. 

But these wrongs not long shall linger — 
The presumptuous pile must fall ; 

For, behold ! the fiery finger 
Flames along the fated wall. 



Let the blinded horse go round 
Till the yellow clay be ground ; 
And no weary arms be folded 
Till the mass to brick be moulded : 
Say again what stately thing 
From the ruin shall upspring? 

Not the hall with column'd chambers, 

Starr'd with words of liberty, 
Where the freedom-canting members 

Feel no impulse of the free : 

Not the pile where souls in error 

Hear the words, " Go, sin no more !" 

But a dusky thing of terror, 
With its cells and grated door. 

To its inmates each to-morrow 

Shall bring in no tide of joy. 
Born in darkness and in sorrow, 

There shall stand the fated boy. 

With a grief too loud to smother, 
With a throbbing, burning head, 

There shall groan some desperate mother, 
Nor deny the stolen bread ! 

There the veteran, a poor debtor, 

Mark'd with honourable scars, 
Listening to some clanking fetter, 

Shall gaze idly through the bars: 

Shall gaze idly, not demurring, 

Though with thick oppression bow'd ; 
W r hile the many, doubly erring, 

Shall walk honour'd through the crowd. 



502 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



Yet these wrongs not long shall linger- 
The benighted pile must fall ; 

For, behold ! the fiery finger 
Flames along the fated wall ! 

IV. 

Lei the blinded horse go round 
Till the yellow clay be ground ; 
And no weary arms be folded 
Till the mass to brick be moulded — 
Till the heavy walls be risen 
And the fire is in his prison. 
Capitol, and church, and jail, 
Like our kiln at last shall fail ; 
Every shape of earth shall fade; 
But the heavenly temple, made 
For the sorely tried and pure, 
With its Builder shall endure ! 



THE STRANGER ON THE SILL. 

Between broad fields of wheat and corn 
Is the lowly home where I was born ; 
The peach-tree leans against the wall, 
And the woodbine wanders over all ; 
There is the shaded doorway still, 
But a stranger's foot has cross'd the sill. 

There is the barn — and, as of yore, 
I can smell the hay from the open door, 
And see the busy swallow's throng, 
And hear the peewee's mournful song; 
But the stranger comes — oh ! painful proof — 
His sheaves are piled to the heated roof. 

There is the orchard — the very trees 
Where my childhood knew long hours of ease, 
And watcb'd ihe shadowy moments run 
Till my life imbibed more shade than sun ; 
The swing from the bough still sweeps the air, 
But the stranger's children are swinging there. 

There bubbles the shady spring below, 
With its bulrush brook where the hazels grow ; 
'Twas there I found the calamus-root, 
And watch'd the minnows poise and shoot, 
And heard the robin lave his wing, 
But the stranger's bucket is at the spring. 

Oh, ye who daily cross the sill, 

Step lightly, for I love it still ; ' 

And when you crowd the old barn eaves, 

Then think what countless harvest sheaves 

Have pass'd within that scented door 

To gladden eyes that are no more ! 

Deal kindly with these orchard trees ; 
And when your children crowd their knees, 
Their sweetest fruit they shall impart, 
As if old memories stirr'd their heart : 
To youthful sport still leave the swing, 
And in sweet reverence hold the spring. 

The barn, the trees, the brook, the birds, 
The meadows with their lowing herds, 
The woodbine on the cottage wall — 
My heart still lingers with them all. 
Ye strangers on my native sill, 
Step lightly, for I love it still ! 



A SONG. 

Bring me the juice of the honey fruit, 
The large translucent, amber-hued, 

Rare grapes of southern isles, to suit 
The luxury that fills my mood. 

And bring me only such as grew 

Where rarest maidens tend the bowers, 

And only fed by rain and dew 

Which first had bathed a bank of flowers. 

They must have hung on spicy trees 

In airs of far, enchanted vales, 
And all night heard the ecstasies 

Of noble-throated nightingales : 

So that the virtues which belong 
To flowers may therein tasted be, 

And that which hath been thrill'd with song 
May give a thrill of song to me. 

For I would wake that string for thee 
Which hath too long in silence hung, 

And sweeter than all else should be 
The song which in thy praise is sung. 

THE DESERTED ROAD. 

Ancient road, that wind'st deserted 
Through the level of the vale, 

Sweeping toward the crowded market 
Like a stream without a sail ; 

Standing by thee, I look backward, 
And, as in the light of dreams, 

See the years descend and vanish 
Like thy whitely-tented teams. 

Here I stroll along the village 
As in youth's departed morn ; 

But I miss the crowded coaches, 
And the driver's bugle-horn — 

Miss the crowd of jovial teamsters 
Filling buckets at the wells, 

With their wains from Conestoga, 
And their orchestras of bells. 

To the mossy wayside tavern 

Comes the npisy throng no more; 

And the faded sign, complaining, 
Swings unnoticed at the door; 

While the old, decrepit tollman, 
Waiting for the few who pass, 

Reads the melancholy story 
In the thickly-springing grass. 

Ancient highway, thou art vanquish'd ; 

The usurper of the vale 
Rolls in fiery, iron rattle, 

Exultations on the gale. 

Thou art vanquish'd and neglected ; 

But the good which thou hast done, 
Though by man it be forgotten, 

Shall be deathless as the sun. 
Though neglected, gray, and grassy, 

Still I pray that my decline 
May be through as vernal valleys 

And as blest a calm as thine. 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 



[Born, 1823.] 



Georre Henry Boker was born in Philadel- 
phia in 1823, and was graduated bachelor of arts 
at Nassau Hall, Princeton, when nineteen years 
of age. After travelling some time in Europe, and 
making himself familiar with contemporaneous lit- 
eratures among their creators, he settled in his na- 
tive city, to devote a life of opulent leisure to the 
cultivation of letters and to the enjoyment of the 
liberal arts and of society. 

His first appearance as an author was in a small 
volume published in 1847, under the title of " The 
Lesson of Life, and other Poems." In this were 
indications of a manly temper and a cultivated 
taste, but it had the customary faults of youthful 
compositions in occasional feebleness of epithet, in- 
distinctness, diffuseness, and a certain kind of ro- 
manticism that betrays a want of experience of the 
world. Its reception however by judicious critics, 
who saw amid its faults the signs of a fine under- 
standing, justified new efforts; and turning his 
attention to the drama, he produced in the follow- 
ing year" Calaynos, a Tragedy/' which gave him 
large increase of reputation in the best audience 
of this country. The plot of this play illustrates 
the hatred of the Moors by the Castilians. Ca- 
laynos, a nobleman of a sincere and generous 
nature, whose youth has been passed in the study 
of philosophy and in acts of kindness, and whose 
Saracen taint of blood is concealed from his wife, 
Donna Alda, until made known in the progress of 
the history, proposes to leave his retirement for a 
journey to Seville. There is a superstition among 
the neighbouring peasants that a visit to Seville is 
dangerous to the race of Calatnos, and Oliver, 
his secretary, whose practical sagacity alone is ne- 
cessary to the perfection of the master's character, 
has also a presentiment of evil on this occasion, 
and endeavours to dissuade him from his purpose ; 
upon which Calaynos discloses that the principal 
object of his journey is to see an early friend, Don 
Luis, who has become involved in difficulties and 
whose estates will be sacrificed unless he receives 
by a certain day considerable assistance in money. 
Arriving in Seville with Oliver, Calaynos dis- 
charges the obligations of Don Luis, who so wins 
upon his affection that he persuades him to become 
his guest. The party in the next act are at the 
castle of Calaynos, where Don Luis discovers 
that Calaynos is of Moorish origin, and having 
fallen in love with the wife of his benefactor, in a 
secret interview he informs her of her disgrace. 
It is difficult to appreciate the intensity of the pre- 
judice which made this revelation so important ; 
and it is an objection to the play for acting pur- 
poses, that out of Spain and Portugal few audi- 
ences could sympathize with it, though the histori- 
cal student will perceive that Mr. Boker has not 



at all exaggerated it. Donna Alda, struggling 
between love and pride, calls upon her husband, 
faints, and is borne from the scene in the arms of 
Don Luis ; and the act closes with Calaynos's 
discovery of his friend's ingratitude and his wife's 
perfidy. In the month which passes before the 
opening of the last act, Calaynos has become 
old through grief. His secretary, returned from 
a pursuit of the fugitives, informs him that Donna 
Alda had fled from the residence of her seducer; 
she is discovered, seeking shelter from a storm un- 
der the walls of the castle, brought in, recognised, 
and dies, referring to a written exposure of the vil- 
lany of Don Luis. Calaynos, convinced of her 
innocence, hastens to Seville, and slays the de- 
stroyer of his happiness in the midst of his de- 
baucheries. This simple story is managed with 
much skill, and so as to produce a cumulative in- 
terest to its close. The characters, besides those 
already referred to, are some half dozen gentlemen 
to make side speeches and care about the details 
of the plot. They are distinctly drawn, in most 
cases with finely contrasted idiosyncracies (though 
the hero and heroine converse somewhat too much 
in the same style), and they are all excellently sus- 
tained. The action is less dramatic than the dia- 
logue, which in some parts evinces great power, 
and, more frequently, those happy turns of expres- 
sion which disclose a chief element of the dramatic 
faculty. 

" Calaynos" was first enacted at the Saddlers' 
Wells Theatre in London, in May, 1849, with very 
decided success, and its merits, both as a play 
and as a poem, were generally recognised by the 
English critics. 

The next production of Mr. Boker was " Anne 
Boleyn, a Tragedy," which in many respects sur- 
passes " Calaynos," evincing more skill in the use 
of language, more force in the display of passion, 
and a finer vein of poetical feeling, with the same 
admirable contrasts of character, and unity and di- 
rectness of conduct. 

Mr. Boker has been an occasional writer for 
the periodical miscellanies, and in " The Song of 
the Earth" and in " The Spirit of Poetry," which 
are quoted in the following pages, he has dis- 
played a richness of invention, a copiousness of 
illustration, and a vigour and finish of style, that 
amply vindicate his right to be classed among the 
small number of our writers of verses who are po- 
ets. The attraction of these pieces, like that ot 
his more ambitious performances, consists more in 
their general cast than in the strength or grace of 
particular ideas, or a fit elegance of phrase. It is 
a fault indeed, less conspicuous in his minor poems 
than in his tragedies, that modelling himself after 
some of the older masters of English verse, there 

503 



504 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 



is an occasional want of ease in the structure of his 
sentences, and in his selection of words an insen- 
sibility to the more delicate charms of language : 
a fault that is not likely to outlast the full devel- 
opment of his genius. It would be easy to point 
out in " Calaynos" many passages which are spoiled 



by inversions altogether unnecessary to the perfec- 
tion of the rhythm, or by other departures from 
the rule of nature, which are results of no care- 
lessness, but evidently of an erroneous and it is to 
be hoped very transient fancy in regard to the ef- 
fect of a colloquial simplicity in poetical writing. 



THE SONG OF THE EARTH. 

PRELUDE— CHORUS OF PLANETS. 

Hark to our voices, O mother of nations ! 
Why art thou dim when thy sisters are radiant 1 
Why veifst thy face in a mantle of vapour, 
Gliding obscure through the depths of the night ] 
Wake from thy lethargy. Hear'st thou our music, 
Harmonious, that reaches the confines of space 1 
Join in our chorus, join in our jubilee, 
Make the day pine with thy far-piercing melody — 
Pine that his kingdom of blue sky and sunshine 
Never re-echoes such marvellous tones. 
No, thou art silent, mystical sister, 
Silent and proud that thou bear'st on thy bosom 
The wonderful freight of the God-lighted soul. 
We hear thee, we hear thee, beneath thy thick 

mantle, 
The war of the winds through thy leaf-laden forests, 
And round aisles of thy pillar'd and hill-piercing 
Caverns sonorous ; hear the dread avalanche 
Torn from its quivering mountainous summit, 
Ribbed with massy rocks, crested with pine-trees, 
Thundering enormous upon thy fair valleys ; 
Hear the dull roar of thy mist-spouting cataracts ; 
Hear the faint plash of thy salt, seething billows, 
Lifting their heads multitudinous, or shoreward 
Climbing the cliifs that overhang them with trem- 
bling, 
And tossing their spray in exultant defiance 
Over the weed-bearded guardians of ocean. 
Sister, we listen ; thy strains are enlinking, 
Melodiously blending to ravishing harmony ; 
Clouds are departing, we see thee, we yearn to thee, 
Noblest of planets, creation's full glory ! 
Bending we hearken, thou mother of nations, 
Hark to the sky-rending voice of humanity. 

SONG OF THE EARTH. 

Oh vex me not, ye ever-burning planets ; 
Nor sister call me, ye who me afflict. 
I am unlike ye : ye may revelling sing, 
Careless and joyful, roaming sunlit ether, 
Urged with but one emotion, chanting still 
Through lapsing time the purpose of your birth, 
Each with a several passion ; but to me 
Are mix'd emotions, vast extremes of feeling — 
Now verdant in the fruitful smile of Heaven, 
Now waste and blacken'd in the scowl of Hell. 
Ye know me not, nor can ye sympathize 
With one like me, for wisdom is not yours 
Ye sing for joy ; but wisdom slowly comes 
From the close whispers of o'erburden'd pain. 
I am alone in all the universe ! 
To me is pain ; I can distinguish sin ; 
But ye with constant though unweeting glance 



Rain good or ill, and smile alike at both, 
Nor understand the mystery of your natures. 
To me is wisdom — wisdom bought with wo, 
Ages on ages past, when first I stray'd, 
With haughty scorn and self-reliant pride, 
From purity and God. For once, like you, 
God spoke me face to face, me soulless led 
From joy to joy ; yet he was mystical — 
Too obvious for thought — I knew him not : 
But now, through sin, I understand like him 
The heart of things — the steep descents of guilt, 
And the high pinnacles of heaven-lit virtue. 
Bend down, ye stars, bend from your silver thrones, 
Ye joyful wanderers of ether bright ; 
For I, soul-bearer of the universe, 
Would teach your ignorance with the lips of song ! 

O Mercury, hot planet, burying deep 
Thy forehead in the sunlight, list to me ! 
I groan beneath thy influence. Thou dost urge 
The myriad hands of Labour, and with toil 
Dost mar my features ; day by day dost work 
Thy steady changes on mine ancient face, 
Till all the host of heaven blank wonder look, 
Nor know the fresh, primeval-moulded form 
That like the Aphrodite, rose from chaos, 
Smiling through dews upon the first morn's sun. 
The leaf-crown'd mountain's brows thou hurlest 

down 
Into the dusty valley, and dost still 
The free, wild singing of the cleaving streams 
To murmurs dying lazily within 
The knotted roots of pool-engender'd lilies, 
That sluggish nod above the slimy dams. 
All day the axe I hear rending through trunks, 
Moss-grown and reverend, of cluster'd oaks. 
All day the circling scythe sweeps off 
The ruddy bloom of vain-aspiring fields, 
Clipping to stubbles grim the vernal flowers. 
Thou portionest my meadows, and dost make 
Each fruitful slope a spot for sweaty toil. 
Thou tearest up my bosom ; far within 
My golden veins the grimed miner's pick 
Startles the babbling echoes. Ancient rocks, 
My hardy bones, are rent with nitrous fire, 
To rear thy marts, to bridge the leaping streams, 
Or to usurp the ocean's olden right, 
That selfish trade may dry-shod walk to power. 
The very ocean, grim, implacable, 
Thou loadest with the white-wing'd fleets of com- 
merce, 
Crossing, like wheeling birds, each other's tracks; 
Until the burden'd giant, restless grown, 
Bounds from his sleep, and in the stooping clouds 
Nods his white head, while splinter'd navies melt 
To scatter'd fragments in his sullen froth ! 
Malignant star, I feel thy wicked power ; 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 



505 



My children's busy thoughts are full of thee: 
Thou'st chill'd the loving spirit in their hearts, 
And on their lips hast placed the selfish finger — 
They dare not know each other. All that is, 
All that God bless'd my teeming bosom with, 
Is priced and barter'd ; ay, the very worth 
Of man himself is weigh'd with senseless gold — 
Therefore I hate thee, biight-brow'd wanderer ! 
Daughter of the sober twilight, 
Lustrous planet, ever hanging 
In the mottled mists that welcome 
Coming morning, or at evening 
Peeping through the ruddy banners 
Of the clouds that wave a parting, 
From their high aerial summits, 
To the blazing god of day — 
'Tis for thee I raise my paean, 
Steady-beaming Venus ! kindler, 
In the stubborn hearts of mortals, 
Of the sole surviving passion 
That enlinks a lost existence 
With the dull and ruthless present. 
Far adown the brightening future, 
Prophetess, 1 see thee glancing — 
See thee still amid the twilight 
Of the ages rolling onward, 
Promising to heart-sick mortals 
Triumph of thy gracious kingdom ; 
When the hand of power shall weaken, 
And the wronger right the wronged, 
And the pure, primeval Eden 
Shall again o'erspread with blossoms 
Sunny hill and shady valley. 
'Tis to thee my piny mountains 
Wave aloft their rustling branches, 
'Tis to thee my opening flowerets 
Send on high their luscious odours, 
'T is to thee my leaping fountains 
Prattle through their misty breathings, 
And the bass of solemn ocean 
Chimes accordant in the chorus. 
Every fireside is thy altar, 
Streaming up its holy incense ; 
Every mated pair of mortals, 
Happily link'd, are priest and priestess, 
Pouring to thee full libations 
From their overbrimming spirits. 
Clash the loud-resounding cymbals, 
Light the rosy torch of Hymen; 
Bands of white-robed youths and maidens 
Whirl aloft the votive myrtle ! 
Raise the choral hymn to Venus — 
Young-eyed Venus, ever youthful, 
Ever on true hearts bestowing 
Pleasures new that never pall ! 
Brightest link 'tween man and Heaven, 
Soul of virtue, life of goodness. 
Cheering light in pain and sorrow, 
Pole-star to the struggling voyager 
Wieck'd on life's relentless billows, 
Fair reward of trampled sainthood, 
Beaming from the throne Eternal 
Lonely hope to sinful mankind — 
Still among the mists of morning, 
Still among the clouds of evening, 
64 



While the years drive ever onward, 
Hang thy crescent lamp of promise, 
Venus, blazing star of Love ! 

Mars, wide heaven is shuddering 'neath the stride 
Of thy mail'd foot, most terrible of planets; 

1 see thee struggling with thy brazen front 
To look a glory from amid the crust 

Of guilty blood that dims thy haughty face : 
The curse of crime is on thee. — Look, behold ! 

See where thy frenzied votaries march; 
Hark to the brazen blare of the bugle, 
Hark to the rattling clatter of the drums, 
The measured tread of the steel-clad footmen ! 
Hark to the labouring horses' breath, 
Painfully tugging the harness'd cannon ; 
The shrill, sharp clank of the warriors' swords, 
As their chargers bound when the trumpets sound 
Their alarums through the echoing mountains ! 
See the flashing of pennons and scarfs, 
Shaming the gorgeous blazon of evening, 
Rising and falling mid snowy plumes 
That dance like foam on the crested billows ! 
Bright is the glitter of burnish'd steel, 
Stirring the clamour of martial music; 
The clank of arms has a witchery 
That wakes the blood in a youthful bosom ; 
And who could tell from this pleasant show, 
That flaunts in the sun like a May -day festal, 
For what horrid rites are the silken flags, 
For what horrid use are the gleaming sabres, 
What change shall mar, when the battles join, 
This marshall'd pageant of shallow glory? 
For then the gilded flags shall be rent, 
The sabres rust with the blood of foemen, 
And the courteous knight shall howl like a wolf, 
When he scents the gory steam of battle. 

The orphan's curse is on thee, and the tears 
Of widow'd matrons plead a fearful cause. 
Each thing my bosom bears, that thou hast touch'd, 
Is loud against thee. Flowers and trampled grass, 
And the long line of waste and barren fields, 
Erewhile o'erflowing with a sea of sweets, 
Look up all helpless to the pitying heavens, 
Showing thy bloody footprints in their wounds, 
And shrieking through their gaunt and leafless trees, 
That stand with imprecating arms outspread — 
They fiercely curse thee with their desolation ; 
Each cheerless hearthstone in the home of man, 
Where Ruin grins, and rubs his bony palms, 
Demands its lost possessor. Thou hast hurl'd 
Man's placid reason from its rightful throne, 
And in its place rear'd savage force, to clip 
Debate and doubt with murder. Therefore, Mars, 
I sicken in thy angry glance, and loathe 
The dull red glitter of thy bloody spear ! 

I know thy look, majestic Jupiter ! 
I see thee moving mid the stars of heaven, 
Girt with thy train of ministering satellites. 
Proud planet, I confess thy influence : 
My heart grows big with gazing in thy face ; 
Unwonted power pervades my eager frame ; 
My bulk aspiring towers above itself, 
And restless pants to rush on acts sublime, 
At which the wondering stars might stand agaze, 
2U 



506 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 



And the whole universe from end to end, 

Conscious of me, should tremble to its core ! 

Spirit heroical, imperious passion, 

That sharply sets the pliant face of youth, 

That blinds the shrinking eyes of pallid fear, 

And plants the lion's heart in modest breasts — 

I know that thou hast led, with regal port, 

The potent spirits of humanity 

Before the van of niggard Time, and borne, 

With strides gigantic, man's advancing race 

From power to power ; till, like a host of gods, 

They mock my elements, and drag the secrets 

Of my mysterious forces up to light, 

Giving them bounds determinate and strait, 

And of their natures, multiform and huge, 

Talking to children in familiar way. 

The hero's sword, the poet's golden string, 

The tome-illuming taper of the sage, 

Flash 'neath thy influence ; from thee alone, 

Ambiiious planet, comes the marvellous power 

That in a cherub's glowing form can veil 

A heart as cold as Iceland, and exalt 

To deity the demon Selfishness. 

planet, mingle with thy chilling rays, 
That stream inspiring to the hero's soul, 
One beam of love for vast humanity, 
And thou art godlike. Must it ever be, 
That brightest flowers of action and idea 
Spring from the same dark soil of selfish lust? 
Must man receive the calculated gifts 

Of shrewd Ambition's self-exalting hand, 
And blindly glorify an act at which 
The host of heaven grow red with thoughtful shame 1 
Shall Knowledge hasten with her sunny face, 
And weeping Virtue lag upon the path 1 
Shall man exultant boast advance of power, 
Nor see arise, at every onward stride, 
New forms of sin to shadow every truth? 
Roll on, roll on, in self-supported pride, 
Prodigious influence of the hero's soul ; 

1 feel thy strength, and tremble in thy glare ! 

many-ringed Saturn, turn away 
The chilling terrors of thy baleful glance ! 
Thy gloomy look is piercing to my heart — 
I wither 'neath thy power! My springs dry up, 
And shrink in horror to their rocky beds ; 
The brooks that whisper'd to the lily-bells 
All day the glory of their mountain homes, 
And kiss'd the dimples of the wanton rose, 
At the deed blushing to their pebbly strands, 
Cease their sweet merriment, and glide afraid 
Beneath the shelter of the twisted sedge. 
The opening bud shrinks back upon its shell, 
As if the North had puff'd his frozen breath 
Full in its face. The billowing grain and grass, 
Rippling with windy furrows, stand becalm'd ; 
Nor 'mong their roots, nor in their tiny veins, 
Bestirs the fruitful sap. The very trees, 
Broad, hardy sons of crags and sterile plains, 
That roar'd defiance to the Winter's shout, 
And battled sternly through his cutting sleet, 
Droop in their myriad leaves ; while nightly birds, 
That piped their shrilling treble to the moon, 
Hang silent from the boughs, and peer around, 



Awed by mysterious sympathy. From thee, 

From thee, dull planet, comes this lethargy 

That numbs in mid career meek Nature's power, 

And stills the prattle of her plumed train. 

O icy Sal urn, proud in ignorance, 

Father of sloth, dark, deadening influence, 

That dims the eye to all that's beautiful, 

And twists the haughty lip with killing scorn 

For love and holiness — from thee alone 

Springs the cold, crushing power that presses down 

The infinite in man. From thee, dull star, 

The cautious fear that checks the glowing heart, 

With sympathetic love world-wide o'erfreighted, 

And sends it panting back upon itself, 

To murmur in its narrow hermitage. 

The boldest hero staggers in thy frown, 

And drops his half-form'd projects all aghast: 

The poet shrinks before thy phantom glare, 

Ere the first echo greets his timid song ; 

The startled sage amid the embers hurls 

The gather'd wisdom of a fruitful life. — 

Oh, who may know from what bright pinnacles 

The mounting soul might look on coming time, 

Had all the marvellous thoughts of genius — 

Blasted to nothingness by thy cold sneer — 

Burst through the bud and blossom'd into fruit? 

Benumbing planet, on our system's skirt, 

Whirl from thy sphere, and round some lonely sun, 

Within whose light no souls their ordeals pass, 

Circle and frown amid thy frozen belts ; 

For I am sick of thee, and stately man 

Shrinks to a pigmy in thy fearful stare ! 

FINALE— CHORUS OF STARS. 

Heir of Eternity, mother of souls, 
Let not thy knowledge betray thee to folly ! 
Knowledge is proud, self-sufficient, and lone, 
Trusting, unguided, its steps in the darkness. 
Thine is the learning that mankind may win, 
Glean'd in the pathway between joy and sorrow ; 
Ours is the wisdom that hallows the child, 
Fresh from the touch of his awful Creator, 
Dropp'd, like a star, on thy shadowy realm, 
Falling in splendour, but falling to darken. 
Ours is the simple religion of faith, 
The wisdom of trust in God who o'errules us — 
Thine is the complex misgivings of thought, 
Wrested to form by imperious Reason. 
We are forever pursuing the light — 
Thou art forever astray in the darkness. 
Knowledge is restless, imperfect, and sad — 
Faith is serene, and completed, and joyful. 
Chide not the planets that rule o'er thy ways; 
They are God's creatures ; nor, proud in thy reason, 
Vaunt that thou knowest his counsels and him : 
Boaster, though sitting in midst of the glory, 
Thou couldst not fathom the least of his thoughts. 
Bow in humility, bow thy proud forehead, 
Circle thy form in a mantle of clouds, 
Hide from the glittering cohorts of evening 
Wheeling in purity, singing in chorus ; 
Howl in the depths of thy lone, barren mountains, 
Restlessly moan on the deserts of ocean, 
Wail o'er thy fall in the desolate forests, 
Lost star of paradise, straying alone ! 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 



507 



THE SPIRIT OF POESY. 

Au the shatter'd links of thought were knit 

In one long chain where each part seem'd design'd 
To bind together the harmonious whole. 
And thus — not dreaming of an alien ear — 
Rang through the wood the poet's lofty song : 

Spirit of beauty and harmonious power, 
Who next th' Eternal's throne, with folded wings, 
Didst sit while chaos wrapp'd this universe, 
And muse on things to be ! Thou, at the Word, 
Didst spring on outspread wings, co-mate of Love, 
And from thy glittering plumes shookst golden dew 
Upon the rising forms that woke from slumber, 
And o'er the globe their wondrous fretwork threw; 
Thou who didst harmonize and b'ess our earth, 
And add a glory to its meanest shape, 
So that He smiled who gave thy mission power, 
And seal'd thy mandates with his awful voice ; 
Thou who above this ever-changing world 
Still rul'st supreme, with undiminished love, 
Preserving still, by reproductive power, 
Its forms as fresh as at creation's dawn — 
Perennial youth, whence shall I summon thee> 
Whence call thy wings, thou all-pervading spirit 1 
Each thing is full of thee; thou'rt everywhere. 
I see thee heralding the morning sun; 
Thou rid'st in splendour on the thronging mists, 
That with a royal pomp, strew golden dust 
Along the pathway of their coming king. 
I see thee poised upon the lowest flower, 
Shaking thy beauty from its nodding cup. 
I hear thy footstep in the faint-voiced brook ; 
And now thou'rt trampling down the cataract, 
Shouting thy song above the water's roar. 
Mid songs of birds, and sounds of insects' wings, 
I hear another tone, and it is thine 
The thunder booms, the split and riven oak 
Crumbles to splinters 'neath the burning bolt — 
Still art thou there. The rent and quivering earth 
Foams like a billow, and the smoking land 
Staggers and sobs beneath the earthquake's shock ; 
Great cities, with their fanes and monuments, 
Their battled walls, and their deep-founded towers, 
Are ground to powder ; while mad Terror reigns, 
And with her doubtful words the burghers calls, 
Now here, now there, where ruin thickest showers, 
And red-eyed Death their frenzied souls dismays ! 
Above, in ecstasy, I hear thy wing. 
Beating the trembling air ; for change thou lov'st, 
And reproduction is thy endless task. 
With noiseless night thou com'st : the banded stars, 
And the great planets, and the peerless moon, 
But swell thy pageantry and crowd thy train. 
Bewildering spirit, from the viewless mind, 
Fill'd with its apprehensions of thy worth, 
Shall I invoke thee 1 for I feel thee there, 
Floating serene amid the God-breathed essence 
That from destruction saves our intellect. 
Come ! for no deed of mine shall e'er distain 
The pure translucence of thy rainbow wings; 
I will not use the might which thou bestovv'st, 
Save to unfold thy wondrous beauties more ; 
No earth-born thought shall mingle with thy voice : 
Oh ! long ago did I forget myself, 



And lose distinctive being, gulf'd in th< 
In love for thee — in a deep, burning love, 
Which purifies, like fire, when thou art near. 

I feel that thou art present. Thou art she 
Who, 'fore the Chian's inward eyes, didst rank 
The battled lines that leaguered ancient Troy — 
The Grecian heroes, gods and demigods, 
Threatening old Priam's towers with brazen front. 
Trojan and Greek thou mingled st in the fray, 
And shookst the smoky field when Hector led 
His glittering squadrons full upon the foe, 
While o'er the plain his scythe-arm'd chariots swept, 
Scattering destruction from their bloody wheels. 
And thou didst mourn with Priam, when afar 
He saw the fiery steeds Achtei.es yoked, 
Tear up the valley with their blood-wet hoofs, 
As close behind the car his Hector's locks 
Swept the base dust, and left a gory trail 
That three times circled wailing Ilium's walls! 
And thou the royal sage of Ithaca 
Didst lead undaunted o'er the sterile sea, 
While his chaste bride her endless web still wove, 
And stain'd its colours with her joyless tears. 
Oh, thou art she who over Shakspere bent, 
And laugh'd, and wept, and wonder'd at thyself; 
Thou, from the misty realm of vague ideas, 
Didst summon shapes which awed thee when they 

came, 
And gav'st to them an immortality 
That shames the fabled fire Promethean. 
Thou, through the inner mysteries of heaven, 
Nearer to God than mortal ever drew, 
Didst lead great Milton blindfold ; thou didst fly 
Close by his side, to guide his dizzy course 
Through all the printless ways of upper air, 
When, with thy spirit burning in his breast, 
His haughty wing essay'd the deep serene. 
Thou didst in mercy seal his earthly orbs, 
But fit for earth, whose feeble sense had quail'd, 
And wither'd into naught, before the glory 
That from the Throne outleaps like myriad suns. 
What mortal eye might see the cherubim 
Clash their eternal arms in angry fight, 
When, from the corners of tumultuous heaven, 
The shining band, with all their glory on, 
Rush'd 'gainst the swarthy fiend, as Morning hurls 
Its glittering lances on the shield of Night ! 
What mortal eye might pierce the black profound, 
Where fell the routed rebels, host on host, 
Rolling with batter'd arms and sullied plumes 
Upon a slough whose fumes benumb'd like death ! 

Come, mighty spirit ! point for me a path : 
My mind is pausing, like a restless bird, 
With outspread wings, and eager for the flight, 
Yet doubtfulhangs nor knows what course to choose. 
Come, Poesy ! I '11 woo thee like a lover ; 
I ask not fame ; but thee alone I seek ; 
Thou art thy own reward, exceeding price. 
With thee I'll sit and smile at Envy's sneer — 
Smile at the galling love of pitying friends, 
And kiss the wrinkled brow of Jealousy, 
So thou wilt bless me. I have loved thee long ; 
My memory holds no niche where thou art not, 
Crown'd with perennial laurel by my hand. 
I seek thy glory ; let me fade and die — 



508 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 



Ay, let me wither like a riven branch, 

So thou art lifted, thou art magnified, 

And thy pure beauties valued at their worth. 

Then, as I hear thy ever-tuneful voice 

Roll to the future in a gathering surge, 

Resplendent dancing on the van of time, 

I'll shout thy praise in loud-tongued jubilee, 

Nor pay thee half I owe. In thee alone — 

In thee alone I live, refining spirit ! 

For thou the drooping soul of dross canst purge, 

And lift the bard above the common herd 

That toil and traffic, till their mental eye 

Grows dull or blind, for want of brighter use. 

Oh, living tritlers ! while the roaring waves 

Of seas eternal thunder in your ears, 

And shake Time's shifting sands beneath your feet, 

Rising to gulf ye— -pause amid your gains ! 

Look up to heaven, and dare to tell your souls 

This is the destiny which God ordain'd. 

Oh, frenzy dire ! that man should bow his mind 

To lick the dust, and conscious pride thence gain. 

Dare ye, ye petty things, ye solemn fools, 
Who shine, like glow-worms, when all else is dark, 
But fade to reptiles when the morn appears — 
Dare ye the poet scorn, or by him pass, 
As he were noteless mid your brother worms'? 
Dare ye unfold his book with listless hands, 
And trifle o'er the page, to wile an hour ] 
Oh, dare ye dim the links of that bright chain 
Whose highest term but ends in God himself? 
And, worse than all, dare ye, the gifted few 
By nature pure, turn faithless, and drag down 
Your furled plumes, to trail them in the mire — 
Debase your calling — more than all conduce 
To bring reproach upon your mystery ! 
Ye priests of Time, ye Heaven-anointed bards, 
Summon'd on earth to lure, to urge, to drive 
Reluctant man along the narrow path — 
Oh, can ye mingle with the meaner throng, 
And waste your glory in neglect 1 or, worse, 
Can ye add lustre to the tempting sins 
That, like a wanton's arms, engird our race — 
Gilding the slimy pools of sloth and guilt 
With brightness for a nobler use bestow'd ! 
Ye sin in knowledge, and ye know the doom ; 
Ye need no tutor. Hell, with hollow jaws, 
Gapes wide before you-, open-eyed ye plunge — 
Knowing the better path, ye choose the worst. 

Bright Poesy ! 'tis not alone thy task 
To sanctify the forms that deck our earth ; 
To lend a soul to things all lifeless else ; 
Or to interpret for mankind the signs 
Symbolic, yet unmeaning but for thee — 
The God-writ hieroglyphs, that letter earth 
In every shape which changing Nature takes, 
And have significance, instructing those 
On whom thy robe initiatory falls. 
No, not alone amid the world of sense 
Shouldst thou voluptuous pick thy dainty way : 
The winged one, whose birthright is the sky, 
Must not forever cull the sweets of earth. 
There is a realm where common eyes ne'er gaze, 
Circled with sounds which sensual ears ne'er hear, 
Peopled with forms that shrink from finest 
touch — 



Realm of idea, of mind, of abstract truth, 

Toward which we ever journey ; mid whose forms, 

More real than all we see, or hear, or feel 

Of the mere shows which fill this phantom world, 

Pre-destin'd man shall dwell eternally. 

Material life is short, though stretch'd to doom ; 

But the long morn of life spiritual 

Ends but with God. O Spirit ! thither bend 

Thy youthful wings ; for to thy purer eyes 

All mental powers, all plastic thoughts, that mould 

Mankind and matter to created forms, 

Are manifest. If 'tis permitted, thither 

Thy votary bear ; for I am one whose mind 

Has cast the dust of earth from off its plumes, 

Nor in this world have wish to compass aught, 

Save thee to cherish and exalt for man. 

Ah no ! upon the future rest mine eyes ; 

And shadowy hopes, beyond the mystic grave, 

Beckon and smile, and lure me gently on ; 

And point to thoughts unrealized on earth — 

To yearnings dim, but seen by Faith's pure eyes — 

To vast ideas, the eagle brood of mind, 

That beat their sensual bars, and fiercely mourn — 

As there existent, with full power and scope 

To act their parts, unvex'd by stumbling sense, 

That dull-eyed agent of the prison'd soul. 

'Tis not for naught we suffer what we feel ; 
'Tis not for naught we battle, day by dav, 
With falsehoods whose foul touch disgust the heart ; 
'Tis not for naught that in this empty show, 
This mummery of life, we feign a part, 
Or bear the sneers and scoffs of heedless men, 

brother bards ! This earth is not your sphere ; 
And all the loud acclaims of listening crowds 
But move the blood, or please the tingling ear, 
Not satisfy the soul, whose rushing tide, 

At the first swelling, into nothingness 
Sweeps the faint vestiges of those who stood 
Upon the brink, and wonder'd at its voice. 
The world of spirits is the poet's home : 
There may his nature first be understood — 
Yes, by the souls who now no fellowship 
Claim or confess. Or haply, if the flesh, 
Like a contagion, cling them e'en in heaven, 
And dim their eyes ; yet are there those — God, 
Let me not doubt it ! — who may circle us, 
And, with congenial thoughts and sympathies, 
The thirsting void of love within us fill. 

The poet ceased ; and down the clamorous brook 
T heard his footfall faint and fainter grow. 

1 turn'd me home ; yet, all the way, that man 
And hisstrange song perplex'd my tangled thoughts. 
I pictured him a home, and rank, and wealth, 

A gentle, loving wife, and children fair — 

Fame, and all else which man on earth desires ; 

And over these I spfcad the curse of song, 

And wither'd them to naught ! What mental pain, 

What sickness past all cure, what thirsting thoughts, 

That come, like beggars pale, relief to ask 

At the closed portals of eternity, 

Must he endure who framed that troubled song! 

Then thank'd I Heaven, and bless'd the bounteous 

One 
Who, in my keeping, gave not power enough 
To shield from jealous Time my humble name. 



WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER 



[Born, 1825.] 



Mr. Butler is a son of Ben jaxtx F. Butler, 
recently Attorney-General of the United States, 
and long conspicuous in public affairs. He was 
born in Albany, in 1825, and was educated at the 
New York University, where he graduated in 1843. 
From July, 1846, to December, 1848, he travelled 
in Europe, and he has since been associated with 
his father in the practice of the law, in the city of 
New York. 



The principal literary compositions of Mr. But- 
ler are a class-poem entitled " The Future," pub- 
lished in 1846 ; and occasional contributions to the 
" Democratic Review" and the " Literary World." 
His abilities are various. He has wit and humour, 
a lively fancy, and a style natural and flexible, 
abounding in felicities of expression. In general 
he writes hastily, and finishes a piece at a sit- 
ting. 



THE NEW ARGONAUTS. 

To-day the good ship sails, 

Across the sparkling sea — 
To-day the northern gales 

Are blowing swifl and free ; 
Speed, speed her distant way, 

To that far land of gold : 
A richer prize we seek than they, 

The Argonauts of old ! 

Who goes with us 1 who quits the tiresome shore, 

And sails where Fortune beckons him away ; 
Where in that marvellous land, in virgin ore, 

The wealth of years is gather'd in a day ? 
Here, toil and trouble are our portion still, 

And still with want our weary work is paid ; 
Slowly the shillings drop into the till, 

Small are the profits of our tedious trade ; 
There, Nature proffers with unstinted hands, 

The countless wealth the wide domain confines, 
Sprinkles the mountain-streams with golden sands, 

And calls the adventurer to exhaustless mines. 
Come, then, with us! what are the charms of home, 

What are the ties of friends or kindred worth 1 
Thither, oh thither, let our footsteps roam — 

There is the Eden of our fallen earth ! 

Well do we hold the fee of those broad lands 
Wrested from feebler hands, 

By our own sword and spear ; 
Well may the weeping widow be consoled, 
And orphan'd hearts their ceaseless grief withhold ; 
Well have our brothers shed their life-blood here. 
Say, could we purchase at a price too dear, 
These boundless acres of uncounted gold"? 
Come, then ! it is to-day, 

To-day the good ship sails, 
And swift upon her way 

Blow out the northern gales. 
A twelvemonth more, and we 

Our homeward course shall hold, 
With richer freight within than theirs, 
The Argonauts of old ! 

Alas ! for honest labour from honest ends averted ; 
Alas ! for firesides left, and happy homes deserted. 



Brightly the bubble glitters ; bright in the distance 

The land of promise gleams ; 
But ah, the phantom fortunes of existence 
Live but in dreams ! 
Behold the end afar: 

Beyond the bright, deceptive cloud, 
Beneath what dim, malignant star, 

Sails on the eager crowd ! 
Some in mid-ocean lie — 

Some gain the wish'd-for shore, 
And grasp the golden ore, [die ! 

But sicken as they grasp, and where they sicken, 
There have they found beside the mountain streams. 
On desolate crags where the wild eagle screams, 
In dark ravines where western forests wave — 

Gold, and a grave ! 
Some for the spendthrift's eager touch, 

Some for the miser's hoarded store, 
Some for the robber's grasp, the murderer's clutch, 
Heap up the precious ore, [wither'd core ! 
Dear bought with life's lost strength, and the heart's 

Oh, cursed love of gold ! 

Age follows age, 
And still the world's' slow records are unroll'd, 

Page after page ; 
And the same tale is told — 
The same unholy deeds, the same sad scenes unfold ! 
Where the assassin's knife is sharpen'd, 

In the dark ; 
Where lies the murder'd man in the midnight, 

Cold and stark ; 
Where the slave groans and quivers under 

The driver's lash ; 
Where the keen-eyed son of trade is bartering 

Honour for cash ; 
Where the sons wish the fathers dead, of their wealth 

To be partakers ; 
Where the maiden of sixteen weds the old man 

For his acres ; 
Where the gambler stakes his all on the last throw 

Of the dice ; 
Where the statesman for his country and its glory 

Sets a price ! 
There are thy altars rear'd, thy trophies told, 
Oh, cursed love of gold ! 

2 u 2 509 



510 



WILLIAM A. BUTLER. 



THE INCOGNITA OF RAPHAEL.* 

Long has the summer sunlight shone 
On the fair form, the quaint costume ; 

Yet nameless still, she sits unknown, 
A lady in her youthful bloom. 

Fairer for this ! no shadows cast 
Their blight upon her perfect lot ; 

Whate'er her future, or her past, 
In this bright moment matters not. 

No record of her high descent 

There needs, nor memory of her name : 

Enough that Raphael's colours blent 
To give her features deathless fame ! 

'Twas his anointing hand that set 
The crown of beauty on her brow ; 

Still lives its earlier radiance yet, 
As at the earliest, even now. 

'Tis not the ecstasy that glows 

In all the rapt Cecilia's grace; 
Nor yet the holy, calm repose, 

He painted on the Virgin's face. 

Less of the heavens, and more of earth, 
There lurk within these earnest eyes, 

The passions that have had their birth, 
And grown beneath Italian skies. 

What mortal thoughts, and cares, and dreams, 
What hopes, and fears, and longings rest, 

Where falls the folded veil, or gleams 
The golden necklace on her breast. 

What mockery of the painted glow 
May shade the secret soul within ; 

What griefs from passion's overflow, 
What shame that follows after sin ! 

Yet calm as heaven's serenest deeps 

Are those pure eyes, those glances pure ; 

And queenly is the state she keeps, 
In beauty's lofty trust secure. 

And who has stray'd, by happy chance, 
Through all those grand and pictured halls, 

Nor felt the magic of her glance, 
As when a voice of music calls'? 

Not soon shall I forget the day — 

Sweet day, in spring's unclouded time, 

While on the glowing canvass lay 
The light of that delicious clime — 

I mark'd the matchless colours wreathed 
On the fair brow, the peerless cheek, 

The lips, I fancied, almost breathed 

The blessings that they could not speak. 

Fair were the eyes with mine that bent 
Upon the picture their mild gaze, 

And dear the voice that gave consent 
To all the utterance of my praise. 

* The portrait to which these verses refer is in the Pitti 
Palace at Florence. It is one of the gems of that admirable 
collection. 



Oh, fit companionship of thought; 

Oh, happy memories, shrined apart ; 
The rapture that the painter wrought, 

The kindred rapture of the heart ! 



UHLAND. 

It is the poet Uhlattt), from whose wreathings 
Of rarest harmony I here have drawn, 

To lower tones and less melodious breathings, 
Some simple strains, of youth and passion born. 

His is the poetry of sweet expression, 
Of clear, unfaltering tune, serene and strong; 

Where gentlest thoughts and words, in soft pro- 
cession, 
Move to the even measures of his song. 

Delighting ever in his own calm fancies. 
He sees much beauty where most men see naught, 

Looking at Nature with familiar glances, 
And weaving garlands in the groves of thought. 

He sings of youth, and hope, and high endeavour, 
He sings of love — crown of poesy ! — 

Of fate, and sorrow, and the grave, forever 
The end of strife, the goal of destiny. 

He sings of fatherland, the minstrel's glory, 
High theme of memory and hope divine, 

Twining its fame with gems of antique story, 
In Suabian songs and legends of the Rhine; 

In ballads breathing many a dim tradition, 
Nourish'd in long belief or minstrel rhymes, 

Fruit of the old Romance, whose gentle mission 
Pass'd from the earth before our wiser times. 

Well do they know his name among the mountains, 
And plains, and valleys, of his native land ; 

Part of their nature are the sparkling fountains 
Of his clear, thought, with rainbow fancies 
spann'd. 

His simple lays oft sings the mother cheerful 
Beside the cradle in the dim twilight ; 

His plaintive notes low breathes the maiden tearful 
With tender murmurs in the ear of night. 

The hillside swain, the reaper in the meadows, 
Carol his ditties through the toilsome day; 

And the lone hunter in the Alpine shadows 
Recalls his ballads by some ruin gray. 

O precious gift ! O wondrous inspiration ! 

Of all high deeds, of all harmonious things, 
To be the oracle, while a whole nation 

Catches the echo from the sounding strings. 

Out of the depths of feeling and emotion 
Rises the orb of song,, serenely bright, 

As who heholds, across the tracts of ocean, 
The golden sunrise bursting into light. 

Wide is its magic world — divided neither 
By continent, nor sea, nor narrow zone: 

Who would not wish sometimes to travel thither, 
In fancied fortunes to forget his own 1 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



[Born, 1.825.] 



Bayard Taylor was born on the eleventh of I 
January, 1825, at Kennet Square, near the Bran- , 
dy wine, in Pennsylvania, and in that rural and clas- 
sical region he lived until his departure for Europe j 
in the summer of 1844. Having passed two years 
in Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and 
France, he returned to the United States, and after 
publishing an account of his travels, under the title 
of " Views a-Foot," he settled in New York, where 
he has since been occupied as one of the editors of 
" The Tribune," a journal which has derived much 
advantage from his fine taste in literature and large 
knowledge of affairs. 

Though not egotistical, there is scarcely an au- 
thor more easily detected in his works. And this 
is not from any of those tricks of style in which 
alone consists the individuality of so many ; but 
his sincere, frank, and enthusiastic spirit, grateful 
while aspiring, cairn while struggling, and humble 
while attaining ; and his life, which moves in order 
in the crowd and jar of society, in the solitude where 
Nature is seen with reverence, " up heights of 
rough ascent," and over streams and chasms, by 
shapely ways constructed by his will and knowl- 
edge. We do not remember any book of travels 
in which an author appears altogether so amiable 
and interesting as he in his" Views a-Foot." He 
always lingers in the background, or steps forward 
modestly but to solicit more earnestly our admira- 
tion for what has kindled his own : but undesign- 
edly, or against his design even, he continually 
engrosses our interest, as if he were the hero of a 
novel; and as we pass from scene to scene with 
him, we think of the truth and poetry of each only 
to sympathize in his surprise, and joy, and wonder. 
Batakd Taylor's first move in literature was 
a small volume of poems, of which the longest, and 
the longest he has yet published, was upon an in- 
cident in Spanish history. This was written when 
he was about eighteen years of age, and my ac- 
quaintance with him commenced when he arrived 
in the city with his manuscripts. We read "Xi- 
mena" together ; and, while negotiations were in 
progress for its publication, discussed the subject 
of Americanism in letters. I urged upon his con- 
sideration the themes I thought best adapted to 
the development and illustration of his genius. 

Here was a young author, born and nurtured in 
one of the most characteristic and beautiful of our 
rural districts, so removed from the associations 
that vitiate the national feeling- and manner, and 
altogether of a growth so indigenous, that he was 
one of the fittest types of our people, selecting the 
materials for his first production from scenes and 
actions which are more picturesque, more roman- 
tic, or in any way more suitable for the purposes 
of art, only as they have been made so by art, and 



are seen through the media of art, in preference to 
the fresh valleys and mountains and forests, and 
lakes and rivers and cataracts, and high resolve, 
and bold adventure, and brave endurance, which 
have more distinctly marked, and varied, and en- 
nobled our history than all other histories, in events 
crowding so fast upon each other, that our annals 
seem but a rehearsal of all that had been before, 
with years for centuries — divided by the Declara- 
tion of Independence, which is our gospel — beyond 
which the colonies are ancient nations, and this 
side of which our states have swept, with steam- 
boats, and railroads, and telegraphs, the whole 
breadth of Time ; and ere the startled empires are 
aware, are standing before them all, beckoning 
them to the last and best condition, which is the 
fulfilment of farthest-reaching prophecy. In such 
a choice, he had not only to enter into a competi- 
tion with the greatest geniuses of the countries 
and ages he invaded, but, worse than this, to be a 
parasite of their inspiration, or to animate old forms, 
disciplined to a mere routine, with the new life to 
which he was born — sacrificing altogether his na- 
tive strength, or attempting its exhibition in fetters. 
Genius creates, but not like the Divine energy, 
from nothing. Genius creates from knowledge ; 
and the fullness of knowledge necessary to its uses 
can be acquired, not from any second-hand glimpses 
through books, or pictures, or discourse, but from 
experience in the midst of its subjects, the respira- 
tion of their atmosphere, a daily contact with their 
forms, and a constant sympathy with their nature. 
This pervading intelligence gives no transient tone 
to the feelings, but enters into the essence of char- 
acter, and becomes a part of life. He who would 
set aside the spirit of his age and country, to take 
upon himself another being, must approach his 
task with extraordinary powers and an indomita- 
ble will, or he will fail utterly. It is undoubtedly 
true that, to be American, it is not needful in all 
cases to select subjects which are so geographically ; 
but this admission does not justify an indiscrimi- 
nate use of foreign life, or a reckless invasion or 
assumption of foreign sentiment. There must be 
some relationship of condition and aspiration. Of 
all writers who have yet written, Milton was the 
most American. All the works of Chaining 
embrace less that is national to us than a page 
of the " Defence of the People of England ;" and 
a library larger than that which was at Alexan- 
dria, of such books as Irvixg's, would not con- 
tain as much Americanism as a paragraph of the 
" Areopagitica." But the Genius of America was 
born in England, and his strength was put forth in 
those conflicts of the commonwealth which ended 
in the exile of the young Hercules. During the 
Cromweliian era, England offers almost as ap* 

511 



512 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



propriate a field for illustration by the American 
as Massachusetts under Hutchinsox, except in 
the accessories of nature, which should enter into 
the compositions of art. Not so Spain or Russia, 
at the extremes of Europe, without affinities with 
each other or with us. There is very little in the 
life or nature, or past or present or future, of either 
of these nations, with which the American can 
have any real sympathy ; and for an American au- 
thor, whose heart keeps time with his country's, 
to attempt the illustration of any character from 
either, while his own domain, far more rich in sug- 
gestion and material, lies waste, is a thing scarcely 
possible to the apprehension of a common under- 
standing. In a remote and shadowy antiquity, like 
that of Egypt, or in such a darkness as envelops 
Mexico or Peru, or our own continent before its last 
discovery, the case is different : we are at liberty, 
with conditions, to make these the scenes of our 
conventionalities, because there is scarcely a record 
to contradict the suggestions of the imagination. 

Mr. Taylor happily went abroad just after the 
publication of his story of the Sierra Morena, and 
though he had then travelled but little in his na- 
tive country, and Europe, "seen with a staff and 
knapsack," opened all her gates before him with 
circumstances to produce the most vivid and pro- 
found impressions, his love of home grew stronger, 
and he felt at length the truth which might never 
have come to him if he had remained here, that 
for him the holiest land for the intellect, as well 
as the affections, was that in which he was born. 
The fables of genius and the records of history 
may kindle the fancy and give activity to the im- 
agination, but they cannot rouse the passions, 



which must best dispose the illustrations of fancy, 
and can alone give vitality and attractive beauty 
to the fruits of a creative energy. In all his later 
writings the influence of the inspirations which 
belong to his country and his age are more and 
more apparent, and in his volume entitled " Rhymes 
of Travel, Ballads, and other Poems," published in 
New York in 1848, the most spirited, natural, and 
altogether successful compositions, are those which 
were suggested by the popular impulses and the 
peculiar adventure which have distinguished the 
recent life of the republic. " El Canalo," « The 
Bison Track," and « The Fight of Paso del Mar," 
belong entirely to the years in which they were 
written, but the inspiration of which they are fruits 
was not more genuine than that from which we 
have " The Continents," "In Italy," or « The Re- 
quiem in the North." 

The finest and most sustained specimens of Mr. 
Taylor's imagination and passion are "Ariel in 
the Cloven Pine," and the " Ode to Shelley," 
both of which have been written since the appear- 
ance of his " Rhymes of Travel." The latter is 
conceived in a spirit and expressed in a sounding 
rhythm worthy of the sublime intelligence to whom 
it is addressed. His mastery of the harmonies of 
the English language is perhaps best exhibited, 
however, in some of his translations from the Ger- 
man and Italian, particularly in a version of his 
friend Freiligrath's splendid appeal of " The 
Dead to the Living," a lyric which has been his- 
torical from the day on which it first startled the 
Prussians, and which he reproduced for the col- 
umns of « The Tribune" in a manner worthy of 
the original. 



A REQUIEM IN THE NORTH. 

Speed swifter, Night ! — wild northern Night, 

Whose feet the arctic islands know, 
When stiffening breakers, sharp and white, 

Gird the complaining shores of snow. 
Send all thy winds to sweep the wold 

And howl in mountain-passes far, 
And hang thy banners, red and cold, 

Against the shield of every star ! 

For what have I to do with morn, 

Or summer's glory in the vales — 
With the blithe ring of forest-horn, 

Or beckoning gleam of snowy sails 1 
Art thou not gone, in whose blue eye 

The fleeting summer dawn'd to me 1 — 
Gone, like the echo of a sigh 

Beside the loud, resounding sea ! 

Oh, brief that time of song and flowers, 

Which blest, through thee, the Northern Land ! 
I pine amid its leafless bowers 

And on the black and lonely strand. 
The forest wails the starry bloom 

Which yet shall pave its shadowy floor, 
But down my spirit's aisles of gloom 

Thy love shall blossom nevermore ! 



And nevermore shall battling pines 

Their solemn triumph sound for me ; 
Nor morning fringe the mountain-lines, 

Nor sunset flush the hoary sea ; 
But Night and Winter fill the sky 

And load with frost the shivering air, 
Till every gust that hurries by 

Chimes wilder with my own despair ! 

The leaden twilight, cold and long, 

Is slowly settling o'er the wave ; 
No wandering blast awakes a song 

In naked boughs, above thy grave. 
The frozen air is still and dark; 

The numb earth lies in icy rest; 
And all is dead save this one spark 

Of burning grief, within my breast. 

Life's darken'd orb shall wheel no more 

To Love's rejoicing summer back ; 
My spirit walks a wintry shore, 

With not a star to light its track. 
Speed swifter, Night ! thy gloom and frost 

Are free to spoil and ravage here ; 
This last wild requiem for the lost, 

I pour in thy unheeding ear ! 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



513 



EL CANALO.* 

Now saddle El Canalo ! — the freshening wind of 

morn 
Down in the flowery vega is stirring through the 

corn ; 
The thin smoke of the ranches grows red with 

coming day, 
And the steed's impatient stamping is eager for the 

way ! 

My glossy-limb'd Canalo, thy neck is curved in 
pride, 

Thy slender ears prick'd forward, thy nostril strain- 
ing wide , 

And as thy quick neigh greets me, and I catch 
thee by the mane, 

I 'm off with the winds of morning — the chieftain 
of the plain ! 

I feel the swift air whirring, and see along our 
track, 

From the flinty-paved sierra, the sparks go stream- 
ing back ; 

And I clutch my rifle closer, as we sweep the dark 
defile, 

Where the red guerilla watches for many a lonely 
mile. 

They reach not El Canalo ; with the swiftness of 

a dream 
We've pass'd the bleak Nevada, and Tule's icy 

stream ; 
But where, on sweeping gallop, my bullet back- 
ward sped, 
The keen-eyed mountain vultures will circle o'er 

the dead ! 
On ! on, my brave Canalo ! we 've dash'd the sand 

and snow 
From peaks upholding heaven, from deserts far 

below — 
We 've thunder'd through the forest, while the 

crackling branches rang, 
And trooping elks, affrighted, from lair and covert 

sprang ! 

We 've swum the swollen torrent, we 've distanced 
in the race 

The baying wolves of Pinos, that panted with the 
chase ; 

And still thy mane streams backward, at every 
thrilling bound, 

And still thy measured hoof-stroke beats with its 
morning sound ! 

The seaward winds are wailing through Santa Bar- 
bara's pines, 

And like a sheathless sabre, the far Pacific shines ; 

Hold to thy speed, my arrow ! — at nightfall thou 
shalt lave 

Thy hot and smoking haunches beneath his silver 
wave ! 

My head upon thy shoulder, along the sloping 
sand 

We 'II sleep as trusty brothers, from out the mount- 
ain land ; 

* El Canalo, or the cinnamon-coloured, is the name of 
the choicest breed of the Californian horse. 
65 



The pines will sound in answer to the surges on 
the shore, 

And in our dreams, Canalo, we '11 make the jour- 
ney o'er ! 



THE BISON-TRACK. 

Strike the tent ! the sun has risen ; not a cloud 

has ribb'd the dawn, 
And the frosted prairie brightens to the westward, 

far and wan : 
Prime afresh the trusty rifle — sharpen well the 

hunting-spear — 
For the frozen sod is trembling, and a noise of 

hoofs I hear ! 

Fiercely stamp the tether'd horses, as they snuff 
the morning's fire, 

And their flashing heads are tossing, with a neigh 
of keen desire ; 

Strike the tent — the saddles wait us ! let the bridle- 
reins be slack, 

For the prairie's distant thunder has betray'd the 
bison's track ! 

See ! a dusky line approaches ; hark ! the onward- 
surging roar, 

Like the din of wintry breakers on a sounding wall 
of shore ! 

Dust and sand behind them whirling, snort the 
foremost of the van, 

And the stubborn horns are striking, through the 
crowded caravan. 

Now the storm is down upon us — let the mad- 
den'd horses go ! 

We shall ride the living whirlwind, though a hun- 
dred leagues it blow ! 

Though the surgy manes should thicken, and the 
red eyes' angry glare 

Lighten round us as we gallop through the sand 
and rushing air ! 

Myriad hoofs will scar the prairie, in our wild, re- 
sistless race, 

And a sound, like mighty waters, thunder down 
the desert space : 

Yet the rein may not be tighten'd, nor the rider's 
eye look back — • 

Death to him whose speed should slacken, on the 
madden'd bison's track ! 

Now the trampling herds are threaded, and the 
chase is close and warm 

For the giant bull that gallops in the edges of the 
storm : 

Hurl your lassoes swift and fearless — swing your 
rifles as we run ! 

Ha ! the dust is red behind him : shout, my broth- 
ers, he is won ! 

Look not on him as he staggers — 'tis the last shot 
he will need ; 

More shall fall, among his fellows, ere we run the 
bold stampede — 

Ere we stem the swarthy breakers — while the 
wolves, a hungry pack, 

Howl around each grim-eyed carcass, on the bloody 
bison-track ! 



514 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



ODE TO SHELLEY. 

Why art thou dead ? Upon the hills once more 

The golden mist of waning Autumn lies ; 
The slow-pulsed billows wash along the shore, 

And phantom isles are floating in the skies. 
They wait for thee ; a spirit in the sand 

Hushes, expectant, for thy lingering tread ; 
The light wind pants to lift thy trembling hair ; 
Inward, the silent land 

Lies with its mournful woods — why art thou dead, 
When Earth demands that thou shalt call her fair 1 

Why art thou dead 1 glorious child of Song, 

Whose brother spirit ever dwells with mine, 
Feeling, twin-doom'd, the burning hate of Wrong, 

And Beauty's worship, deathless and divine ! 
Thou art afar : wilt thou not soon return, 

To tell me that which thou hast never told — 
To grasp my throbbing hand, and by the shore 
Or dewy mountain-fern 

Pour out thy heart as to a friend of old, 
Tearful with twilight sorrow 1 Nevermore ! 

Why art thou dead 1 My years are full of pain, 

The pain sublime of thought that has no word ; 
And Truth and Beauty sing within my brain 

Diviner songs than men have ever heard. 
Wert thou but here, thine eye might read the strife, 

The solemn burthen of immortal song — 

And hear the music, that can find no lyre: 

For thou hast known a life 

Lonely, amid the poets' mountain-throng — 
Whose cloudy snows conceal'd eternal fire. 

I could have told thee all the sylvan joy 

Of trackless woods ; the meadows, far apart, 
Within whose fragrant grass, a lonely boy, 

I thought of God ; the trumpet at my heart, 
Whenonbleakmountainsroar'd (he midnightstorm, 

And I was bathed in lightning, broad and grand : 
Oh, more than all, with low and sacred breath 
And forehead flushing warm, 

I would have led thee through the summer land 
Of my young love, and past my dreams of Death. 

In thee, immortal brother ! had I found 

That voice of Earth for which my spirit pines — 
The awful speech of Rome's sepulchral ground, 

The dusky hymn of Vallombrosa's pines. 
From thee, the noise of ocean would have taken 

A grand defiance round the moveless shores, 
And vocal grown the mountain's silent head. 
Canst thou not still awaken, 

Beneath the funeral cypress ? Earth implores 
Thy presence for her son — why art thou dead ? 

I do but rave — for it is better thus : 

Were once thy starry heart reveal'd to mine, 
In the twin life which would encircle us 

My soul would melt, my voice be lost in thine. 
Better to mask the agony of thought 

That through weak human lips would make its 
way, 
By lone endurance, such as men must learn : 
The poet's soul is fraught 

With mightiest speech, when loneliest the day, 
And fires are brightest that in midnight burn. 



ARIEL IN THE CLOVEN PINE. 

Now the frosty stars are gone ; 
I have watched them, one by one, 
Fainting on the shores of dawn. 
Round and full the glorious sun 
Walks with level step the spray, 
Through his vestibule of Day ; 
While the wolves that howled anon 
Slink to dens and coverts foul, 
Guarded by the demon owl, 
Who, last night, with mocking croon 
Wheeled athwart the chilly moon, 
And, with eyes that blankly glared, 
On my direful torment stared. 

The lark is flickering in the light — 
Still the nightingale doth sing : 
All the isle, alive with Spring, 
Lies, a jewel of delight, 
On the blue sea's heaving breast ; 
Not a breath from out the west 
But some balmy smell doth bring 
From the sprouting myrtle-buds, 
Or from meadows wide, that lie 
Each a green and dazzling sky, 
Paved with yellow cowslip-stars, 
Cloud-like, crossed by roseate bars 
Of the bloomy almond woods, 
And lit, like heaven, with fairest sheen 
Of the sun that hangs between. 
All is life that I can spy, 
To the farthest sea and sky, 
And my own the only pain 
Within this ring of Tyrrhene main. 

In the gnarled and cloven Pine 

Where that hell-born hag did chain me, 

All this orb of cloudless shine — 

All this youth in Earth's old veins, 

Tingling with the Spring's sweet wine, 

With a sharper torment pain me. 

Pansies, in soft April rains 

And April's sun, from Thea's lap 

Fill their stalks with honeyed sap, 

But the sluggish blood she brings 

To the tough Pine's hundred rings, 

Closer locks their cruel hold, 

Closer draws the scaly bark 

Round my prison, lightning-riven; 

So when Winter, wild and dark, 

Vexes wave and writhing wold, 

And with murk vapour swathes the heaven, 

I must feel the vile bat creep 

In my narrow cleft, to sleep. 

By this coarse and alien state 

Is my dainty essence wronged : 

The fine sense that erst belonged 

To my nature, chafes at Fate, 

Till the happier elves I hate, 

Who in moonlight dances turn 

Underneath the palmy fern, 

Or in light and twinkling bands 

Follow on with linked hands 

To the ocean's yellow sands. 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



515 



The primrose-hells each morning ope 

In their cool, deep beds of grass ; 

Violets make the airs that pass 

Tell-tales of their fragrant slope. 

I can see them where they spring, 

Never brushed by fairy wing. 

All those corners I can spy 

In the island's solitude, 

Where the dew is never dry, 

Nor the miser bees intrude. 

Cups of rarest hue are there, 

Full of perfumed wine undrained — 

Mushroom banquets, ne'er profaned, 

Canopied by maiden-hair. 

Pearls I see upon the sands, 

Never touched by other hands, 

And the rainbow bubbles shine 

On the ridged and frothy brine, 

Tenantless of voyager 

Till they burst in vacant air. 

Oh the songs that sung might be 

And the mazy dances woven, 

Had that witch ne'er crossed the sea 

And the Pine been never cloven ! 

Many years my direst pain 
Has made the wave-rocked isle complain. 
Winds, that from the Cyclades 
Came, to ruffle with foul riot 
Round its shore's enchanted quiet, 
Bore my waitings on the seas: 
Sorrowing birds in autumn went 
Through the world with my lament. 
Still the bitter fate is mine 
All delight unshared to see, 
Smarting in the cloven Pine 
While I wait the tardy axe, 
Which, perchance, shall set me free 
From the damned witch, Sycorax. 



L 



THE CONTINENTS. 

I had a vision in that solemn hour, 

Last of the year sublime, 
Whose wave sweeps downward,withitsdyingpower 

Rippling the shores of Time ! 
On the bleak margin of that hoary sea 

My spirit stood alone, 
Watching the gleams of phantom History 

Which through the darkness shone : 

Then when the bell of midnight, ghostly hands 

Toll'd for the dead year's doom, 
I saw the spirits of Earth's ancient lands 

Stand up amid the gloom ! 
The crowned deities, whose reign began 

In the forgotten Past, 
When first the g'ad world. gave to sovereign Man 

Her empires green and vast. 

First queenly Asia, from the fallen thrones 

Of twice three thousand years, 
Came with the wo a grieving goddess owns, 

Who longs for mortal tears. 
The dust of ruin to her mantle clung 

And dimm'd her crown of gold, 



While the majestic sorrows of her tongue 
From Tyre to Indus roll'd : 

" Mourn with me, sisters, in my realm of wo, 

Whose only glory streams 
From its lost childhood, like the arctic glow 

Which sunless Winter dreams ! 
In the red desert moulders Babylon, 

And the wild serpent's hiss 
Echoes in Petra's palaces of stone 

And waste Persepolis ! 

" Gone are the deities who ruled enshrined 

In Elephanta's caves, 
And Brahma's wailings fill the odorous wind 

That stirs Amboyna's waves ! 
The ancient gods amid their temples fall, 

And shapes of some near doom 
Trembling and waving on the Future's wall, 

More fearful make my gloom !" 

Then from her seat, amid the palms embower'd 

That shade the Lion-land, 
Swart Africa in dusky aspect tower' d — 

The fetters on her hand ! 
Backward she saw, from out her drear eclipse, 

The mighty Theban years, 
And the deep anguish of her mournful lips 

Interpreted her tears : 
" Wo for my children, whom your gyves have bound 

Through centuries of toil; 
The bitter wailings of whose bondage sound 

From many a stranger-soil ! 
Leave me but free, though the eternal sand 

Be all my kingdom now — 
Though the rude splendours of barbaric land 

But mock my crownless brow '" 

There was a sound, like sudden trumpets blown, 

A ringing, as of arms, 
When El'uopk rose, a stately Amazon, 

Stern in her mailed charms. 
She brooded long beneath the weary bars 

That chafed her soul of flame, 
And like a seer, who reads the awful stars, 

Her words prophetic came : 

" I hear new sounds along the ancient shore, 

Whose dull old monotone 
Of tides, that broke on many a system hoar, 

Wail'd through the ages lone ! 
I see a gleaming, like the crimson morn 

Beneath a stormy sky, 
And warning throes, my bosom long has borne, 

Proclaim the struggle nigh !" 

O radiant-brow'd, the latest born of Time ! 

How waned thy sisters old 
Before the splendours of thine eye sublime, 

And mien erect and bold ! 
Pure, as the winds of thine own forests are, 

Thy brow heam'd lofty cheer, 
And day's bright oriflamme, the morning star, 

Flash'd on thy lifted spear. 

" I bear no weight," so rang thy jubilant tones, 
" Of memories weird and vast — 

No crushing heritage of iron thrones, 
Bequeath'd by some dead Past ; 



516 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



But mighty hopes that learn'd to tower and soar 

From my own peaks of snow ; 
Whose prophecies in wave and woodland roar, 

When the free tempests blow ! 

" Like spectral lamps, that hum before a tomb, 

The ancient lights expire ; 
I wave a torch, that floods the lessening gloom 

With everlasting fire ! 
Crown 'd with my constellated stars, I stand 

Beside the foaming sea, 
And from the future, with a victor's hand, 

Claim empire for the free !" 



THE FIGHT OF PASO DEL MAR. 

Gusty and raw was the morning, 

A fog hung over the seas, 
And its gray skirts, rolling inland, 

Were torn by the mountain trees ; 
No sound was heard, but the dashing 

Of waves on the sandy bar, 
When Pablo of San Diego 

Rode down to the Paso del Mar. 

The pescador, out in his shallop, 

Gathering his harvest so wide, 
Sees the dim bulk of the headland 

Loom over the waste of the tide ; 
He sees, like a white thread, the pathway 

Wind round on the terrible wall, 
Where the faint, moving speck of the rider 

Seems hovering close to its fall ! 

Stout Pablo of San Diego 

Rode down from the hills behind ; 
With the bells on his gray mule tinkling, 

He sang through the fog and wind. 
Under his thick, misted eyebrows, 

Twinkled his eye like a star, 
And fiercer he sang, as the sea-winds 

Drove cold on the Paso del Mar. 

Now Berxal, the herdsman of Corral, 

Had travell'd the shore since dawn, 
Leaving the ranches behind him — 

Good reason had he to be gone ! 
The blood was still red on his dagger, 

The fury was hot in his brain, 
And the chill, driving scud of the breakers 

Beat thick on his forehead in vain. 

With his blanket wrapp'd gloomily round him, 

He mounted the dizzying road, 
And the chasms and steeps of the headland 

Were slippery and wet as he trode ; 
Wild swept the wind of the ocean 

Rolling the fog from afar, 
When near him a mule-bell came tinkling, 

Midway on the Paso del Mar ! 
"Back!" shouted Bernal, full fiereely, 

And " Back !" shouted Pablo, in wrath; 
As his mule halted, startled and shrinking, 

On the perilous line of the path. 
The roar of devouring surges 

Came up from the breakers' hoarse war ; 



And " Back, or you perish !" cried Bernal, 
" I turn not on Paso del Mar !" 

The gray mule stood firm as the headland : 

He clutch'd at the jingling rein, 
When Pablo rose up in his saddle 

And smote till he dropp'd it again. 
A wild oath of passion swore Bernal, 

And brandish'd his dagger, still red, 
While fiercely stout Pablo lean'd forward 

And fought o'er his trusty mule's head. 

They fought, till the black wall below them 

Shone red through the misty blast ; 
Stout Pablo then struck, leaning farther, 

The broad breast of Bernal at last. 
And, frenzied with pain, the swart herdsman 

Closed round him with terrible clasp, 
And jerk'd him, despite of his struggles, 

Down from the mule, in his grasp. 

They grappled with desperate madness 

On the slippery edge of the wall ; 
They sway'd on the brink, and together 

Reel'd out to the rush »f the fall ! 
A cry of the wildest death-anguish 

Rang faint through the mist afar, 
And the riderless mule went homeward 

From the fight of the Paso del Mar ! 



KUBLEH : 

A STORY OF THE ASSYRIAN DESERT. 

The black-eyed Children of the Desert drove 
Their flocks together at the set of sun. 
The tents were pitch'd ; the weary camels bent 
Their suppliant necks, and knelt upon the sand ; 
The hunters quarter'd by the kindled fires 
The wild boars of the Tigris they had slain, 
And all the stir and sound of evening ran 
Throughout the Shammar camp. The dewy air 
Bore its full burden of confused delight 
Across the flowery plain, and while, afar, 
The snows of Koordish mountains in the ray 
Flash'd roseate amber, Nimroud's ancient mound 
Rose broad and black against the burning west. 
The shadows deepen'd and the stars came out. 
Sparkling through violet ether; one by one 
Glimmer'd the ruddy camp-fires on the plain, 
And shapes of steed and horseman moved among 
The dusky tents, with shout and jostling cry, 
And neigh and restless prancing. Children ran 
To hold the thongs, while every rider drove 
His quivering spear in the earth, and by his door 
Tether'd the horse he loved. In midst of all 
Stood Shammeriyah, whom they dared not touch — 
The foal of wondrous Kubleh— to the Sheik 
A dearer wealth than all his Georgian girls. 

B ut when their meal was o'er — when the red fires 
Blazed brighter, and the dogs no longer bay'd — 
When Shammar hunters with the boys sat down 
To cleanse their bloody knives, came Altmar, 
The poet of the tribe, whose songs of love 
Are sweeter than Balsora's nightingales — 
Whose songs of war can fire the Arab blood 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



517 



Like war itself: who knows not Alimar? 
Then ask'd the men : " poet, sing of Kubleh V* 
And boys laid down the knives half burnish'd, say- 
ing: 
" Tell us of Kubleh, whom we never saw — 
Of wondrous Kubleh !" Closer flock'd the group 
With eager eyes about the flickering fire, 
While Alimar, beneath the Assyrian stars, 
Sang to the listening Arabs : 

" God is great ! 
Arabs, never yet since Mahmoud rode 
The sands of Yemen, and by Mecca's gate 
The winged steed bestrode, whose mane of fire 
Blazed up the zenith, when, by Allah call'd, 
He bore the prophet to the walls of heaven, 
Was like to Kubleh, Softtk's wondrous mare : 
Not all the milk-white barbs, whose hoofs dash'd 

flame 
In Bagdad's stables, from the marble floor — 
Who, swath'd in purple housings, pranced in state 
The gay bazaars, by great Al-Raschid back'd : 
Not the wild charger of Mongolian breed 
That went o'er half the world with Tamerlane : 
Nor yet those flying coursers, long ago 
From Ormuz brought by swarthy Indian grooms 
To Persia's kings — the foals of sacred mares, 
Sired by the fiery stallions of the sea ? 

" Who ever told, in all the Desert Land, 
The many deeds of Kubleh 1 Who can tell 
Whence came she, whence her like shall come 

again 1 
O Arabs, like a tale of Scherezade 
Heard in the camp, when javelin shafts are tried 
On the hot eve of battle, is her story. 

" Far in the Southern sands, the hunters say, 
Did Sofuk find her, by a lonely palm. 
The well had dried ; her fierce, impatient eye 
Glared red and sunken, and her slight young limbs 
Were lean with thirst. He check'd his camel's pace, 
And while it knelt, untied the water-skin, 
And when the wild mare drank, she follow'd him. 
Thence none but Sofuk might the saddle gird 
Upon her back, or clasp the brazen gear 
About her shining head, that brook'd no curb 
From even him ; for she, alike, was royal. 

" Her form was lighter, in its shifting grace, 
Than some impassion'd Almee's, when the dance 
Unbinds her scarf, and golden anklets gleam 
Through floating drapery, on the buoyant air. 
Her light, free head was ever held aloft ; 
Between her slender and transparent ears 
The silken forelock toss'd ; her nostril's arch, 
Thin-drawn, in proud and pliant beauty spread, 
Snuffing the desert winds. Her glossy neck 
Curved to the shoulder like an eagle's wing, 
And all her matchless lines of flank and limb 
Seem'd fashion'd from the flying shapes of air 
By hands of lightning. When the war-shouts rang 
From tent to tent, her keen and restless eye 
Shone like a blood-red ruby, and her neigh 
Rang wild and sharp above the clash of spears. 

" The tribes of Tigris and the Desert knew her : 
Sofuk before the Shammar bands she bore 
To meet the dread Jebours, who waited not 
To bid her welcome ; and the savage Koord, 



Chased from his bold irruption on the plain, 
Has seen her hoofprints in his mountain snow. 
Lithe as the dark-eyed Syrian gazelle, 
O'er ledge and chasm and barren steep, amid 
The Sindjar hills, she ran the wild ass down. 
Through many a battle's thickest brunt she storm'd, 
Reeking with sweat and dust, and fetlock-deep 
In curdling gore. When hot and lurid haze 
Stifled the crimson sun, she swept before 
The whirling sand-spout, till her gusty mane 
Flared in its vortex, while the camels lay 
Groaning and helpless on the fiery waste. 

" The tribes of Taurus and the Caspian knew her: 
The Georgian chiefs have heard her trumpet-neigh 
Before the walls of Teflis. Pines that grow 
On ancient Caucasus, have harbour'd her, 
Sleeping by Sofuk in their spicy gloom. 
The surf of Trebizond has bathed her flanks, 
When from the shore she saw the white-sail'd bark 
That brought him home from Stamboul. Never yet, 
O Arabs, never yet was like to Kubleh ! 

" And Sofuk loved her. She was more to him 
Than all his snowy-bosom'd odalisques. 
For many years, beside his tent she stood, 
The glory of the tribe. 

" At last she died : 
Died, while the fire was yet in all her limbs — 
Died for the life of Sofuk, whom she loved. 
The base Jebours — on whom be Allah's curse ! — 
Came on his path, when far from any camp, 
And would have slain him, but that Kubleh sprang 
Against the javelin-points and bore them down, 
And gain'd the open desert. Wounded sore, 
She urged her light limbs into maddening speed 
And made the wind a laggard. On and on 
The red sand slid beneath her, and behind 
Whirl'd in a swift and cloudy turbulence, 
As when some star of Eblis, downward hurl'd 
By Allah's bolt, sweeps with its burning hair 
The waste of darkness. On and on, the bleak, 
Bare ridges rose before her, came and pass'd ; 
And every flying leap with fresher blood 
Her nostril stain'd, till Sofuk's brow and breast 
Were fleck'd with crimson foam. He would have 

turn'd 
To save his treasure, though himself were lost, 
But Kubleh fiercely snapp'd the brazen rein. 
At last, when through her spent and quivering frame 
The sharp thi-oes ran, our distant tents arose, 
And with a neigh, whose shrill excess of joy 
O'ercame its agony, she stopp'd and fell. 
The Shammar men came round her as she lay, 
And Sofuk raised her head and held it close 
Against his breast. Her dull and glazing eye 
Met his, and with a shuddering gasp she died. 
Then like a child his bursting grief made way 
In passionate tears, and with him all the tribe 
Wept for the faithful mare. 

" They dug her grave 
Amid Al-Hather's marbles, where she lies 
Buried with ancient kings ; and since that time 
Was never seen, and will not be again, 
Arabs, though the world be doom'd to live 
As many moons as count the desert sands, 
The like of wondrous Kubleh. God is great !" 
2X 



CHARLES G. EASTMAN. 



[Born, 

Mn. Eastman was educated at the University 
of Vermont, and has been for several years en- 
gaged as a journalist, at Burlington, Woodstock, 
and Montpelier. He now resides in the latter 
town, where he is editor of " The Vermont Pa- 
triot," the leading gazette of the democratic party 
in the state. In 1848 he published a collection 
of " Poems," nearly all of which had previously 
appeared in various literary miscellanies. They 
are chiefly lyrical, and the author displays in them 



a fondness for the French construction, with re» 
frains and choruses, which he introduces naturally 
and effectively. 

Some of his pieces in the manner of Praed, 
and other contemporary poets, are successful as 
imitations, but are scarcely equal in the qualities 
of poetry to his more independent compositions, 
in which he has reflected with equal truth and 
felicity the living features of the rural life of New 
England. 



THE FARMER SAT IN HIS EASY CHAIR. 

The farmer sat in his easy chair, 

Smoking his pipe of clay, 
While his hale old wife with busy care 
Was clearing the dinner away ; 
A sweet little girl with fine blue eyes 
On her grandfather's knee was catching flies. 

The old man laid his hand on her head, 

With a tear on his wrinkled face ; 
He thought how often her mother, dead, 
Had sat in the self-same place : 
As the tear stole down from his half-shut eye — 
"Don't smoke," said the child; "how it makes 
you cry !" 
The house-dog lay stretch'd out on the floor 
Where the shade after noon used to steal ; 
The busy old wife by the open door 
Was turning the spinning-wheel ; 
And the old brass clock on the manteltree 
Had plodded along to almost three : 

Still the farmer sat in his easy chair, 
While close to his heaving breast 
The moisten'd brow and the cheek so fair 
Of his sweet grandchild were press'd ; 
His head, bent down, on her soft hair lay — 
Fast asleep were they both, that summer day. 



MILL MAY. 

The strawberries grow in the mowing, Mill Mat, 

And the bob-o'-link sings on the tree ; 
On the knolls the red clover is growing, Mill Mat, 

Then come to the meadow with me ! 
We'll pick the ripe clusters among the deep grass, 

On the knolls in the mowing, Mill Mat, 
And the long afternoon together we '11 pass, 

Where the clover is growing, Mill Mat. 

Come! come, ere the season is over, Mill Mat, 
To the fields where the strawberries grbw, 

While the thick- growingstems and the clover, Mill 
Shall meet us wherever we go ; [Mat, 



We '11 pick the ripe clusters among the deep grass, 
On the knolls in the mowing, Mill Mat, 

And the long afternoon together we'll pass, 
Where the clover is growing Mill Mat. 

The sun, stealing under your bonnet, Mill Mat, 

Shall kiss a soft glow to your face, 
And your lip the strawberry leave on it, Mill Mat, 

A tint that the sea-shell would grace ; 
Then come ! the ripe clusters among the deep grass 

We'll pick in the mowing, Mill Mat, 
And the long afternoon together we'll pass, 

Where the clover is growing, Mill Mat. 



HER GRAVE IS BY HER MOTHER'S. 

Her grave is by her mother's, 

Where the strawberries grow wild, 

And there they 've slept for many a year, 
The mother and the child. 

She was the frailest of us all, 
And, from her mother's breast, 

We hoped, and pray'd, and trembled, more 
For her, than all the rest. 

So frail, alas ! she could not bear 

The gentle breath of Spring, 
That scarce the yellow butterfly 

Felt underneath its wing. 

How hard we strove to save her, love 

Like ours alone can tell ; 
And only those know what we lost, 

Who've loved the lost as well. 

Some thirteen summers from her birth, 
When th' reaper cuts the grain, 

We laid her in the silent earth, 
A flower without a stain. 

We laid her by her mother, 

Where the strawberries grow wild, 

And there they sleep together well, 
The mother and the child ! 

618 



R. H. STODDARD. 



[Born, about 1826.] 



Mr. Stoddard is a young man, who has within 
a year or two appeared before the public as a poet. 
The first poem to which his name was attached 
attracted notice by a purity and quiet grace of 
language, which, though echoing at times the mas- 
ters of song whom he studied, would have sug- 
gested a greater range of opportunity and experi- 
ence than he actually possessed. In the autumn 
of 1848 he collected a number of his effusions, 
most of which had previously been published in 
the Knickerbocker and Union Magazine, into a 
small volume, with the title of " Foot-Prints." 
This essay was well received ; notwithstanding 
some traces of unconscious imitation, natural to a 
young writer, it gave evidence of a clear and vig- 
orous fancy and a correct appreciation of the har- 
monies of sound and rhythm. Perhaps the most 
individual trait displayed in its pages is a capacity 
for finished and picturesque description. His land- 
scapes have a sharp and distinct outline, in which 
none of the minor features are omitted — a keen 



perception of form, in striking contrast to the more 
glowing coloring and careless outline of young 
writers in general. 

Mr. Stoddard's best poems, from which the 
following selections are taken, have been written 
since the appearance of his volume. They give 
evidence of growing power and a capacity of at- 
taining high excellence in a school of poetry of 
which we have few modern specimens. The po- 
em of " Leonatus," in its daintiness of metre and 
language, reminds one of the old English song- 
writers, whose purity of diction Mr. Stoddard 
evidently endeavours to emulate. Fortunately for 
him, he has the industry and untiring enthusiasm 
without which lasting success is impossible, his 
literary studies being prosecuted entirely in the 
scanty intervals of severe physical labour. 

Mr. Stoddard is a native of Hingham, Massa- 
chusetts, but has resided several years in the city 
of New York. He was about twenty-one years 
of age when he published his " Foot-Prints." 



LEONATUS. 

A LEAF FROM " CYMBELINE." 
I. 

The orphan Leon atus, 
The page of Imogen — 

His father died when he was small : 
A general in the wars with Rome, 
Wounded to death, he totter'd home, 

And hung his sword upon the wall ; 
He had borne it through the fight, 
Summer, winter, day and night — 
He died at last with it in sight, 

And they laid it on his pall, 
A legacy unto his son ; 
Other fortune he had none — 
What need of more, what could he claim 
As precious as a soldier's fame 1 

n. 
The fair boy Leonatus, 
The page of Imogen — 
He was now a dainty youth, 

His brow was smooth, and fair, and high, 
And in the blueness of his eye 
Glow'd sincerity and truth. 

He was soft and low of speech ; 
His cheeks were rounded — upon each 
Was down, like that upon a peach ; 
And his golden hair, in sooth 

A shower of tresses rich and bright, 
Shone down upon his shoulders white, 



Like the sunny locks of Spring 
Falling o'er its snowy wing. 



The sweet boy Leonatus, 
The page of Imogen — 
It was his duty evermore 

To tend on Ladye Imogen. 

By peep of day he might be seen, 
Light-finger'd, tapping at her door, 

Rousing the s'eepy waiting-maid : 

When she had risen, and array'd 

The princess, and their prayers were said 
(On pearled rosaries counted o'er), 

They call'd him, pacing to and fro; 

And cap in hand, and bowing low, 

He enter'd, and began to feed 



The brave boy Leonatus, 
The page of Imogen — 
He tripp'd along the kingly hall, 

From room to room, with messages ; 
He stopp'd the butler, clutch'd his keys, 
And dragg'd him with his hand so small 
Into the dusty vaults, where wine 
In bins lay beaded and divine ; 
He pick'd a flask of vintage fine, 
Came out, and clomb the garden wall, 
And pluck'd from out the sunny spots 
Peaches and luscious apricots, 

519 



520 



R. H. STODDARD. 



And fill'd his golden salver there, 
And hurried to his ladye fair. 

v. 
The gallant Leoxatus, 
The page of Imogex — - 

He had a steed from Arab ground, 
And when the lords and ladies gay 
Went hawking on a festal day, 

And hunting in the country round, 
And Imogen did join the band, 
He rode him like a hunter grand, 
A hooded hawk upon his hand, 

And by his side a slender hound : 
When they saw the deer go by, 
He slipp'd the leash and let him fly, 
And spurr'd his steed, and slack'd the rein, 
And scour'd beside her o'er the plain. 



The strange boy Leoxatus, 
The page of Imogex — 

Sometimes he used to stand for hours 
Within her room, behind her chair; 
The soft wind blew his golden hair 

Across his eyes, and bees from flowers 
Flew at him, but he did not stir : 
He fix'd his earnest eyes on her, 
A pure and reverent worshipper, 

A dreamer building airy towers. 

But when she spoke, he gave a start 
That sent the warm blood from his heart 
Into his cheeks ; and, blushing sweet, 
He listen'd, kneeling at her feet. 

TIT. 

The sad boy Leoxatus, 
The page of Imogen — 

He lost all relish and delight 

For all things that did please before ; 
By day, he wish'd the day was o'er — 

And night, he wish'd the same of night. 
He could not mingle in the crowd, 
He loved to be alone, and shroud 
His tender thoughts, and sigh aloud, 

And cherish in his heart its blight. 
At last his health began to fail, 
His fresh and glowing cheeks to pale ; 
His eyes grew lustreless and dead, 
Like violets ere their dews are shed. 

VIII. 

The timid Leoxatus, 
The pa<re of Imogex — 

" What ails the boy 1" said Imogex. 

Hestammer'd,sigh'd,andanswer'd "Naught.' 
She shook her head, and then she thought 

What all his malady could mean ; 
It might be love : her maid was fair, 
And Leon' had a loving air. 
She watch'd them with a jealous care, 

And play'd the spy, but naught was seen ; 
And then she was aware at first 
That she unwittingly had nursed 
Passion, till it had grown a part — 
A heart within her very heart ! 



The dear boy Leoxatus, 
The page of Ijiogex — 

She loved, but own'd it not as yet ; 
When he was absent, she was lone, 
She felt a void before unknown, 

And Leox' fill'd it when they met. 
She cali'd him twenty times a day, 
She knew not why, she could not say ; 
She fretted when he went away, 

And lived in sorrow and regret ; 

Sometimes she frown'd with stately mien, 
And chid him like a little queen — 
And then she soothed him, meek and mild, 
As pettish as a wayward child. 

x. 

The neat scribe Leoxatus, 
The page of Imogex — 

She wonder'd that he did not speak 
And tell his love, if love indeed 
It was that made his spirit bleed ; 

And she bethought her of a freak 
To test the lad : she bade him write 
A letter that a maiden might — 
A billet to her heart's delight. 

He took the pen with fingers weak, 
Unknowing what he did, and wrote, 
And folded up and seal'd the note. 
She wrote the superscription sage — 
" For Leoxatus, ladye's page !" 

XI. 

The happy Leoxatus, 
The page of Imogex — 
The die was cast, and all was o'er ; 

She loved him so, she could not stir 

But she took Leox' after her, 
And they were lovers evermore. 

He used to sit beside her feet, 

And read the classic poets sweet ; 

And touch her lute, and then repeat 
Brave legends of the days of yore. 

One day he tried to spin : in vain — 

He tangled up the silken skein; 

His thoughts were busy in his head, 

Spinning away a golden thread. 

XII. 

The daring Leoxatus, 

The page of Imogex — 

They wedded secretly one day, 

And grew secure and light of wing ; 
And tidings came unto the king, 
Who frown'd the messenger away. 
His child, the glory of his age, 
In love, and married to a page ! — 
" S'death !" he shouted in a rage, 
And pluck'd his beard so thin and gray. 
He would have burn'd him at the stake, 
But for his honour'd father's sake 
(Jksu, mercy for the dead !) — 
And so he banish'd him instead, 
And he went out with curse and ban 
From Brittany, a ruin'd man — 
The wretched Leoxatus, 
The lord of Imogex ! 



R. H. STODDARD. 



521 



ARCADIAN HYMN TO FLORA. 

Come all ye virgins fair in kirtles white, 
Ye debonair and merry-hearted maids. 

Who have been out in troops before the light, 
And gather'd blossoms in the woodland shades — 

The footprints of the fiery-sandall'd Day 
Are glowing in the sky, like kindling coals, 
The clouds are golden-rimm'd, like burning scrolls, 

Jagged and fringed, and darkness melts away ; 

The shrine is wreathed with leaves ; the holy urns, 
Brimming with morning dew, are laid thereby ; 

The censers swing, the odorous incense burns, 
And floats in misty volumes up the sky : 

Lay down your garlands, and your baskets trim, 

Heap'd up with floral offerings to the brim, 

And knit your little hands and trip away 
With light and nimble feet, 
To music soft and sweet, 

And celebrate the joyous break of day, 

And sing a hymn to Flora, queen of May ! 

ii. 

Flora, sweetest Flora, goddess bright, 
Impersonation of selectest things — 

The soul and spirit of a thousand springs, 

Bodied in all their loveliness and light — 

A delicate creation of the mind, 

Fashion'd in its divinest, daintiest mould, 

In the bright age of gold, 
Before the world was wholly lost and blind, 
But saw and entertain'd with thankful heart 

The gods as guests — Flora, goddess dear, 
Immaculate, immortal as thou art, 

Thou wert a maiden once, like any here ; 
And thou didst tend thy flowers with proper care, 
And shield them from the sun and chilly air; 
Wetting thy little sandals through and through, 
As all flower-maidens must, in morning dew; 
Roving among the urns and mossy pots, 
About the hedges and the garden plots ; 
Straightening and binding up the drooping stalks, 
That kiss'd thy sweeping garments in the walks ; 
Setting thy dibble deep and sowing seeds, 
And careful-handed, plucking out the weeds, 
A simple flower-girl, and lowly born, 

Till Zephyrus bore thee to the heavens away : 
And thus it was — flying one pleasant morn 

Behind the golden chariot of the Day, 

Sighing amid the winged, laughing Hours, 
In love with something bright which haunted him, 
Sleeping on beds of flowers in arbours dim, 
Breaking his tender heart with love extreme — 

He saw thee on the earth, amid thy flowers, 
The spirit of his dream ! 
Entranced with longings deep, he call'd the Air, 

And melting, bodiless, in the warm, sweet south, 
Twined his invisible fingers in thy hair, 

And stooping, kiss'd thee with his odorous mouth, 
And chased thee, flying, in thy garden shades ; 
And wooed, as men are wont to woo the maids, 
And won at last ; and then flew back to heaven, 
Pleading with Jove till his consent was given, 
And thou wert made immortal — happy day ! — 
The goddess of the flowers and queen of May ! 



Oh what a sweet and pleasant life is thine, 
On blue Olympus with the gods divine ! 
Thou hast thy gardens and a range of bowers, 
And beds of asphodel, unfading flowers, 
And many a leafy screen in arbours green, 

Where thou dost lie and wile the hours away, 
Lull'd by the drowsy sound of trees around, 
And springs that fall in basins full of spray. 
Sweet are thy duties and employments there: 

Sometimes to wreathe imperial Juno's tresses, 
And Cytherea's with her bosom bare, 
Melting to meet the young Adon's caresses 
When he lies in his death sleep stark and cold; 
And oft with Hebe and with Ganymede, 
(A pious, pleasant task, by Jove decreed) 
Entwining chaplets round their cups of gold, 
And round the necks of Dian's spotted fawns, 
Like strings of bells, and Leda's snowy swans, 
That floating sing in heaven's serenest streams, 
Like thoughts of purity in poets' dreams ; 
And when red Mars, victorious from the field, 
Throws down his shining spear and dinted shield, 
And doffs his plumed helmet by his side, 
And kneeling, bathes his forehead in the tide, 
Thou dost a-sly with flowery fetters bind him, 

And tie his arms behind him, 
And smooth with playful hands his furrow'd cheek, 

Until, beguiled and meek, 
He kisses thee, and laughs with joy aloud ! — 
And when Minerva, lost in wisdom's cloud, 
Muses abstracted in profoundest nooks, 
Thou dost unclasp her ponderous tomes and books, 
And press the leaves of flowers within their leaves, 
And thou dost bind them up in Ceres' sheaves, 
And wreathe Apollo's lyre and Hermes' rod — 
And venturing near the cloud-compelling god, 
Sitting with thought-concentred brows alone, 
Bestrow the starry footstool of his throne ! — 
And sometimes thou dost steal to hades grim, 
The shadowy realm of spirits, dark and dim, 
And drowsing gloomy Pluto, hard and cold, [ers, 
Withslumb'rouspoppiespluck'd from Lethe's bow- 
Givest to Proserpine a bunch of flowers, 
Such as she pluck'd in Sicily of old, 
In Enna's meads, the solemn morn in May, 
When she was stolen away : 
Pressing it to her pallid lips in fear, 
She kisses thee for that remembrance dear, 
And then ye weep together — (soften'd so, 

When Cytherea knelt down and plead wilh thee, 
And Death was drugg'd, she let Adonis go, 

And gave pate Orpheus Eurydice) ; 
And when the night is waning, thou dost soar, 
And walk the Olympian palaces once more. 
When clear-eyed Hesper folds the morning star, 
And harnesses the winged steeds of Day, 
And flush'd Aurora urges on her car, 

Chasing the shadows of the night away, 
Thou dost with Zephyrus fly in pomp behind, 
Shaking thy scarf of rainbows on the wind; 

And when the Orient is reach'd at last, 
Thou dost unbar its gate of golden state, 

And wait till she has past, 
And soar again far up the dappled blue, 
2x2 



522 



E. H. STODDARD. 



And wet the laughing Earth with freshest dew — 
As now thou dost, in pomp and triumph gay, 

This happy, happy day, 
Thy festival, divinest queen of May ! 

iy. 
O Flora, sweetest Flora, hear us now, 

Gather'd to worship thee in shady bowers ; 
Accept the benediction and the vow 

We offer thee, that thou hast spared the flowers ! 
The spring has been a cold, belated one — 
Dark clouds, and showers, and a little sun, 
And in the nipping mornings hoary frost ; 
We hoped, but fear'd the tender seeds were lost : 
But, thanks to thee, at last they 'gan to grow, 

Pushing their slender shoots above the ground, 

In cultured gardens trim, and some were found 
Beside the edges of the banks of snow, 
Like Spring- thoughts in the heart of Winter old, 
Or children laughing o'er a father's mould ; 
And now the sward is full, and teems with more ; 
Earth never was so bounteous before ! 
Here are red roses throwing back their hoods, 

Like willing maids to greet the kissing wind, 
And here are violets from sombre woods, 

With tears of dew within their lids enshrined ; 
Lilies like little maids in bridal white, 

Or in their burial-garments, if you will ; 

And here is that bold flower the daffodil, 
That peers i' th' front of March ; and daisies bright, 
The vestals of the morning; crocuses, 
Snowdrops like specks of foam on stormy seas ; 
And yellow buttercups, that gem the fields 
Like studs of richest gold on massive shields; 
Anemonies, that sprang in golden years — 

(The story goes, they were not seen before) 

Where young Adonis, tusked by the boar, 
Bled life away, and Venus rain'd her tears — 
(Look ! in their hearts a small ensanguined spot !) 
And here is pansy, and forget-me-not; 
And trim Narcissus, vain and foolish elf, 
Enamour'd (would you think it?) of himself, 
Rooted beside a crystal brook his glass; 
And drooping Hyacinthus, slain, alas ! 
By rudest Auster, blowing in the stead 

Of Zephyrus, then in Flora's meshes bound ; 

Pitching with bright Apollo in his ground, 
He blew the discus back and struck him dead ! — 
Pied wind-flowers, oxlips, and the jessamine ; 
The sleepy poppy, and the eglantine ; 
Primroses, Dian's flowers that ope at night; 

And here's that little sun, the marigold, 
And fringed pinks, and water-lilies, bright 

As floating Naiads in the river cold ; 
Carnations, gilliflowers, and savoury rue, 
And rosemary, that loveth tears for dew, 
And many nameless flowers and pleasant weeds, 
That grow untended in the marshy meads, 
Where flags shoot up, and ragged grasses wave 
Perennial, when Autumn seeks her grave 
Among the wither'd leaves, and breezes blow 
A dirge, and Winter weaves a shroud of snow. 
Flowers ! oh, what loveliness there is in flowers ! 

What food for thought and fancy, rich and new ! 

What shall we liken or compare them to] — 
Stars in this trodden firmament of ours ; 



Jewels and rare mosaics, dotting o'er 

Creation's tessellated palace floor; 

Or beauty's dials, marking with their leaves 

The pomp and flight of golden morns and eves ; 

Illuminate missals, open on the meads, 

Bending with rosaries of dewy beads ; 

Or characters inscribed on Nature's scrolls, 

Or sweet-thoughts from the heart of Mother Earth, 
Or wind-rock'd cradles, where the bees in rolls 

Of odorous leaves, are wont to lie in mirth, 

Full-hearted, murmuring the hours away, 

Like little children busy at their play ; 
Or cups and beakers of the butterflies, 
Brimming with nectar, or a string of bells, 

Tolling unheard a requiem for the hours ; 
Or censers swinging incense to the skies ; 
Pavilions, tents, and towers, 

The little fortresses of insect powers, 
Winding their horns within; or magic cells 

Where smallest fairies dream the time away ; 

Night-elfins, slumbering all a summer's day — 

Sweet nurslings thou art wont to feed with dew 

From out thy urns, replenish'd in the blue. 
But this is idlesse all — away ! away ! 
White-handed maids, and scatter buds around, 
And let the lutes awake, and tabours sound, 
And every heart its deep devotion pay. 
Once more we thank thee, Flora, and once more 

Perform our rites, as we were used to do ; 

Oh bless us, smile upon us, fair and true, 
And watch the flowers till Summer's reign is o'er; 
Preserve the seeds we sow in winter time 
From burrowing moles, and blight, and icy rime ; 
And in their season cause the shoots to rise, 
And make the dainty buds unseal their eyes — 
And we will pluck the finest, and entwine 
Chaplets, and lay them on thy rural shrine, 
And sing our choral hymns, melodious, sweet, 

And dance with nimble feet, 
And worship thee, as now, serenely gay, 
The goddess of the flowers and queen of May ! 

All hail, thou queen of May ! 



THE TWO BRIDES. 

I saw two maids at the kirk, 

And both were fair and sweet ; 
One was in her bridal robe, 

One in her winding-sheet. 
The choisters sang the hymn, 

The sacred rites were read — 
And one for life to Life, 

And one to Death, was wed ! 
They went to their bridal beds 

In loveliness and bloom : 
One in a merry castle, 

One in a solemn tomb. 
One to the world of sleep, 

Lock'd in the arms of Love ; 
And one in the arms of Death 

Pass'd to the heavens above. 
One to the morrow woke, 

In a world of sin and pain ; 
But the other was happier far, 

And never woke again ! 



POEMS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



523 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



EDWARD EVERETT, LL.D. 



DIRGE OF ALARIC, THE VISIGOTH, 

Who stormed and spoiled the city of Rome, and was 
afterward buried in the channel of the river Busentius, 
the water of which had been diverted from its course 
that the body might be interred. 

When I am dead, no pageant train 
Shall waste their sorrows at my bier, 

Nor worthless pomp of homage vain 
Stain it with hypocritic tear; 

For I will die as I did live, 

Nor take the boon I cannot give. 

Ye shall not raise a marble bust 

Upon the spot where I repose. ; 
Ye shall not fawn before my dust, 

In hollow circumstance of woes ; 
Nor sculptured clay, with lying breath, 
Insult the clay that moulds beneath. 

Ye shall not pile, with servile toil, 
Your monuments upon my breast, 

Nor yet within the common soil 

Lay down the wreck of power to rest ; 

Where man can boast that he has trod 

On him that was "the scourge of God." 

But ye the mountain-stream shall turn, 

And lay its secret channel bare, 
And hollow, for your sovereign's urn, 

A resting-place forever there : 
Then bid its everlasting springs 
Flow back upon the king of kings ; 
And never be the secret said, 
Until the deep give up his dead. 

My gold and silver ye shall fling 

Back to the clods that gave them birth ; 

The captured crowns of many a king, 
The ransom of a conquer'd earth : 

For, e'en though dead, will I control 

The trophies of the capitol. 

But when beneath the mountain-tide 
Ye 've laid your monarch down to rot, 

Ye shall not rear upon its side 
Pillar or mound to mark the spot ; 

For long enough the world has shook 

Beneath the terrors of my look ; 

And now that I have run my race, 

The astonish'd realms shall rest a space. 



My course was like a river deep, 
And from the northern hills I burst, 

Across the world in wrath to sweep, 
And where I went the spot was cursed, 

Nor blade of grass again was seen 

Where Alaric and his hosts had been. 

See how their haughty barriers fail 
Beneath the terrors of the Goth, 

Their iron-breasted legions quail 
Before my ruthless sabaoth, 

And low the queen of empires kneels, 

And grovels at my chariot-wheels. 

Not for myself did I ascend 

In judgment my triumphal car; 

'Twas God alone on high did send 
The avenging Scythian to the war, 

To shake abroad, with iron hand, 

The appointed scourge of his command. 

With iron hand that scourge I rear'd 
O'er guilty king and guilty realm ; 
Destruction was the ship I steer'd, 

And vengeance sat upon the helm, 
When, launch'd in fury on the flood, 
I plough'd my ways through seas of blood, 
And, in the stream their hearts had spilt, 
Wash'd out the long arrears of guilt. 

Across the everlasting Alp 

I pour'd the torrent of my powers, 

And feeble Caesars shriek'd for help 

In vain within their seven-hill'd towers ; 

I quench'd in blood the brightest gem 

That glitter'd in their diadem, 

And struck a darker, deeper dye 

In the purple of their majesty ; 

And bade my northern banners shine 

Upon the conquer'd Palatine. 

My course is run, my errand done ; 

I go to Him from whence I came ; 
But never yet shall set the sun 

Of glory that adorns my name ; 
And Roman hearts shall long be sick, 
When men shall think of Alaric 

My course is run, my errand done — 

But darker ministers of fate, 
Impatient, round the eternal throne, 

And in the caves of vengeance wait ; 
And soon mankind shall blench away 
Before the name of Attila. 

525 



526 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, LL. D. 



TO A BEREAVED MOTHER. 

Sure, to the mansions of the blest 

When infant innocence ascends, 
Some angel, brighter than the rest, 

The spotless spirit's flight attends. 
On wings of ecstasy they rise, 

Beyond where worlds material roll ; 
Till some fair sister of the skies 

Receives the unpolluted soul. 

That inextinguishable beam, 

With dust united at our birth, 
Sheds a more dim, discolour'd gleam 

The more it lingers upon earth. 
Closed in this dark abode of clay, 

The stream of glory faintly burns : — 
Not unobserved, the lucid ray 

To its own native fount returns. 

But when the Lord of mortal breath 

Decrees his bounty to resume, 
And points the silent shaft of death 

Which speeds an infant to the tomb — 
No passion fierce, nor low desire, 

Has quench'd the radiance of the flame ; 
Back to its God the living fire 

Reverts, unclouded as it came. 

Fond mourner ! be that solace thine ! 

Let hope her healing charm impart, 
And soothe, with melodies divine, 

The anguish of a mother's heart. 
0, think ! the darlings of thy love, 

Divested of this earthly clod, 
Amid unnumber'd saints above, 

Bask in the bosom of their God. 

Of their short pilgrimage on earth 

Still tender images remain : 
Still, still they bless thee for their birth, 

Still filial gratitude retain. 
Each anxious care, each rending sigh, 

That wrung for them the parent's breast, 
Dwells on remembrance in the sky, 

Amid the raptures of the blest. 

O'er thee, with looks of love, they bend ; 

For thee the Lonn of life implore ; 
And oft from sainted bliss descend, 

Thy wounded quiet to restore. 
Oft, in the stillness of the night, 

They smooth the pillow of thy bed ; 
Oft, till the morn's returning light, 

Still watchful hover o'er thy head. 

Hark ! in such strains as saints employ, 

They whisper to thy bosom peace ; 
Calm the perturbed heart to joy, 

And bid the streaming sorrow cease. 
Then dry, henceforth, the bitter tear: 

Their part and thine inverted see : — 
Thou wert their guardian angel here, 

They guardian angels now to thee. 



HENRY PICKERING. 



TO THE FRINGILLA MELODIA.* 

Jor fills the vale, 
With joy ecstatic quivers every wing, 
As floats thy note upon the genial gale, 

Sweet bird of spring ! 

The violet 
Awakens at thy song, and peers from out 
Its fragrant nook, as if the season yet 

Remain'd in doubt. 

While, from the rock, 
The columbine its crimson bell suspends, 
That careless vibrates, as its slender stalk 

The zephyr bends. 

Say ! when the blast 
Of winter swept our whiten'd plains, what clime, 
What sunnier realm thou charm'dst, — and how 

Thy joyous time 1 [was past 

Did the green isles 
Detain thee long? or, mid the palmy groves 
Of the bright south, where liberty now smiles, 

Didst sing thy loves 1 

0, well I know 
Why thou art here thus soon, and why the bowers- 
So near the sun have lesser charms than now 

Our land of flowers. 

Thou art return'd 
On a glad errand, — to rebuild thy nest, 
And fan anew the gentle fire that burn'd 

Within thy breast. 

And thy wild strain, 
Pour'd on the gale, is love's transporting voice — 
That, calling on the plumy choir again, 

Bids them rejoice. 

Nor calls alone 
To enjoy, but bids improve the fleeting hour — 
Bids all that ever heard love's witching tone, 

Or felt his power. 

The poet, too, 
It soft invokes to touch the trembling wire; 
Yet, ah, how few its sounds shall list, how few 

His song admire ! 

But thy sweet lay, 
Thou darling of the spring ! no ear disdains ; 
Thy sage instructress, Nature, says, "Be gay!" 

And prompts thy strains. 

O, if I knew 
Like thee to sing, like thee the heart to fire, — 
Youth should enchanted throng, and beauty sue 

To hear my lyre. 

Oft as the year 
In gloom is wrapp'd, thy exile I shall mourn, — 
Oft as the spring returns shall hail sincere 

Thy glad return. 

* The song-sparrow. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS, 



527 



JOHN B. VAN SCHAICK.* 



JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN AND MOON 
TO STAND STILL. 

The day rose clear on Gibeon. Her high towers 
Flash'd the red sunbeams gloriously back, 
And the wind-driven banners, and the steel 
Of her ten thousand spears caught dazzlingly 
The sun, and on the fortresses of rock 
Play'd a soft glow, that as a mockery seem'd 
To the stern men who girded by its light. 
Beth-Horon in the distance slept, and breath 
Was pleasant in the vale of Ajalon, 
Where armed heels trod carelessly the sweet, 
Wild spices, and the trees of gum were shook 
By the rude armour on their branches hung. 
Suddenly in the camp, without the walls, 
Rose a deep murmur, and the men of war 
Gather'd around their kings, and "Joshua! 
From Gilgal, Joshua !" was whisper'd low, 
As with a secret fear, and then, at once, 
With the abruptness of a dream, he stood 
Upon the rock before them. Calmly then 
Raised he his helm, and with his temples bare, 
And hands uplifted to the sky, he pray'd : 
" God of this people hear ! and let the sun 
Stand upon Gibeon, still ; and let the moon 
Rest in the vale of Ajalon !" He ceased : 
And, lo ! the moon sits motionless, and earth 
Stands on her axis indolent. The sun 
Pours the unmoving column of his rays 
In undiminish'd heat ; the hours stand still ; 
The shade hath stopp'd upon the dial's face; 
The clouds and vapours, that at night are wont 
To gather and enshroud the lower earth, 
Are struggling with strange rays, breaking them 
Scattering the misty phalanx like a wand, [up, 
Glancing o'er mountain-tops, and shining down 
In broken masses on the astonish'd plains. 
The fever'd cattle group in wondering herds ; 
The weary birds go to their leafy nests, 
But find no darkness there, and wander forth 
On feeble, fluttering wing, to find a rest; 
The parch'd, baked earth, undamp'd by usual dews, 
Has gaped and crack'd, and heat, dry, midday heat, 
Comes like a drunkard's breath upon the heart. 
On with thy armies, Joshua! The Lord 
God of Sabaoth is the avenger now ! 
His voice is in the thunder, and his wrath 
Poureth the beams of the retarded sun, 
With the keen strength of arrows, on their sight. 
The unwearied sun rides in the zenith sky ; 
Nature, obedient to her Maker's voice, 
Stops in full course all her mysterious wheels. 
On ! till avenging swords have drunk the blood 
Of all Jehovah's enemies, and till 
Thy banners in returning triumph wave ; 
Then yonder orb shall set mid golden clouds, 
And, while a dewy rain falls soft on earth, 
Show in the heavens the glorious bow of God, 
Shining, the rainbow-banner of the skies. 

* For many years editor of "The Daily Advertiser," 
• of Albany, New York. He died in 1839, at the age of 
thirty-six years. 



WILLIAM 0. BUTLER.* 



THE BOAT HORN. 

Oh boatman ! wind that horn again ! 

For never did the joyous air 

Upon its lambent bosom bear 

So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain. 

What though thy notes are sad and lone, 

By every simple boatman blown ; 

Yet could I list from eve to morn, 

Delighted, to the simple horn. 

How oft, in boyhood's cloudless day, 

I've stroli'd by wild Ohio's stream, 

Marking his silvery billows play, 

Bright with the sun's declining beam, 

While some lone boatman from the deck, 

Musing on coming storms and wreck, 

Pour'd his soft numbers to that tide 

Where all his hopes, his fortunes ride, 

As if to woo the fickle wave 

From wreck and storm his boat to save. 

Delighted nature drank the sound, 

Enchanted echo bore it round 

In whispers soft, and softer still, 

From hill to plain, from plain to hill; 

And even the reckless, frolic boy, 

Elate with hope, and wild with joy, 

Who gamboll'd by the river's side, 

And sported with the fretting tide, 

Feels something now pervade his breast, 

Chain his light step, cut short his jest, 

Bends o'er the flood his eager ear, 

To catch the sounds far off and dear; 

Drinks the sweet draught, but knows not why 

The tear of rapture fills the eye. 

And can he, now to manhood grown, 

Tell why those notes, simple and lone, 

As on the ravish'd ear they fell, 

Bound every sense in magic spell 1 

There is a tide of feeling given 

To all on earth — its fountain, heaven! 

Beginning with the downy flower, 

Just oped in Flora's vernal bower, 

Rising creation's orders through, 

With bolder murmur, brighter hue. 

That tide is sympathy ! Its ebb and flow 

Give life its gleam of joy, its shades of woe. 

Music, the master-spirit that can move, 

Can charm from beauty's eye the hitler tear, 

And lift from sorrow's heart its load of care; 

Can cheer the sinking sailor on the wave, 

And bid the soldier on. nor heed the grave ; 

Inspire the fainting pilgrim on his road, 

And elevate his heart and soul to God. 

Then, boatman, wind that horn again ! 

Though much of sorrow mark its strain, 

Yet are its notes to sorrow dear. 

What though they wake fond memory's tear! 

Tears are memory's sacred feast, 

And rapture oft her chosen guest. 



* r-General William O. Butler, of Kentucky, is the 

e 'many graceful vers de societe. The piece here quo- 

ted u :ie of his most popular effusions. 



528 VARIOUS 


AUTHORS. 


JAMES WILLIAM MILLER.* 


WILLIAM B. WALTER.* 


TO A SHOWER. 


TO AN INFANT. 


The pleasant rain ! — the pleasant rain ! 


And art thou here, sweet boy, among 


By fits it plashing falls 


The crowds that come this world to throng 1 


On twangling leaf and dimpling pool — 


The loveliest dream of waking life ! 


How sweet its warning calls ! 


Hope of the bosom's secret strife ! 


They know it — all the bosomy vales, 


Emblem of all the heart can love! 


High slopes, and verdant meads ; 


Vision of all that's bright above ! 


The queenly elms and princely oaks 


Pledge, promise of remember'd years ! 


Bow down their grateful heads. 


Seal of pure souls, yet bought with tears! 


The withering grass, and fading flowers, 


Hail ! child of love ! — I linger yet 


And drooping shrubs look gay; 


Around thy couch, where slumber sweet 


The bubbly brook, with gladlier song, 


Hangs on thine eyelids' living shroud; 


Hies on its endless way; 


And thoughts and dreamings thickly crowd 


All things of earth — the grateful things! 


Upon the mind like gleams of light 


Put on their robes of cheer, 


Which sweep along the darksome night, 


They hear the sound of the warning burst, 


Lurid and strange, all fearful sent 


And know the rain is near. 


In flashings o'er the firmament! 


It comes ! it comes ! the pleasant rain ! 


! wake not from that tranquil sleep ! 


I drink its cooler breath ; 


Too soon 'twill break, and thou shalt weep; 


It is rich with sighs of fainting flowers, 


Such is thy destiny and doom, 


And roses' fragrant death ; 


O'er this long past and long to come ; 


It hath kiss'd the tomb of the lily pale, 


Earth's mockery, guilt, and nameless woe; 


The beds where violets die, 


The pangs which thou canst only know ; 


And it bears their life on its living wings — 


All crowded in a little span, 


I feel it wandering by. 


The being of the creature Man ! 


And yet it comes ! the lightning's flash 


Ah ! little deemest thou, my child, 


Hath torn the lowering cloud, 


The way of life is dark and wild ; 


With a distant roar, and a nearer crash, 


Its sunshine, but a light whose play 


Out bursts the thunder loud. 


Serves but to dazzle and betray ; 


It comes with the rush of a god's descent 


Weary and long — its end, the tomb, 


On the hush'd and trembling earth, 


Where darkness spreads her wings of gloom ! 


To visit the shrines of the hallow'd groves 


That resting-place of things which live, 


Where a poet's soul had birth. 


The goal of all that earth can give ! 


With a rush, as of a thousand steeds, 


It may be that the dreams of fame, 


Is the mighty god's descent ; 


Proud Glory's plume, the warrior's name, 


Beneath the weight of his passing tread, 


Shall lure thee to the field of blood ; 


The conscious groves are bent. 


There, like a god, war's fiery flood 


His heavy tread — it is lighter now — 


May bear thee on ! while far above, 


And yet it passeth on ; 


Thy crimson banners proudly move, 


And now it is up, with a sudden lift — 


Like the red clouds which skirt the sun, 


The pleasant rain hath gone. 


When the fierce tempest-day is done ! 


The pleasant rain ! — the pleasant rain ! 


Or lead thee to a cloister'd cell, 


It hath passed above the earth, 


Where Learning's votaries lonely dwell ; 


I see the smile of the opening cloud, 


The midnight lamp and brow of care; 


Like the parted lips of mirth. 


The frozen heart that mocks despair; 


The golden joy is spreading wide 


Consumption's fires to burn thy cheek; 


Along the blushing west, 


The brain that throbs, but will not break; 


And the happy earth gives back her smiles, 


The travail of the soul, to gain 


Like the glow of a grateful breast. 


A name, and die — alas ! in vain ! 


As a blessing sinks in a grateful heart, 


Thou reckest not, sweet slumberer, there, 


That knoweth all its need, 


Of this world's crimes; of many a snare 


So came the good of the pleasant rain, 


To catch the soul ; of pleasures wild, 


O'er hill and verdant mead. 


Friends false — foes dark — and hearts beguiled ; 


It shall breathe this truth on the human eai, 


Of Passion's ministers who sway, 


In hall and cotter's home, 
That to bring the gift of a bounteous Heaven, 


With iron sceptre, all who stray ; 




The pleasant rain hath come. 


* William B. Walter was born in Boston, in 18—, 


and was educated at Bowdoin College. He wrote 
"Sukey,a poem," in the style of "Don Juan," "Visions 


* J. W. Miller was a native of Boston, and at one 


period connected with John Neal in the editorship of 


of Romance," and some other metrical compositions, 


« The Yankee." I believe he died in 1826. 


which were popular in their time. He died in 18 — . 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



529 



Of broken hearts — still loving on, 
When all is lost, and changed, and gone ! 

What is it that thou wilt not prove 1 

Power, Wealth, Dominion, Grandeur, Love — 

All the soul's idols in their turn ! 

And find each false, yet wildly burn 

To grasp at all — and love the cheat ; 

Smile, when the ravening vultures eat 

Into thy very bosom's core, 

And drink up that — which is not gore! 

Thy tears shalt flow, and thou shalt weep 
As he has wept who eyes thy sleep, 
But weeps no more — his heart is cold, 
Warp'd, sicken'd, sear'd, with woes untold. 
And be it so ! the clouds which roll 
Dark, heavy o'er my troubled soul, 
Bring with them lightnings which illume, 
To shroud the mind in deeper gloom ! 

But no! dear boy, my earnest prayer 
Shall call on Heaven to bless thee here ! 
Long mayst thou live to love thy kind — 
Brave, generous, of a lofty mind! 
Thy father live again in thee, 
Thy mother long her virtues see 
Brightly reflected forth in thine — 
Her solace in life's sad decline. 

Sleep on! sleep on! but, O my soul, 

This is not slumber's soft contro' ! 

Boy ! — boy ! awake — that strug ^iing cry 

So faint and low — that agony ! 

The long, sunk, heavy gasp and groan ! 

And O, that desolate, last moan ! — 

My Goo ! the infant spirit's gone ! 

Are there no tears ? — dark — dark — alone ! 

'Tis past ! farewell ! I little thought 
The mockeries which my fancy wrought, 
From fate's dark book were rudely torn ! — 
That clouds would darken o'er thy morn ! 
That death's stern hand would sweep away 
The flower just springing to the day ! 
But wounded hearts must still bleed on ! 
Enough, enough — God's will be doue ! 



JAMES WALLIS EASTBURN.* 



TO PNEUMA. 

Tempests their furious course may sweep 
Swiftly o'er the troubled deep, 
Darkness may lend her gloomy aid, 
And wrap the groaning world in shade; 
But man can show a darker hour, 
And bend beneath a stronger power; — 
There is a tempest of the soul, 
A gloom where wilder billows roll ! 

The howling wilderness may spread 
Its pathless deserts, parch'd and dread, 
Where not a blade of herbage blooms, 
Nor yields the breeze its soft perfumes ; 

* Mr. Eastburn was associated with Robert C. 
Sands in writing "Yamoyden." See page 243. 
67 



Where silence, death, and horror reign, 
Uncheck'd, across the wide domain ; — 
There is a desert of the mind 
More hopeless, dreary, undefined ! 

There Sorrow, moody Discontent, 
And gnawing Care are wildly blent; 
There Horror hangs her darkest clouds, 
And the whole scene in gloom enshrouds; 
A sickly ray is cast around, 
Where naught but dreariness is found ; 
A feeling that may not be told, 
Dark, rending, lonely, drear, and cold. 

The wildest ills that darken life 

Are rapture to the bosom's strife; 

The tempest, in its blackest ftn-m, 

Is beauty to the bosom's storm; 

The ocean, lash'd to fury loud, 

Its high wave mingling with the cloud, 

Is peaceful, sweet serenity 

To passion's dark and boundless sea. 

There sleeps no calm, there smiles no rest, 
When storms are warring in the breast ; 
There is no moment of repose 
In bosoms lash'd by hidden woes; 
The scorpion sting the fury rears, 
And every trembling fibre tears; 
The vulture preys with bloody beak 
Upon the heart that can but break ! 



JAMES N. BARKER.* 



LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 

She was, indeed, a pretty little creature, 
So meek, so modest; what a pity, madam, 
That one so young and innocent should fall 
A prey to the ravenous wolf. 

The wolf, indeed ! 

You've left the nursery to but little purpose, 

If you believe a wolf could ever speak, 

Though in the time of JGsop, or before. 

— Was't not a wolf, then? I have read the story 

A hundred times ; and heard it told : nay, told it 

Myself, to my younger sisters, when we've shrank 

Together in the sheets, from very terror, 

And, with protecting arms, each round the other, 

E'en sobb'd ourselves to sleep. But I remember, 

I saw the story acted on the stage, 

Last winter in the city, I and my school-mates, 

With our most kind preceptress, Mrs. Bazely, 

And so it was a robber, not a wolf, 

That met poor little Riding Hood i' the wood? 

— Nor wolf nor robber, child : this nursery tale 

Contains a hidden moral. 

Hidden: nay, 

I'm not so young but I can spell it out, 

And thus it is: children, when sent on errands, 

Must never stop by the way to talk with wolves. 

* Mr. Barker is a native of Philadelphia, and is now 
in one of the bureaus of the Treasury Department, at 
Washington. He is the author of "Tears and Smiles," 
"How to try a Lover," and several other dramatic 
compositions. 



530 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



— Tut ! wolves again : wilt listen to me, child 1 
— Say en, dear grandma. 

Thus, then, dear, my daughter: 

In this young person culling idle flowers, 
You see the peril that attends the maiden 
Who, in her walk through life, yields to temptation, 
And quits the onward path to stray aside, 
Allured by gaudy weeds. 

Nay, none but children 

Could gather butter-cups and May-weed, mother; 
But violets, dear violets — methinks 
I could live ever on a bank of violets, 
Or die most happy there. 

You die, indeed, 

At your years die ! 

Then sleep, ma'am, if you please, 

As you did yesterday in that sweet spot 
Down by the fountain ; where you seated you 
To read the last new novel — what d'ye can't — 
The Prairie, was it not] 

It was, my love, 

And there, as I remember, your kind arm 
Pillow'd my aged head: 'twas irksome, sure, 
To your young limbs and spirit. 

No, believe me, 

To keep the insects from disturbing you 
Was sweet employment, or to fan your cheek 
When the breeze lull'd. 

You're a dear child ! 

And, then, 

To gaze on such a scene ! the grassy bank, 

So gently sloping to the rivulet, 

All purple with my own dear violet, 

And sprinkled o'er with spring flowers of each 

tint. 
There was that pale and humble little blossom, 
Looking so like its namesake, Innocence ; 
The fairy-form'd, flesh-hued anemone, 
With its fair sisters, called by country people 
Fair maids o' the spring. The lowly cinquefoil too, 
And statelier marigold. The violet sorrel 
Blushing so rosy red in bashfulness, 
And her companion of the season, dress'd 
In varied pink. The partridge ever-green, 
Hanging its fragrant wax-work on each stem, 
And studding the green sod with scarlet berries — 
— Did you see all those flowers] I mark'd them 

not. 
— many more, whose names I have not learn'd. 
And then to see the light blue butterfly 
Roaming about, like an enchanted thing, 
From flower to flower, and the bright honey-bee; 
And there, too, was the fountain, overhung 
With bush and tree, draped by the graceful vine, 
Where the white blossoms of the dogwood met 
The crimson red-bud, and the sweet birds sang 
Their madrigals ; while the fresh springing waters, 
Just stirring the green fern that bathed within them, 
Leap'd joyful o'er their fairy mound of rock, 
And fell in music — then p;iss'd prattling on, 
Between the flowery banks that bent to kiss them. 

■ I dream'd notof these sights or sounds. 

Then just 

Bcvond the brook there lay a narrow strip, 
Like a rich riband, of enamell'd meadow, 



Girt by a pretty precipice, whose top 

Was crown'd with rose-bay. Halfway down there 

stood, 
Sylph-like, the light fantastic columbine 
As ready to leap down unto her lover 
Harlequin Bartsia, in his painted vest 
Of green and crimson. 

Tut! enough, enough, 

Your madcap fancy runs too riot, girl. 
We must shut up your books of botany, 
And give you graver studies. 

Will you shut 

The book of nature, too? — for it is that 
I love and study. Do not take me back 
To the cold, heartless city, with its forms 
And dull routine ; its artificial manners 
And arbitrary rules ; its cheerless pleasures 
And mirthless masquing. Yet a little longer 

let me hold communion here with nature. 

— Well, well, we'll see. But we neglect our lecture 
Upon this picture — 

Poor Red Riding Hood ! 

We had forgotten her ; yet mark, dear madam, 
How patiently the poor thing waits our leisure. 
And now the hidden moral. 

Thus it is : 

Mere children read such stories literally, 

But the more elderly and wise deduce 

A moral from the fiction. In a word, 

The wolf that you must guard against is— love. 

— I thought love was an infant; "toujours enfant." 

— The world and love were young together, child, 

And innocent — alas ! time changes all things. 

— True, I rememher, love is now a man. 

And, the song says, « a very saucy one," — 

But how a wolf? 

In ravenous appetite, 

Unpitying and unsparing, passion is oft 
A beast of prey. As the wolf to the lamb, 
Is he to innocence. 

I shall remember, 

For now I see the moral. Trust me, madam, 
Should I e'er meet this wolf-love in my way, 
Be he a boy or man, I'll take good heed, 
And hold no converse with him. 

You'll, do wisely. 

— Nor e'er in field or forest, plain or pathway, 
Shall he from me know whither I am going, 
Or whisper that he'll meet me. 

That's my child. 

— Nor, in my grandam's cottage, nor elsewhere, 
Will I e'er lift the latch for him myself, 
Or bid him pull the bobbin. 

Well, my dear, 

You've learned your lesson. 

Yet one thing, my mother, 

Somewhat perplexes me. 

Say what, my love, 

1 will explain. 

This wolf, the story goes, 

Deceived poor grandam first, and ate her up: 
What is the moral here ? Have all our grandams 
Been first devour'd by love 1 

Let us go in ; 

The air grows cool; you are a forward chit. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



531 



J. K. MITCHELL.* 



THE SONG OF THE PRAIRIE. 

O ! fly to the prairie, sweet maiden, with me, 
'Tis as green and as wide and as wild as the sea: 
O'er its soft silken bosom the summer winds glide, 
And wave the wild grass in its billowy pride. 

The city 's a prison too narrow for thee — 

Then away to the prairies so boundless and free : 

Where the sight is not check'd till the prairie and 

skies, 
In harmony blending, commingle their dyes. 
The fawns in the meadow-fields fearlessly play — 
Away to the chase, lovely maiden, away ! 
Bound, bound to thy courser, the bison is near, 
And list to the tramp of the light-footed deer. 
Let England exult in her dogs and her chase — 
! what 's a king's park to this limitless space ! 
No fences to leap and no thickets to turn, 
No owners to injure, no furrows to spurn. 
But, softly as thine on the carpeted hall, 
Is heard the light foot of the courser to fall ; 
And close-matted grass no impression receives, 
As ironless hoofs bound aloft from the leaves. 

O, fly to the prairie ! the eagle is there : 
He gracefully wheels in the cloud-speckled air; 
And, timidly hiding her delicate young, 
The prairie-hen hushes her beautiful song. 

O, fly to the prairie, sweet maiden, with me ! 
The vine and the prairie-rose blossom for thee ; 
And, hailing the moon in the prairie-propp'd sky, 
The mocking-bird echoes the katydid's cry. 

Let Mexicans boast of their herds and their steeds, 
The free prairie-hunter no shepherd-boy needs ; 
The bison, like clouds, overshadow the place, 
And the wild, spotted coursers invite to the chase. 
The farmer may boast of his grass and his grain — 
He sows them in labour, and reaps them in pain ; 
But here the deep soil no exertion requires, 
Enrich'd by the ashes, and clear'd by the fires. 

The woodman delights in his trees and his shade; 
But see ! there's no sun on the cheek of his maid ; 
His flowers are faded, his blossoms are pale, 
And mildew is riding his vapourous gale. 

Then fly to the prairie ! in wonder there gaze, 
As sweeps o'er the grass the magnificent blaze, 
The land is o'erwhelm'd in an ocean of light, 
Whose flame-surges break in the breeze of the night. 

Sublime from the north comes the wind in his wrath, 
And scatters the reeds in his desolate path ; 
Or, loaded with incense, steals in from the west, 
As bees from the prairie-rose fly to their nest. 

O, fly to the prairie ! for freedom is there ! 

Love lights not that home with the torch of despair ! 

* Doctor Mitchell, Professor of the Practice of Medi- 
cine in the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, is 
a native of Shepherdstown, in Virginia. He was edu- 
cated at one of the universities of Scotland, and studied 
his profession in Philadelphia. In 1839, he published a 
volume, entitled " Indecision, and other Poems." 



No wretch to entreat, and no lord to deny, 
No gossips to slander, no neighbour to pry. 

But, struggling not there the heart's impulse to hide, 
Love leaps like the fount from the crystal-rock side, 
And strong as its adamant, pure as its spring, 
Waves wildly in sunbeams his rose-colour'd wing. 



HENRY ROWE SCHOOLCRAFT.* 



GEEHALE. AN INDIAN LAMENT. 

The blackbird is singing on Michigan's shore 
As sweetly and gayly as ever before ; 
For he knows to his mate he, at pleasure, can hie, 
And the dear little brood she is teaching to fly. 
The sun looks as ruddy, and rises as bright, 
And reflects o'er the mountains as beamy a light 
As it ever reflected, or ever express'd, [the best. 
When my skies were the bluest, my dreams were 
The fox and the panther, both beasts of the night, 
Retire to their dens on the gleaming of light, 
And they spring with a free and a sorrowless track, 
For they know that their mates are expecting them 

back. 
Each bird, and each beast, it is bless'd in degree : 
All nature is cheerful, all happy, but me. 

I will go to my tent, and lie down in despair ; 
I will paint me with black, and will sever my hair; 
I will sit on the shore, where the hurricane blows, 
And reveal to the god of the tempest my woes ; 
I will weep for a season, on bitterness fed, 
For my kindred are gone to the hills of the dead ; 
But they died not by hunger, or lingering decay; 
The steel of the white man hath swept them away. 

This snake-skin, that once I so sacredly wore, 
I will toss, with disdain, to the storm-beaten shore : 
Its charms I no longer obey or invoke, 
Its spirit hath left me, its spell is now broke. 
I will raise up my voice to the source of the light; 
I will dream on the wings of the bluebird at night; 
I will speak to the spirits that whisper in leaves, 
And that minister balm to the bosom that grieves ; 
And will take a new Manito — such as shall seem 
To be kind and propitious in every dream. 

O, then I shall banish these cankering sighs, 
And tears shall no longer gush salt from my eyes: 
I shall wash from my face every cloud-colour'd stain ; 
R et ] — ved shall, alone, on my visage remain ! 
I will dig up my hatchet, and bend my oak bow ; 
By night and by day I will follow the foe ; 
Nor lakes shall impede me, nor mountains, nor 

snows ; 
His blood can, alone, give my spirit repose. 

They came to my cabin when heaven was 
black : 
I heard not their coming, I knew not their track ; 
But I saw, by the light of their blazing fusees, 
They were people engender'd beyond the big seas: 
My wife and my children, — O, spare me the tale !— 
For who is there left that is kin to Geehaee 1 

* Author of " Algic Researches," "Expedition to Itasca 
Lake," "Alhalla, or the Lord of Talladega," etc. See 
notice of his works in " Prose Writers of America." 



532 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



REVEREND WILLIAM B. TAPPAN.* 



THE TWENTY THOUSAND CHILDREN OF THE 
SABBATH SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK, CELE- 
BRATING TOGETHER THE 4TH OF JULY, 1839. 

O, sight sublime ! 0, sight of fear ! 

The shadowing of infinity ! 
Numbers, whose murmur rises here 

Like whisperings of the mighty sea! 

Ye bring strange visions to my gaze ; 

Earth's dreamer, heaven before me swims ; 
The sea of glass, the throne of days, 

Crowns, harps, and the melodious hymns. 

Ye rend the air with grateful songs 
For freedom by old warriors won : 

O, for the battle which your throngs 

May wage and win through David's son ! 

Wealth of young beauty ! that now blooms 
Before me like a world of flowers; 

High expectation ! that assumes 
The hue of life's serenest hours ; 

Are ye decaying? Must these forms, 

So agile, fair, and brightly gay, 
Hidden in dust, be given to worms 

And everlasting night, the prey ] 

Are ye immortal 1 Will this mass 

Of life, be life, undying still, 
When all these sentient thousands pass 

To where corruption works its will 1 

Thought ! that takes hold of heaven and hell, 
Be in each teacher's heart to-day ! 

So shall eternity be well 

With these, when time has fled away. 



TO THE SHIP OF THE LINE PENNSYLVANIA. 

" Leap forth to the careering seas," 

O, ship of lofty name ! 
And toss upon thy native breeze 

The stars and stripes of fame ! 
And bear thy thunders o'er the deep 

Where vaunting navies ride ! 
Thou hast a nation's gems to keep — 

Her honour and her pride ! 
O ! holy is the covenant made 

With thee and us to-day ; 
None from the compact shrinks afraid, 

No traitor utters nay ! 
We pledge our fervent love, and thou 

Thy glorious ribs of oak, 
Alive with men who cannot bow 

To kings, nor kiss the yoke ! 

Speed lightnings o'er the Carib sea, 

Which deeds of hell deform ; 
And look ! her hands are spread to thee 

Where Afric's robbers swarm. 

•*The Rev. William B. Tappan was born in Beverly, 
Massachusetts, on the '->9th of October, 1794, and he died 
near Boston, in June, 1849, He was a voluminous writer of 
religious poetry. His later works are ' Poetry of the Heart,' 
•Poetry of Life,' 'Sacred and Miscellaneous Poems,' &c. 



Go ! lie upon the ^Egean's breast, 

Where sparkle emerald isles — 
Go ! seek the lawless Suliote's nest, 

And spoil his cruel wiles. 
And keep, where sail the merchant ships, 

Stern watch on their highway, 
And promptly, through thine iron lips, 

When urged, our tribute pay ; 
Yea, show thy bristling teeth of power, 

Wherever tyrants bind, 
In pride of their own little hour, 

A freeborn, noble mind. 

Spread out those ample wings of thine ! — 

While crime doth govern men, 
'Tis fit such bulwark of the brine 

Should leave the shores of Penn ; 
For hid within thy giant strength 

Are germs of welcome peace, 
And such as thou, shall cause at length 

Man's feverish strife to cease. 
From every vale, from every crag, 

Word of thy beauty's past, 
And joy we that our country's flag 

Streams from thy towering mast — 
Assured that in thy prowess, thou 

For her wilt win renown, 
Whose sons can die, but know not how 

To strike that pennon down. 



JAMES NACK.* 



SPRING IS COMING. 

Spring is coming, spring is coming, 
Birds are chirping, insects humming ; 
Flowers are peeping from their sleeping, 
Streams escaped from winter's keeping. 
In delighted freedom rushing, 
Dance along in music gushing, 
Scenes of late in deadness sadden'd, 
Smile in animation gladden'd ; 
All is beauty, all is mirth, 
All is glory upon earth. 
Shout we then with Nature's voice, 
Welcome Spring ! rejoice ! rejoice ! 

Spring is coming, come, my brother, 
Let us rove with one another, 
To our well-remember'd wild-wood, 
Flourishing in nature's childhood ; 
Where a thousand flowers are springing, 
And a thousand birds are singing; 
Where the golden sunbeams quiver 
On the verdure-girdled river; 
Let our youth of feeling out, 
To the youth of nature shout, 
While the waves repeat our voice, 
Welcome Spring ! rejoice ! rejoice ! 

* Mr. Nack is deaf and dumb, and has been so from 
his childhood ; yet his poetical writings, in almost every 
variety of measure, are distinguished for more than com- 
mon melody of versification. A volume of his poems, 
with a memoir by Prospbb M. Wetmobb, was published 
in New York, in 1836. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



533 



REVEREND BENJAMIN D. WINSLOW* 



THE LOVER STUDENT. 

With a burning brow and weary limb, 

From the parting glance of day, 
The student sits in his study dim, 

Till the east with dawn is gray ; 
But what are those musty tomes to him 1 

His spirit is far away. 

He seeks, in fancy, the hall of light 

Where his lady leads the dance, 
Where the festal bowers are gleaming bright, 

Lit up by her sunny glance ; 
And he thinks of her the livelong night — 

She thinketh of him — perchance ! 

Yet many a gallant knight is by, 

To dwell on each gushing tone, 
To drink the smile of that love-lit eye, 

Which should beam on him alone ; 
To woo with the vow, the glance and sigh, 

The heart that he claims his own. 

The student bends o'er the snowy page, 
And he grasps his well-worn pen, 

That he may write him a lesson sage, 
To read to the sons of men ; 

But softer lessons his thoughts engage, 
And he flings it down again. 

The student's orisons must arise 

At the vesper's solemn peal, 
So he gazeth up to the tranquil skies, 

Which no angel forms reveal, 
But an earthly seraph's laughing eyes 

Mid his whisper'd prayers will steal. 

In vain his spirit would now recur 

To his little study dim, 
In vain the notes of the vesper stir 

In the cloister cold and grim ; 
Through the livelong night he thinks of her — 

Doth his lady think of him? 

Then up he looks to the clear, cold moon, 

But no calm to him she brings ; 
His troubled spirit is out of tune, 

And loosen'd its countless strings ; 
Yet, in the quiet of night's still noon, 

To his lady-love he sings : 

"Thou in thy bower, 

And I in my cell. 
Through each festal hour 

Divided must dwell ; 
Yet we're united, 

Though forms are apart, 
Since love's vows plighted 

Have bound us in heart. 

" Proud sons of fashion 

Now murmur to thee 
Accents of passion, 

All treason to me ; 

* The " Sermons and Poetical Remains of the Reverend 
B. D. Win-slow," edited by Bishop Doane, were pub- 
lished in 1841. He died in 1840 ; in the twenty-fifth year 
of his age. 



Others are gazing 

On that glance divine, 
Others are praising — 

Are their words like mine ? 

" Heed not the wooer 

With soft vows express'd, 
One heart beats truer — 

Thou know'st in ichose breast. 
To him thou hast spoken 

Words not lightly told ; 
His heart would be broken 

If thine should grow cold ! 

"The stars faintly glimmer 

And fade into day, 
This taper burns dimmer 

With vanishing ray; 
0. never thus fading, 

May fortune grow pale, 
With sorrow-clouds shading, 

Or plighted faith fail ! 

" Hush, my wild numbers ! 

Dawn breaketh above — 
Soft be thy slumbers, 

Adieu to thee, love ! 
Sad vigils keeping, 

I think upon thee, 
And dream of thee sleeping, 

My own Mklastie !" 



ALEXANDER H. BOGART. 



ANACREONTIC. 

The flying joy through life we seek 
For once is ours — the wine we sip 
Blushes like beauty's glowing cheek, 
To meet our eager lip. 

Round with the ringing glass once more ! 
Friends of my youth and of my heart; 
No magic can this hour restore — 

Then crown it ere we part. 

Ye are my friends, my chosen ones — 
Whose blond would flow with fervour true 
For me — and free as this wine runs 

Would mine, by heaven ! for you. 

Yet, mark me ! When a few short years 
Have hurried on their journey fleet, 
Not one that now my accents hears 

Will know me when we meet. 

Though now. perhaps, with proud disdain, 
The startling thought ye scarce will brook, 
Yet, trust me, we'll be strangers then 
In heart as well as look. 

Fame's luring voice, and woman's wile, 
Will soon break youthful friendship's chain — 
But shall that cloud to-night's bright smile 1 
No — pour the wine again ! 

* Alexander H. Bogart, a man of wit and genius, was 
born in 1884, and died in Albany, at the early age of twenty- 

tW0 - 2T2 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



HUGH PETERS.* 



A GOOD-NIGHT TO CONNECTICUT. 

The boat swings from the pebbled shore, 

And proudly drives her prow ; 
The crested waves roll up before : 
Yon dark-gray land, I see no more, 

How sweet it seemeth now ! 
Thou dark-gray land, my native land, 

Thou land of rock and pine, 
T 'm speeding from thy golden sand ; 
But can I wave a farewell hand 

To such a shore as thine ? 

I 've gazed upon the golden cloud 

Which shades thine emerald sod ; 
Thy hills, which Freedom's share hath plough'd, 
Which nurse a race that have not bow'd 

Their knee to aught but God ; 
Thy mountain floods which proudly fling 

Their waters to the fall — 
Thy birds, which cut with rushing wing 
The sky that greets thy coming spring, 

And thought thy glories small. 

But now ye've shrunk to yon blue line 

Between the sky and sea, 
I feel, sweet home, that thou art mine, 
I feel my bosom cling to thine — 

That I am part of thee. 
I see thee blended with the wave, 

As children see the earth 
Close up a sainted mother's grave : 
They weep for her they cannot save, 

And feel her holy worth. 

Thou mountain land — thou land of rock, 

I 'm proud to call thee free ; 
Thy sons are of the pilgrim stock, 
And nerved like those who stood the shock 

At old Thermopylae. 
The laurel wreaths their fathers won, 

The children wear them still — 
Proud deeds those iron men have done, 
They fought and won at Bennington, 

And bled at Bunker Hill. 

There's grandeur in the lightning stroke 

That rives thy mountain ash ; 
There 's glory in thy giant oak, 
And rainbow beauty in the smoke 

Where crystal waters dash : 
There 's music in thy winter blast 

That sweeps the hollow glen ; 
Less sturdy sons would shrink aghast 
From piercing winds like those thou hast 

To nurse thine iron men. 

And thou hast gems; ay, living pearls; 

And flowers of Eden hue : 
Thy loveliest are thy bright-eyed girls, 
Of fairy forms and elfin curls, 

And smiles like Hermon's dew: 
They 've hearts like those they 're born to wed, 

Too proud to nurse a slave ; 

* Hugh Peters was a native of Connecticut. He was 
drowned, near Cincinnati, in 1832, aged about thirty years. 



They 'd scorn to share a monarch's bed, 
And sooner lay their angel head 
Deep in their humble grave. 

And I have left thee, home, alone, 

A pilgrim from thy shore ; 
The wind goes by with hollow moan, 
I hear it sigh a warning tone, 

"You see your home no more." 
I 'm cast upon the world's wide sea, 

Torn like an ocean weed ; 
I'm cast away, far, far from thee, 
I feel a thing I cannot be, 

A bruised and broken reed. 

Farewell, my native land, farewell ! 

That wave has hid thee now — 
My heart is bow'd as with a spell. 
This rending pang ! — would I could tell 

What ails my throbbing brow ! 
One look upon that fading streak 

Which bounds yon eastern sky; 
One tear to cool my burning cheek ; 
And then a word I cannot speak — 

"My native land — Good-bye." 



FREDERICK W. THOMAS.* 



'TIS SAID THAT ABSENCE CONQUERS LOVE 

'T is said that absence conquers love ! 

But, ! believe it not ; 
I've tried, alas ! its power to prove, 

But thou art not forgot. 
Lady, though fate has bid us part, 

Yet still thou art as dear, 
As fix'd in this devoted heart 

As when I clasp'd thee here. 

I plunge into the busy crowd, 

And smile to hear thy name ; 
And yet, as if I thought aloud, 

They know me still the same. 
And when the wine-cup passes round, 

I toast some other fair, — 
But when I ask my heart the sound, 

Thy name is echo'd there. 

And when some other name I learn, 

And try to whisper love. 
Still will my heart to thee return, 

Like the returning dove. 
In vain ! I never can forget, 

And would not be forgot ; 
For I must bear the same regret, 

Whate'er may be my lot. 

E'en as the wounded bird will seek 

Its favourite bower to die, 
So, lady, I would hear thee speak, 

And yield my parting sigh. 
'T is said that absence conquers love ! 

But, 0, believe it not ; 
I 've tried, alas ! its power to prove, 

But thou art not forgot. 



* Author of "East and West," "Clinton Bradshaw,' 
The Beechen Tree, a Tale told in Rhyme," etc. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



535 



FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D.D.* 



THE BLIND BOY. 

It was a blessed summer day, 

The flowers bloom'd — the air was mild — 
The little birds pour'd forth their lay, 

And everything in nature smiled. 
In pleasant thought I wander'd on 

Beneath the deep wood's ample shade, 
Till suddenly I came upon 

Two children who had thither stray'd. 
Just at an aged birch-tree's foot 
A little boy and girl reclined ; 
His hand in hers she kindly put, 

And then I saw the boy was blind. 
The children knew not I was near, 

The tree conceal'd me from their view ; 
But all they said I well could hear, 

And I could see all they might do. 
" Dear Mary," said the poor blind boy, 

" That little bird sings very long ; 
Say, do you see him in his joy. 

And is he pretty as his song?" 
" Yes, Edward, yes," replied the maid, 

" I see the bird on yonder tree." 
The poor boy sigh'd, and gently said, 

" Sister, I wish that I could see. 
" The flowers, you say, are very fair, 

And bright green leaves are on the trees, 
And pretty birds are singing there — 

How beautiful for one who sees ! 
" Yet I the fragrant flowers can smell, 

And I can feel the green leaf's shade, 
And I can hear the notes that swell 

From those dear birds that God has made. 
" So, sister, God to me is kind, 

Though sight, alas ! he has not given : 
But tell me, are there any blind 

Among the children up in heaven]" 
"No, dearest Edward, there all see — 

But why ask me a thing so odd 1" 
" Oh, Mart, He's so good to me, 

I thought I'd like to look at God." 
Ere long Disease his hand had laid 

On that dear boy, so meek and mild ; 
His widow'd mother wept and pray'd 

That God would spare her sightless child. 
He felt her warm tears on his face, 

And said — " Oh, never weep for me ; 
I 'm going to a bright, bright place, 

Where Mary says I God shall see. 
" And you '11 be there, dear Mary, too : 
But, mother, when you get up there, 
Tell Edward, mother, that 'tis you — 

You know I never saw you here." 
He spoke no more, but sweetly smiled, 

Until the final blow was given — 
When God took up the poor blind child, 
And open'd first his eyes in heaven ! 

* This brilliant orator and very able writer is a native of 
Noitb Carolina, in which state be practised law before he 
entered into holy orders. His best prose writings are his- 
torical criticisms in " The New-York Review." 



JOHN SHAW, M.D.* 



SONG. 



Who has robb'd the ocean cave, 

To tinge thy lips with coral hue ] 
Who, from India's distant wave, 

For thee those pearly treasures drew 1 
Who, from yonder orient sky, 
Stole the morning of thine eye 1 
Thousand charms, thy form to deck, 

From sea, and earth, and air, are torn : 
Roses bloom upon thy cheek, 

On thy breath their fragrance borne. 
Guard thy bosom from the day, 
Lest thy snows should melt away. 
But one charm remains behind, 

Which mute earth can ne'er impart; 
Nor in ocean wilt thou find, 
Nor in the circling air, a heart: 
Fairest, wouldst thou perfect be, 
Take, oh take, that heart from me. 

RICHARD COE, JR.f 

EMBLEMS. 

Falleth now from off a tree, 

A wither'd leaf: 
This the lesson taught to me — 

Life is brief! 

Hear it say, 
" Mortal, soon thou 'It follow me 

To decay !" 
Droppeth now from off my head, 

A silver hair : 
Plainer preacher never said, 

" For death prepare !" 

Fill'd with gloom, 
We follow Time with solemn tread, 

To the tomb. 
Mounteth now on wings of air, 

To the sky, 
A little dewdrop, pure and clear : 

Far up on high 

Hear it say — 
" All above the earth is fair ; 

Watch and pray ! 
Night or sorrow come not here — 

'T is perfect day !" 



LIFE. 

Asr infant on its mother's breast — 

A bouncing boy at play — 
A youth by maiden fair caress'd — 
An old man silver gray — 
Is all of life we know : 
A joy — a fear — 
A smile — a tear — 
And all is o'er below ! 

* Doctor Shaw was bora in Maryland, in 1778, and died at 
sea, near the West India islands, in 1809. He was secretary 
to General Eaton, at Tunis, in 1809 ; and in 1803, accompa- 
nied Lord Selkirk on his expedition to form a settlement 
on St. John's Island, in Upper Canada. A collection of his 
poems was published in Philadelphia the year after his death. 

f A merchant of Philadelphia. He writes occasionally in 
the best manner of Francis Quari.es. 



536 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



ROBERT MONTGOMERY BIRD.* 



THE WHIPPOORWILL. 



Sleep, sleep ! be thine the sleep that throws 
Elysium o'er the soul's repose, 
Without a dream, save such as wind, 
Like midnight angels, through the mind ; 
While I am watching on the hill, 
I, and the wailing whippoorwill. 

O whippoorwill, O whippoorwill. 

Sleep, sleep ! and once again I'll tell 
The oft-pronounced, yet vain, farewell : 
Such should his word, O maiden, be, 
Who lifts the fated eye to thee ; 
Such should it be, before the chain 
That wraps his spirit, binds his brain. 

O whippoorwill, O whippoorwill. 

Sleep, sleep ! the ship has left the shore, 

The steed awaits his lord no more ; 

His lord still madly lingers by 

The fatal maid he cannot fly, 

And thrids the wood, and climbs the hill, 

He and the wailing whippoorwill. 

O whippoorwill, O whippoorwill. 

Sleep, sleep ! the morrow hastens on ; 
Then shall the wailing slave be gone, 
Flitting the hill-top far, for fear 
The sounds of joy may reach his ear ; 
The sounds of joy ! — the hollow knell 
Peal'd from the mocking chapel-bell. 

O whippoorwill, whippoorwill. 



SEBA SMITH.t 



THE MOTHER PERISHING IN A SNOW-STORM.* 

The cold winds swept the mountain's height, 

And pathless was the dreary wild, 
And mid the cheerless hours of night 

A mother wander'd with her child : 
As through the drifting snow she press'd, 
The babe was sleeping on her breast. 

And colder still the winds did blow, 
And darker hours of night came on, 

And deeper grew the drifting snow: 

Her limbs were chill'd, her strength was gone ; 

" O, God !" she cried, in accents wild, 

" If I must perish, save my child !" 

She stripp'd her mantle from her breast, 

And bared her bosom to the storm, 
And round the child she wrapp'd the vest, 

And smiled to think her babe was warm. 

* Dr. Biud is author of "Calavar, a Romance of Mexi- 
co," "The Infidel," " Hawks of Hawk-Hollow," "Nick 
of the Woods," "Robin Day," ; ' Peter Pilgrim," " Shep- 

| Author of " Powhattan, a Metrical Romance," &c. 
He resides in New York. 

X In the year 1821, a Mrs. Blake perished in a snow- 
storm in the night-time, while travellingover a spur of the 
Green Mountains, in Vermont. She had an infant with 
her, which was found alive and well in the morning, being 
carefully wrapped in the mother's clothing. 



With one cold kiss, one tear she shed, 
And sunk upon her snowy bed. 

At dawn a traveller passed by, 
And saw her 'neath a snowy veil ; 

The frost of death was in her eye, 

Her cheek was cold, and hard, and pale 

He moved the robe from off the child, 

The babe Jook'd up and sweetly smiled ! 

JAMES HALL.* 



WEDDED LOVE'S FIRST HOME. 

'Twas far beyond yon mountains, dear, 

We plighted vows of love ; 
The ocean-wave was at our feet, 

The autumn sky above; 
The pebbly shore was cover'd o'er 

With many a varied shell, 
And on the billow's curling spray 

The sunbeams glittering fell. 
The storm has vex'd that billow oft, 

And oft that sun has set, 
But plighted love remains with us, 

In peace and lustre yet. 

I wiled thee to a lonely haunt, 

That bashful love might speak 
Where none could hear what love reveal'd, 

Or see the crimson cheek ; 
The shore was all deserted, 

And we wander'd there alone, 
And not a human step impress'd 

The sand-beach but our own. 
Thy footsteps all have vanish'd 

From the willow-beaten strand — 
The vows we breathed remain with us — 

They were not traced in sand. 

Far, far we left the sea-girt shore, 

Endear'd by childhood's dream, 
To seek the humble cot, that smiled 

By fair Ohio's stream; 
In vain the mountain cliff opposed, 

The mountain torrent roar'd, 
For love unfurl'd her silken wing, 

And o'er each barrier soar'd ; 
And many a wide domain we pass'd 

And many an ample dome, 
But none so bless'd, so dear to us, 

As wedded love's first home. 

Beyond those mountains now are all 

That e'er we loved or knew, 
The long-remcmbcr'd many, 

And the dearly-cherish'd few : 
The home of her we value, 

And the grave of him we mourn, 
Are there ; — and there is all the past 

To which the heart can turn ; 
But dearer scenes surround us here, 

And lovelier joys we trace, 
For here is wedded love's first home, 

Its hallow'd resting-place. . 

* Judge Hall resides in Cincinnati, and is author of 
" Legends of the West," and several other volumes of 
prose fiction. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



537 



ALFRED B. MEEK.* 



THE MOCKING BIRD. 

Bird of the wild and wondrous song, 

I hear thy rich and varied voice 
Swelling the greenwood depths among, 

Till hill and vale the while rejoice. 
Spell-bound, entranced, in rapture's chain, 
I list to that inspiring strain ; 
I thread the forest's tangled maze 

The thousand choristers to see, 
Who mingled thus their voices raise 

In that delicious minstrelsy ; 
I search in vain each pause between — 
The choral band is still unseen. 

'Tis but the music of a dream — 

An airy sound that mocks the ear : 
But hark again ! the eagle's scream, 

It rose and fell distinct and clear ! 
And list — in yonder hawthorn bush, 
The red-bird, robin, and the thrush ! 
Lost in amaze I look around, 

Nor thrush nor eagle there behold: 
But still that rich, aerial sound, 

Like some forgotten song of old 
That o'er the heart has held control, 
Falls sweetly on the ravish'd soul. 

And yet, the woods are vocal still, 

The air is musical with song ; 
O'er the near stream, above the hill, 

The wildering notes are borne along. 
But whence that gush of rare delight 1 
And what art thou, or bird or sprite ] 
Perch'ed on yon maple's topmost bough, 

With glancing wings and restless feet, 
Bird of untiring throat art thou, 

Sole songster in this concert sweet ! 
So perfect, full, and rich, each part, 
It mocks the highest reach of art. 

Once more, once more, that thrilling strain ! 

Ill-omen'd owl, be mute, be mute ! 
Thy native tones I hear again, 

More sweet than harp or lover's lute; 
Compared with thy impassioned tale, 
How cold, how tame, the nightingale. 
Alas ! capricious in thy power, 

Thy " wood-note wild" again is fled : 
The mimic rules the changeful hour, 

And all the " soul of song" is dead ! 
But no — to every borrow'd tone 
He lends a sweetness all his own ! 

On glittering wing, erect and bright, 
With arrowy speed he darts aloft, 

As though his soul had ta'en its flight, 
In that last strain so sad and soft, 

And he would call it back to life, 

To mingle in the mimic strife ! 

And ever, to each fitful lay, 

His frame in restless motion wheels, 



As though he would indeed essay 

To act the ecstacy he feels — 
As though his very feet kept time 
To that inimitable chime ! 
And ever, as the rising moon 

Climbs with full orb the trees above, 
He sings his most enchanting tune, 

While echo wakes through all the grove: 
His descant soothes, in care's despite, 
The weary watches of the night ; 
The sleeper from his couch starts up, 

To listen to that lay forlorn ; 
And he who quaffs the midnight cup 

Looks out to see the purpling morn ! 
Oh, ever in the merry spring, 
Sweet mimic, let me hear thee sing ! 



* This poem I find in a literary journal attributed to Mr. 
Alfred B. Meek, of Alabama. That gentleman is distin- 
guished in affairs, and is a glowing prose writer. His fugi- 
tive poems frequently adorn the southern miscellanies. 



HENRY R. JACKSON.* 

THE FATHER'S DEATH. 

As die the embers on the hearth, 

And o'er the floor the shadows fall, 
And creeps the chirping cricket forth, 

And ticks the deathwatch in the wall, 
I see a form in yonder chair, 

That grows beneath the waning light ; 
There are the wan, sad features — there 

The pallid brow, and locks of white ! 

My father ! when they laid thee down, 

And heap'd the clay upon thy breast, 
And left thee sleeping all alone 

Upon thy narrow couch of rest — 
I know not why, I could not weep, 

The soothing drops refused to roll — 
And oh, that grief is wild and deep 

Which settles tearless on the soul ! 

But when I saw thy vacant chair — 

Thine idle hat upon the wall — 
Thy book — the pencil'd passage where 

Thine eye had rested last of all — 
The tree beneath whose friendly shade 

Thy trembling feet had wander'd forth — 
The very prints those feet had made, 

When last they feebly trod the earth — 

And thought, while countless ages fled, 

Thy vacant seat would vacant stand, 
Unworn thy hat, thy book unread, 

Effaced thy footsteps from the sand — 
And widow'd in this cheerless world, 

The heart that gave its love to thee — 
Torn, like a vine whose tendrils curl'd 

More closely round the falling tree ! — 
Oh, father ! then for her and thee 

Gush'd madly forth the scorching tears, 
And oft, and long, and bitterly, 

Those tears have gush'd in later years ; 
For as the world grows cold around, 

And things take on their real hue, 
'Tis sad to learn that love is found 

Alone above the stars, with you ! 

* H. R. Jackson, of Georgia, a captain of volunteers in the 
Mexican war, lias written for the southern literary journals 
occasional short poems marked by tenderness and grace. 



138 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



CHARLES WEST THOMPSON.* 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WHIST. 

The road of life is but a game, 

Where some a thirst for power and fame, 

And some for pleasure feel — 
But every player does not win, 
Although he fairly may begin, 

And make a proper deal. 
Some men assume the part of trade, 
Some turn the soil with active spade, 

While some to wealth incline, 
And making into earth their way, 
Bring up, before the light of day, 

The diamond of the mine. 
In clubs some take an active part — 
While some the dictates of the heart 

With eager zeal pursue ; 
And, given to wine, their ruin prove, 
Or, trusting else in faithless love, 

Their disappointment rue. 
All have their difFerent parts assign'd, 
And ranks throughout the world we find, 

Mid people red and black, 
Each on the one below him leans — 
Some rise aloft to kings and queens, 

Some sink to humble Jack. 
But, whether station'd high or low, 
He who his honest heart can know 

Free from reproving thumps, 
E'en though he own nor house, nor lands, 
That man in native glory stands 

The very ace of trumps. 
Some men will shuffle through their day, 
Unmindful how their partners play ; 

Unmoved they seem to stand, 
And throw their cards with a most bold 
And tranquil face, although they hold 

A miserable hand. 
The daring spirits take the lead, 
While those that in the game succeed 

Seem bound to follow suit; 
Such play the very deuse at last, 
Their fortune, character they blast, 

And reap the bitter fruit. 
How oft, alas ! it is the fate 
Of jarring comrades, wise too late, 

To play a luckless club, 
And sadly finding out at last 
The time for meditation past, 

A heart had gain'd the rub. 
By honour some their fortunes win, 
And some by trick, nor deem it sin 

To profit as they may, — 
But time will oft the wretch expose 
To merited contempt, who chose 

Dishonourable play. 
'T is only he, who, void of guile, 
Knows that he has a right to smile, 

And tells his heart the same — 



* Author of "The Sylph, and Other Poems, 
delphia. 



Phila- 



'Tis only he, when fate shall close 
His pack of chequer'd joys and woes, 
Has fairly won the game. 



ROBERT M. CHARLTON.* 



TO THE RIVER OGEECHEE. 

wave that glidest swiftly 

On thy bright and happy way, 
From the morning until evening, 

And from twilight until day, — 
Why leapest thou so joyously, 

While coldly on thy shore 
Sleeps the noble and the gallant heart, 

For aye and evermore? 
Or dost thou weep, O river, 

And is this bounding wave 
But the tear thy bosom sheddeth 

As a tribute o'er his grave ? 
And when, in midnight's darkness, 

The winds above thee moan, 
Are they mourning for our sorrows, 

Do they sigh for him that's gone? 
Keep back thy tears, then, river, 

Or, if they must be shed, 
Let them flow but for the living, 

They're needless for the dead. 
His soul shall dwell in glory, 

Where bounds a brighter wave, 
But our pleasures, with his troubles, 

Are buried in the grave. 






HORATIO HALE. 



THE BURIAL OF THE WITHLACOCHEE. 

Hollow ye the lonely grave, 

Make its caverns deep and wide ; 
In the soil they died to save 

Lay the brave men side by side. 
Side by side they fought and fell, 

Hand to hand they met the foe ; 
Who has heard his grand sire tell 

Braver strife or deadlier blow? 
Wake no mournful harmonies, 

Shed no earthly tear for them; 
Summer dew and sighing breeze 

Shall be wail and requiem. 
Pile the grave-mound broad and high, 

Where the martyr'd brethren sleep; 
It shall point the pilgrim's eye 

Here to bend — but not to weep. 
Not to weep ! O, no ! the grief 

Springing from a blow like this, 
May not seek a fond relief 

In the drops that mothers kiss. 
But the kindling heart shall bear 

Hence the lesson stern and high 
With as proud a flame to dare — 

With as calm a throb to die. 

* Judge CHARLTON, of Georgia. A volume of his poems 
was published in Boston, in 1838. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



,39 



REVEREND CHARLES W. EVEREST.* 
AGRICULTURE. 

How blest the farmer's simple life ! — 

How pure the joy it yields ! 
Far from the world's tempestuous strife, 

Free, mid the scented fields ! 
When morning woos, with roseate hue, 

O'er the far hills away, 
His footsteps brush the silvery dew, 

To greet the welcoming day. 
When Sol's first beam in glory glows, 

And blithe the skylark's song, 
Pleased, to his toil the farmer goes, 

With cheerful steps along. 
While noon broods o'er the sultry sky, 

And sunbeams fierce are cast, 
Where the cool streamlet wanders by, 

He shares his sweet repast. 
When twilight's gentlest shadows fall 

Along the darkening plain, 
He lists his faithful watch-dog's call 

To warn the listening train. 
Down the green lane young hurrying feet 

Their eager pathway press ; 
His loved ones come in joy to greet, 

And claim their sire's caress. 
Then, when the evening prayer is said, 

And Heaven with praise is blest, 
How sweet reclines his weary head 

On slumber's couch of rest ! 
Nor deem that fears his dreams alarm, 

Nor cares, with carking din : 
Without, his dogs will guard from harm, 

And all is peace within. 
ye, who run in folly's race, 

To win a worthless prize, 
Learn, from the simple tale we trace, 

Where true contentment lies ! 
Ho! monarch! flush'd with glory's pride! 

Thou painted, gilded thing! 
Hie to the free-born farmer's side, 

And learn to be a king ! 

MINSTREL, SING THAT SONG AGAIN. 

Minstrel, sing that song again, 

Plaintive in its solemn flow ; 
Memory owns its magic strain, 

Loved and cherish'd long ago : 
Lo ! the past, the mystic past, 

Rises through the vista dim — 
Just as twilight's shades are cast 

At the day's departing hymn ! 
Minstrel, 'twas an eve like this: 

Stars were spangling all the sky: 
Every zephyr spoke of bliss, 

Floating in its fragrance by; 
Then, within our moon-lit bovver, 

One, with voice like music's own, 
Sweetly charm' d the lingering hour, 

To the soft lute's silvery tone. 

' Of Meriden, Connecticut. Author of " Babylon," &c. 



As the witching cadence fell 

Wild within our bower of love, 
Angel bands might prove the spell, 

Bending from the courts above ! 
Minstrel, chant once more the air, 

Soft as spring's departing breath: 
She who sang its numbers there 

Slumbers as the bride of Death ! 
Minstrel, chide thou not my tears — 

Thou hast waked a mournful theme ; 
Memory roves the slumbering years, 

Like some dear, forgotten dream: 
Day will come, with joy and gladness — 

Cares once more will fling their blight; 
Chide not, then, my spirit's sadness — 

Minstrel, let me weep to-night ! 

GEORGE W. PATTEN.* 



TO S. T. P. 

Shadows and clouds are o'er me ; 

Thou art not here, my bride ! 
The billows dash before me 

Which bear me from thy side ; 
On lowering waves benighted, 

Dim sets the weary day; 
Thou art not here, my plighted, 

To smile the storm away. 
Where nymphs of ocean slumber, 

I strike the measured stave, 
With wild and mournful number, 

To charm the wandering wave. 
Hark to the words of sorrow 

Along the fading main ! 
" 'T is night — but will the morrow 

Restore that smile again'!" 
Mid curtain'd dreams descending, 

Thy gentle form I trace ; 
Dimly with shadows blending, 

I gaze upon thy face ; 
Thy voice comes o'er me gladly, 

Thy hand is on my brow ; 
I wake — the wave rolls madly 

Beneath the ploughing prow ! 
Speed on, thou surging billow ! 

O'er ocean speed away ! 
And bear unto her pillow 

The burden of my lay : 
Invest her visions brightly 

With passion's murmur'd word, 
And bid her bless him nightly — 

Him of the lute and sword. 
And her, of dreams unclouded, 

With tongue of lisping tale, 
Whose eye I left soft shrouded 

'Neath slumber's misty veil, — 
When morn at length discloses 

The smile I may not see, 
Bear to her cheek of roses 

A father's kiss for me. 

* A lieutenant in the United States army, formerly of 
Rhoda Island. He is the author of numerous metrical 
pieces in the periodicals. 



540 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



MIC AH P. FLINT.* 



LINES ON PASSING THE GRAVE OF MY SISTER. 

Ox yonder shore, on yonder shore, 

Now verdant with the depths of shade, 

Beneath the white-arm'd sycamore, 
There is a little infant laid. 

Forgive this tear. — A brother weeps. — 

'T is there the faded floweret sleeps. 

She sleeps alone, she sleeps alone, 
And summer's forests o'er her wave ; 

And sighing winds at autumn moan 
Around the little stranger's grave, 

As though they murmur'd at the fate 

Of one so lone and desolate. 

In sounds that seem like sorrow's own, 
Their funeral dirges faintly creep ; 

Then deepening to an organ tone, 
In all their solemn cadence sweep, 

And pour, unheard, along the wild, 

Their desert anthem o'er a child. 

She came, and pass'd. Can I forget, 

How we whose hearts had hail'd her birth, 

Ere three autumnal suns had set, 
Consign'd her to her mother earth ! 

Joys and their memories pass away ; 

But griefs are deeper plough'd than they. 

We laid her in her narrow cell, 

We heap'd the soft mould on her breast ; 

And parting tears, like rain-drops, fell 
Upon her lonely place of rest. 

May angels guard it ; may they bless 

Her slumbers in the wilderness. 

She sleeps alone, she sleeps alone ; 

For, all unheard, on yonder shore, 
The sweeping flood, with torrent moan, 

At evening lifts its solemn roar, 
As, in one broad, eternal tide, 
The rolling waters onward glide. 

There is no marble monument, 
There is no stone, with graven lie, 

To tell of love and virtue blent 
In one almost too good to die. 

We needed no such useless trace 

To point us to her resting-place. 

She sleeps alone, she sleeps alone ; 

But, midst the tears of April showers, 
The genius of the wild hath strown 

His germs of fruits, his fairest flowers, 
And cast his robes of vernal bloom 
In guardian fondness o'er her tomb. 

She sleeps alone, she sleeps alone ; 

Yet yearly is her grave-turf drcss'd, 
And still the summer vines are thrown, 

In annual wreaths, across her breast, 
And still the sighing autumn grieves, 
And strews the hallow'd spot with leaves. 

* Micah P. Flint was a son of the late Reverend 
Timothy Flint. He was the author of a volume en- 
titled "The Hunter, and other Poems," and of many 
brief pieces in the magazines. 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.* 



THE FREE MIND. 

High walls and huge the body may confine, 

And iron grates obstruct the prisoner's gaze, 
And massive bolts may baffle his design, 

And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways : 
Yet scorns the immortal mind this base control ! 

No chains can bind it, and no cell enclose : 
Swifter than light, it flies from pole to pole, 

And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes ! 
It leaps from mount to mount ; from vale to vale 

It wanders, plucking honey'd fruits and flowers : 
It visits home, to hear the fireside tale, 

Or, in sweet converse, pass the joyous hours. 
'Tis up before the sun, roaming afar, 
And, in its watches, wearies every star ! 



OTWAY CURRY.t 



THE ARMIES OF THE EVE. 

Not in the golden morning 

Shall faded forms return, 
For languidly and dimly then 

The lights of memory burn : 

Nor when the noon unfold eth 

Its sunny light and smile, 
For these unto their bright repose 

The wondering spirit wile : 

But when the stars are wending 

Their radiant way on high, 
And gentle winds are whispering back 

The music of the sky ; 

O, then those starry millions 

Their streaming banners weave, 

To marshal on their wildering way 
The Armies of the Eve : 

The dim and shadowy armies 

Of our unquiet dreams, 
Whose footsteps brush the feathery fern 

And print the sleeping streams. 

We meet them in the calmness 

Of high and holier climes ; 
We greet them with the blessed names 

Of old and happier times. 

And, marching in the starlight 

Above the sleeping dust, 
They freshen all the fountain-springs 

Of our undying trust. 

Around our every pathway, 
In beauteous ranks they roam, 

To guide us to the dreamy rest 
Of our eternal home. 



* William Lloyd Garrison, author of a volume of 
"Poems," published in 1815, at Boston. The sonnet 
quoted above was written during his despotic imprison- 
ment for the expression of opinions. 

| Mr. Cunnv was formerly associated with Mr. Gw,- 
lagher in the editorship of "The Hesperian," at Cin- 
cinnati. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



541 



THOMAS DUNN ENGLISH. 



BEN HOLT. 

Don't you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt? 

Sweet Alice whose hair was so brown, 
Who wept with delight when you gave her a smile, 

And trembled with fear at your frown 1 
In the old churchyard in the valley, Ben Bolt, 

In a corner obscure and alone, 
They have fitted a slab of the granite so gray, 

And Alice lies under the stone. 
Under the hickory tree, Ben Bolt, 

Which stood at the foot of the hill, 
Together we've lain in the noonday shade, 

And listened to Appleton's mill : 
The mill-wheel has fallen to pieces, Ben Bolt, 

The rafters have tumbled in, [gaze? 

And a quiet which crawls round the walls as you 

Has followed the olden din. 
Do you mind the cabin of logs, Ben Bolt, 

At the edge of the pathless wood, 
And the button-ball tree with its motley limbs, 

Which nigh by the door-step stood 1 
The cabin to ruin has gone, Ben Bolt, 

The tree you would seek in vain ; 
And where once the lords of the forest waved, 

Grow grass and the golden grain. 
And don't you remember the school, Ben Bolt, 

With the master so cruel and grim, 
And the shaded nook in the running brook, 

Where the children went to swim 1 
Grass grows on the master's grave, Ben Bolt, 

The spring of the brook is dry, 
And of all the boys that were schoolmates then, 

There are only you and I. 
There is change in the things I loved, Ben Bolt, 

They have changed from the old to the new ; 
But I feel in the core of my spirit the truth, 

There never was change in you. 
Twelvemonths twenty have past, Ben Bolt, 

Since first we were friends — yet I hail 
Thy presence a blessing, thy friendship a truth, 

Ben Bolt, of the salt-sea gale. 



MATTHEW C. FIELD.f 

ro oR T QM. 
There 's a new stone now in the old churchyard, 

And a few withered flowers enwreath it ; 
Alas ! for the youth, by the fates ill-starr'd, 
Who sleeps in his shroud beneath it : 
Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 
In his early day to be pluck'd away, 

While the sunshine of life was o'er him, 
And naught but the light of a gladdening ray 
Beam'd out on the road before him. 
Poor Tom ! 
All the joy that love and affection sheds, 
Seem'd to fling golden hope around him, 



And the warmest hearts and the wisest heads 
Alike to their wishes found him. 
Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 
He is sleeping now 'neath the willow bough, 
Where the low-toned winds are creeping, 
As if to bewail so sad a tale, 

While the eyes of the night are weeping. 
Poor Tom ! 
Oh, the old churchyard, with its new white stone, 

Now I love, though I used to fear it ; 

And I linger oft mid its tombs alone, 

For a strange charm draws me near it. 

Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 

We were early friends — oh, time still tends 

All the links of our love to sever ! 
And alas ! time breaks, but never mends, 
The chain that it snaps forever. 
Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 
In the old churchyard we have wandered oft, 

Lost in gentle and friendly musing ; 
And his eye was light, and his words were soft, 
Soul with soul, as we roved, infusing. 
Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 
And we wonder'd then, if, when we were men, 

Aught in life could our fond thoughts smother ; 
But alas ! again — we dream'd not when 
Death should tear us from each other. 
Poor Tom ! 
On the very spot where the stone now stands, 

We have sat in the shade of the willow, 
With a life-warm clasp of each other's hands, 
And this breast has been his pillow. 
Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 
Now poor Tom lies cold in the churchyard old, 

And his place may be filled by others ; 
But he still lives here with a firmer hold, 
For our souls were twined like brothers. 
Poor Tom ! 
There 's a new stone now in the old churchyard, 

And a few withered flowers enwreath it ; 
Alas ! for the youth by the fates ill-starr'd, 
Who sleeps in his shroud beneath it : 
Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! 
In his early day to be pluck'd away, 

While the sunshine of life was o'er him, 
And naught but the light of a gladdening ray 
Beam'd out on the road before him. 
Poor Tom ! 



* Mr. English, of Philadelphia, is best known as an ori- 
ginal, forcible, and sometimes humorous, writer of prose. 

t The late M. C. Field, of New Orleans, was a frequent 
contributor to the southern journals under the signature of 
" Phazma." He died at sea, on a voyage to Boston, for the 
benefit of his health, November 15, 1844, aged thirty-two years. 



TO MY SHADOW. 

Shadow, just like the thin regard of men, 

Constant and close to friends,while fortune's bright, 
You leave me in the dark, but come again 

And stick to me as long as there is light ! 
Yet, Shadow, as good friends have often done, 
You've never stepped between me and the sun ; 

But ready still to back me I have found you, 
Although, indeed, you 're fond of changing sides ; 

And, while I never yet could get around you, 
Where'er I walk, my Shadow with me glides ! 

That you should leave me in the dark, is meet 
Enough, there being one thing to remark — 

Light calls you forth, yet, lying at my feet, 
I'm keeping you forever in the dark ! 



542 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



EPHRAIM PEABODY.* 



LAKE ERIE. 

These lovely shores! how lone and still 

A hundred years ago, 
The unbroken forest stood above, 

The waters dash'd below: 
The waters of a lonely sea, 

Where never sail was furl'd, 
Embosom'd in a wilderness, 

Which was itself a world. 

A hundred years ! go back ; and lo ! 

Where, closing in the view, 
Juts out the shore, with rapid oar 

Darts round a frail canoe. — 
'T is a white voyager, and see, 

His prow is westward set 
O'er the calm wave : hail to thy bold, 

World-seeking bark, Marq.ttette ! 

The lonely bird, that picks his food 

Where rise the waves, and sink, 
At their strange coming, with shrill scream, 

Starts from the sandy brink ; 
The fishhawk, hanging in mid sky. 

Floats o'er on level wing, 
And the savage from his covert looks, 

With arrow on the string. 

A hundred years are past and gone, 

And all the rocky coast 
Is turreted with shining towns, 

An empire's noble boast. 
And the old wilderness is changed 

To cultured vale and hill ; 
And the circuit of its mountains 

An empire's numbers fill. 

THE BACKWOODSMAN. 

The silent wilderness for me ! 

Where never sound is heard, 
Save the rustling of the squirrel's foot, 

And the flitting wing of bird, 
Or its low and interrupted note, 

And the deer's quick, crackling tread, 
And the swaying of the forest boughs, 

As the wind moves overhead. 

Alone, (how glorious to be free !) 

My good dog at my side, 
My rifle hanging in my arm, 

I range the forests wide. 
And now the regal buffalo 

Across the plains I chase ; 
Now track the mountain stream, to find 

The beaver's lurking place. 

I stand upon the mountain's top, 

And (solitude profound!) 
Not even a woodman's smoke curls up 

Within the horizon's bound. 

* Mr. PEABODY is an Unitarian clergyman. He is a 
native of New Hampshire, and has resided several years 
in the western states. 



Below, as o'er its ocean breadth 

The air's light currents run, 
The wilderness of moving leaves 

Is glancing in the sun. 

I look around to where the sky 

Meets the far forest line, 
And this imperial domain — 

This kingdom — ail is mine. 
This bending heaven, these floating clouds, 

Waters that ever roll, 
And wilderness of glory, bring 

Their offerings to my soul. 

My palace, built by Goo's own hand, 

The world's fresh prime hath seen ; 
Wide stretch its living halls away, 

Pillar" d and roof'd with green. 
My music is the wind that now 

Pours loud its swelling bars, 
Now lulls in dying cadences, 

My festal lamps are stars. 

Though when in this, my lonely home, 

My star-watch'd couch I press, 
I hear no fond " good-night" — think not 

I am companion less. 
0, no ! I see my father's house, 

The hill, the tree, the stream, 
And the looks and voices of my home 

Come gently to my dream. 

And in these solitary haunts, 

While slumbers every tree 
In night and silence, Gon himself 

Seems nearer unto me. 
I feel His presence in these shades, 

Like the embracing air ; 
And as my eyelids close in sleep, 

My heart is hush'd in prayer. 



JOHN M. HARNEY, M.D.* 



ON A FRIEND. 

Devout, yet cheerful ; pious, not austere ; 

To others lenient, to himself severe ; 

Though honour'd, modest; diffident, though praised; 

The proud he humbled, and the humble raised ; 

Studious, yet social ; though polite, yet plain ; 

No man more learned, yet no man less vain. 

His fame would universal envy move, 

But envy's lost in universal love. 

That he has faults, it may be bold to doubt, 

Yet certain 'tis we ne'er have found them out. 

If faults he has, (as man, 'tis said, must have,) 

They are the only faults he ne'er forgave. 

I flatter not : absurd to flatter where 

Just praise is fulsome, and offends the ear. 

* Doctor Harxf.v,! believe, was a native of Kentucky. 
His principal poetical work, " Crvstalina, a Fairy Tale," 
was published in New York in 1816. He was the author 
of several other poems, the best known of which is "The 
Fever Dream." 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



543 



B. B. THATCHER.* 



THE BIRD OF THE BASTILE -| 

Come to my breast, thou lone 

And weary bird ! — one tone 
Of the rare music of my childhood ! — dear 

Is that strange sound to me ; 

Dear is the memory 
It brings my soul of many a parted year. 

Again, ) T et once again, 

minstrel of the main ! 

Lo ! festal face and form familiar throng 

Unto my waking eye ; 

And voices of the sky 
Sing from these walls of death unwonted song. 

Nay, cease not — I would call, 

Thus, from the silent hall 
Of the unlighted grave, the joys of old : 

Beam on me yet once more, 

Ye blessed eyes of yore, 
Startling life-blood through all my being cold. 

Ah ! cease not — phantoms fair 

Fill thick the dungeon's air ; 
They wave me from its gloom — I fly — I stand 

Again upon that spot, 

Which ne'er hath been forgot 
In all time's tears, my own green, glorious land ! 

There, on each noon-bright hill, 

By fount and flashing rill, 
Slowly the faint flocks sought the breezy shade; 

There gleam'd the sunset's fire, 

On the tall taper spire, 
And windows low, along the upland glade. 

Sing, sing! — I do not dream — 
It is my own blue stream, 
Far, far below, amid the balmy vale ; — 

1 know it by the hedge 
Of rose-trees at its edge, 

Vaunting their crimson beauty to the gale: 

There, there, mid clustering leaves, 

Glimmer my father's eaves, 
And the worn threshold of my youth beneath; — 

I know them by the moss, 

And the old elms that toss [wreath. 

Their lithe arms up where winds the smoke's gray 

Sing, sing ! — I am not mad — 
Sing ! that the visions glad [now ; — 

May smile that smiled, and speak that spake but 



* Benjamin B. Thatcher, author of " Indian Biogra- 
phy," "Indian Traits," and numerous contributions to 
our periodical literature, died in Boston on the 14th of 
July, 1840, in the thirty-second year of his aee. He was 
a native of Maine, and was educated at Bowdoin College, 
in that state. 

f One prisoner I saw there, who had been imprisoned 
from his youth, and was said to be occasionally insane in 
consequence. He enjoyed no companionship (the keeper 
told me) but that of a beautiful tamed bird. Of what 
name or clime it was, I know not — only that he called it 
fondly, his dove, and seemed never happy but when it 
sang to him. — MS. of a Tour through France. 



Sing, sing ! — I might have knelt 

And pray'd ; I might have felt 
Their breath upon my bosom and my brow. 

I might have press'd to this 

Cold bosom, in my bliss, 
Each long-lost form that ancient hearth beside; 

heaven ! I might have heard, 

From living lips, one word, 
Thou mother of my childhood, — and have died. 

Nay, nay, 'tis sweet to weep, 

Ere yet in death I sleep; 
It minds me I -have been, and am again, — 

And the world wakes around ; 

It breaks the madness bound, 
While I have dream'd, these ages, on my brain. 

And sweet it is to love 

Even this gentle dove, 
This breathing thing from all life else apart: — 

Ah ! leave me not the gloom 

Of my eternal tomb 
To bear alone — alone ! — come to my heart, 

My bird! — Thou shalt go free; 

And come, O come to me 
Again, when from the hills the spring-gale blows : 

So shall I learn, at least, 

One other year hath ceased, 
And the long woe throbs lingering to its close. 



WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING.* 



THE ARCHED STREAM 

It went within my inmost heart, 

The overhanging Arch to see, 
The liquid stream became a part 

Of my internal harmony. 

So gladly rush'd the full stream through, 
Pleased with the measure of its flow, 

So burst the gladness on the view, 
It made a song of mirth below. 

Yet gray were those o'erarching stones, 
And sear and dry the fringing grass, 

And mournful with rcmember'd tones 
That out of Autumn's bosom pass. 

And over it the heavy road, 

Where creaks the wain with burden'd cheer, 
But gaily from this low abode 

Leapt out the merry brook so clear. 

Then Nature said : My child, to thee, 
From the gray arch shall beauty flow, 

Thou art a pleasant thing to me, 
And freely in my meadows go. 

Thy verse shall gush thus freely on, 

Some poet yet may sit thereby, 
And cheer himself within the sun 

My life has kindled in thine eye. 



* Mr. Channing is a nephew of the late Dr. W. E. 
Channing. He published a volume of Poems in 1S43, 
and another in I . 



544 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



W. J. SNELLING.* 



THE BIRTH OF THUNDER.f 

Look, white man, well on all around, 

These hoary oaks, those boundless plains; 
Tread lightly ; this is holy ground : 

Here Thunder, awful spirit ! reigns. 
Look on those waters far below, 

So deep beneath the prairie sleeping, 
The summer sun's meridian glow 

Scarce warms the sands then* waves are heaping 
And scarce the bitter blast can blow 

In winter on their icy cover ; 
The Wind Sprite may not stoop so low, 

But bows his head and passes over. 
Perch'd on the top of yonder pine, 

The heron's billow-searching eye 

Can scarce his finny prey descry, 
Glad leaping where their colours shine. 
Those lakes, whose shores but now we trod, 

Scars deeply on earth's bosom dinted, 
Are the strong impress of a god, 

By Thunder's giant foot imprinted. 
Nay, stranger, as I live, 'tis truth ! 

The lips of those who never lied, 
Repeat it daily to our youth. 

Famed heroes, erst my nation's pride, 
Beheld the wonder ; and our sages 
Gave down the tale to after ages. 
Dost not believe '! though blooming fair 

The flowerets court the breezes coy, 
Though now the sweet-grass scents the air, 
And sunny nature basks in joy, 

It is not ever so. 
Come when the lightning flashes, 
Come when the forest crashes, 

When shrieks of pain and wo 
Break on thine ear-drum thick and fast, 
From ghosts that shiver in the blast ; 
Then shalt thou know and bend the knee 
Before the angry deity. 

But now attend, while I unfold 

The lore my brave forefathers taught : 
As yet the storm, the heat, the cold, 

The changing seasons had not brought, 
Famine was not; each tree and grot 

Grew greener for the rain ; 
The wanton doe, the buffalo, 

Blithe bounded on the plain. 



* William J. Snelling, author of "Truth," a satire, 
and for many years a writer for the journals, died in Bos- 
ton, in 1849. 

t Twenty-eight miles from the Bis; Stone Lake, near the 
sources of the St. Peter's River, is a cluster of small lakes 
or ponds, lying much below the level of the surrounding 
prairie, and ornamented with an oak wood. The Dahco- 
tahs cal. this place The Nest of Thunder, and say that 
here Thunder was born. As soon as the infant spirit 
could go alone, he set out to see the world, and, at the 
first step, placed his foot upon a hill twenty-five miles dis- 
tant; a rock on the top of which actually seems to bear 
the print of a gigantic human foot. The Indians call the 
hill Thunder's Tracks. The Nest of Thunder is, to this 
day, visited by the being whose birth it witnessed. He 
comes clad in a mantle of storms, and lightnings play 
lound his head. 



In mirth did man the hours employ 

Of that eternal spring ; 
With song and dance, and shouts of joy, 

Did hill and valley ring. 
No death-shot peal'd upon the ear, 
No painted warrior poised the spear, 
No stake-doom'd captive shook for fear ; 

No arrow left the string, 
Save when the wolf to earth was borne ; 
From foeman's head no scalp was torn ; 
Nor did the pangs of hate and scorn 

The red man's bosom wring. 
Then waving fields of yellow corn 
Did our bless'd villages adorn. 

Alas ! that man will never learn 

His good from evil to discern. 

At length, by furious passions driven, 

The Indian left his babes and wife, 
And eveiy blessing God has given, 

To mingle in the deadly strife. 
Fierce Wrath and haggard Envy soon 
Achieved the work that War begun ; 
He left, unsought, the beast of chase, 
And prey'd upon his kindred race. 
But He who rules tbe earth and skies, 
Who watches every bolt that flies ; 
From whom all gifts, all blessings flow, 
With grief beheld the scene below. 
He wept ; and, as the balmy shower 

Refreshing to the ground descended, 
Each drop gave being to a flower, 

And all the hills in homage bended. 

"Alas!" the good Great Spirit said, 

" Man merits not the climes I gave ; 
Where'er a hillock rears its head, 

He digs his brother's timeless grave : 
To every crystal rill of water, 
He gives the crimson stain of slaughter. 
No more for him my brow shall wear 

A constant, glad, approving smile ; 
Ah, no ! my eyes must withering glare 

On bloody hands and deeds of guile. 
Henceforth shall my tost children know 
The piercing wind, the blinding snow; 
The storm shall drench, the sun shall burn, 
The winter freeze them, each in turn. 
Henceforth their feeble frames shall feel 
A climate like their hearts of steel." 

The moon that night withheld her light. 
By fits, instead, a lurid glare 
Illumed the skies ; while mortal eyes 

Were closed, and voices rose in prayer. 
While the revolving sun 
Three times his course might run, 

The dreadful darkness lasted. 
And all that time the red man's eye 
A sleeping spirit might espy, 
Upon a tree-top cradled high, 

Whose trunk his breath had blasted. 
So long he slept, he grew so fast, 

Beneath his weight the gnarled oak 
Snapp'd, as the tempest snaps the mast. 

It fell, and Thunder woke! 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



545 



The world to its foundation shook, 
The grisly bear his prey forsook, 
The scowling heaven an aspect bore 
That man had never seen before ; 
The wolf in terror fled away, 
And shone at last the light of day. 

'T was here he stood ; these lakes attest 
Where first Waw-kee-an's footsteps press'd. 
About his burning brow a cloud, 

Black as the raven's wing, he wore ; 
Thick tempests wrapt him like a shroud, 

Red lightnings in his hand he bore ; 
Like two bright suns his eyeballs shone, 
His voice was like the cannon's tone ; 
And, where he breathed, the land became, 
Prairie and wood, one sheet of flame. 

Not long upon this mountain height 

The first and worst of storms abode, 
For, moving in his fearful might, 

Abroad the GoD-begotten strode. 
Afar, on yonder faint blue mound, 
In the horizon's utmost bound, 
At the first stride his foot he set ; 

The jarring world confess'd the shock. 
Stranger ! the track of Thunder yet 

Remains upon the living rock. 

The second step, he gain'd the sand 
On far Superior's storm-beat strand : 
Then with his shout the concave rung, 
As up to heaven the giant sprung 

On high, beside his sire to dwell ; 
But still, of all the spots on earth, 
He loves the woods that gave him birth. — 

Such is the tale our fathers tell. 



LINDLEY MURRAY.* 



TO MY WIFE. 

Wheist on thy bosom I recline, 
Enraptured still to call thee mine, 

To call thee mine for life, 
I glory in the sacred ties, 
Which modern wits and fools despise, 

Of husband and of wife. 

One mutual flame inspires our bliss ; 
The tender look, the melting kiss, 

Even years have not destroyed ; 
Some sweet sensation, ever new, 
Springs up and proves the maxim true, 

That love can ne'er be cloy'd. 

Have I a wish? — 'tis all for thee. 
Hast thou a wish! — 'tis all for me. 

So soft our moments move, 
That angels look with ardent gaze, 
Well pleased to see our happy days, 

And bid us live — and love. 



* Lindley Murray, author of the " English Grammar," 
and other works, was a native of New York, though the 
greater portion of his life was passed in England. 
69 



If cares arise — and cares will come — 
Thy bosom is my softest home, 

I'll lull me there to rest; 
And is there aught disturbs my fair! 
I '11 bid her sigh out every care, 

And lose it in my breast. 

Have I a wish] — 'tis all her own; 
All hers and mine are roll'd in one,— 

Our hearts are so entwined, 
That, like the ivy round the tree, 
Bound up in closest amity, 

'Tis death to be disjoin'd. 



JOHN RUDOLPH SUTERMEISTER.* 



FADED HOURS. 

O ! for my bright and faded hours 

When life was like a summer stream, 
On whose gay banks the virgin flowers 

Blush'd in the morning's rosy beam; 
Or danced upon the breeze that bare 

Its store of rich perfume along, 
While the wood-robin pour'd on air 

The ravishing delights of song. 

The sun look'd from his lofty cloud, 

While flow'd its sparkling waters fair, 
And went upon his pathway proud, 

And threw a brighter lustre there ; 
And smiled upon the golden heaven, 

And on the earth's sweet loveliness, 
Where light, and joy, and song were given, 

The glad and fairy scene to bless ! 

Ah ! these were bright and joyous hours, 

When youth awoke from boyhood's dream, 
To see life's Eden dress'd in flowers, 

While young hope bask'd in morning's beam! 
And proffer'd thanks to Heaven above, 

While glow'd his fond and grateful breast, 
Who spread for him that scene of love, 

And made him so supremely blest ! 

That scene of love ! — where hath it gone ? 

Where have its charms and beauty sped 1 
My hours of youth, that o'er me shone, 

Where have their light and splendour fled'? 
Into the silent lapse of years, 

And I am left on earth to mourn ; 
And I am left to drop my tears 

O'er memory's lone and icy urn ! 
Yet why pour forth the voice of wail 

O'er feeling's blighted coronal 1 
Ere many gorgeous suns shall fail, 

I shall be gather'd in my pall ; 
0, my dark hours on earth are few — 

My hopes are crush'd, my heart is riven ; 
And I shall soon bid life adieu, 

To seek enduring joys in heaven J 

* Mr. Sutermeister was born in Curac,oa, in the 
West Indies, and came to New York with his parents, 
when about four years old. He wrote many brief poems 
while a law student, but no collection of his writings 
has been published. He died in. 1836, in the twenty-third 
year of his age. 

2z2 



546 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



ANONYMOUS/ 



"GIVE ME THE OLD." 

OLD WINE TO DRINK, OLD WOOD TO BURN, OLD BOOKS TO 
READ, AND OLD FRIENDS TO CONVERSE WITH. 

Old wine to drink ! 
Ay, give the slippery juice, 
That drippeth from the grape thrown loose, 

Within the tun ; 
Pluck'd from beneath the cliff 
Of sunny-sided Teneriffe, 
And ripen'd 'neath the blink 

Of India's sun ! 

Peat whiskey hot, 
l'emper'd with well-boiled water ! 
These make the long night shorter,— 

Forgetting not 
Good stout old English porter ! 

Old wood to burn ! 
Ay, bring the hill-side beech 
From where the owlets meet and screech, 

And ravens croak ; 
The crackling pine, and cedar sweet ; 
Bring too a clump of fragrant peat, 
Due; 'neath the fern ; 

The knotted oak, 

A faggot too, perhap, 
Whose bright flame dawning, winking, 
Shall light us at our drinking ! 

While the oozing sap 
Shall make sweet music to our thinking. 

Old books to read ! 
Ay, bring those nodes of wit, 
The brazen-clasp'd, the vellum writ, 

Time-honour'd tomes ! 
The same my sire scanned before, 
The same my grandsire thumbed o'er, 
The same his sire from college bore, 
The well-earn'd meed 

Of Oxford's domes ; 

Old Homer blind, 
Old Horace, rake Anacreox, by 
Old Tullt, Platjtus, Terexce lie; 
Mort Arthur's olden minstrelsie, 
Quaint Burtox, quainter Spenser, ay, 
And Gervase Markham's venerie — 

Nor leave behind 
The Holye Book by which we live and die. 

Old friends to talk ! 
Ay, bring those chosen few, 
The wise, the courtly and the true, 

So rarely found ! 
Him for my wine, him for my stud, 
Him for my easel,' distich, bud 

In mountain walk ! / 

Bring Walter good : 
With soulful Fred ; and learned Will, 
And thee, my alter ego, (dearer still 
For every mood.) 

* In earlier editions, the above poem has been attri- 
buted to Henry Carey, the elegant essayist, whose 
writings are published under the signature of "John 
Waters ;" but I learn that he is not the author of it. 



These add a bouquet to my wine ! 
These add a sparkle to my pine ! 

If these I tine, 
Can books, or fire, or wine be good 1 



THOMAS MACKELLAR.* 



THE SLEEPING WIFE. 

My wife ! how calmly steepest thou ! 

A perfect peace is on thy brow : 

Thine eyes beneath their fringed lid, 

Like stars behind a cloud, are hid ; 

Thy voice is mute, and not a sound 

Disturbs the tranquil air around : 

I'll watch, and mark each line of grace 

That God hath drawn upon thy face. 

My wife ! thy breath is low and soft ; 

To catch its sound I listen oft ; 

The lightest leaf of Persian rose 

Upon thy lips might find repose ; — 

So deep thy slumber, that I press'd 

My trembling hand upon thy breast, 

In sudden fear that envious death 

Had robb'd thee, sleeping, of thy breath. 

My wife ! my wife ! thy face now seems 

To show the tenor of thy dreams : — 

Methinks thy gentle spirit plays 

Amid the scenes of earlier days ; 

Thy thoughts, perchance, now dwell on him 

Whom most thou lov'st ; or in the dim 

And shadowy future strive to pry, 

With woman's curious, earnest eye. 

Sleep on ! sleep on ! my dreaming wife ! 

Thou livest now another life, 

With beings fill'd, of fancy's birth ; — 

I will not call thee back to earth ; 

Sleep on, until the car of morn 

Above the eastern hills is borne ; 

Then thou wilt wake again, and bless 

My sight with living loveliness. 



THE HYMNS MY MOTHER SUNG. 

There are to me no hymns more sweet 

Than those my mother sung, 
When joyously around her feet 

Her little children clung. 
The babe upon his pillow slept — 

My mother sang the while ; — > 
What wonder if there softly crept 

Across his lips a smile 1 
And I, a sick and pensive boy, — 

Oppressed with many pains, — 
Oft felt my bosom thrill with joy 

Beneath her soothing strains. 
The stealing tear mine eye bedims, 

My heart is running o'er, — 
The music of a mother's hymns 

Shall comfort me no more ! 

*Mr. Mackellar was born in New York in 1812, and 
is now a partner in the extensive stereotyping house of 
L. Johnson and Co., of Philadelphia. He is the author of 
"Droppings from the Heart,'* a collection of poems, per- 
vaded by a spirit of piety and hopefulness, published in 
1844, and " Tarn's Fortnight Ramble," in 1848. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



547 



GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D.D.* 



THE LOVE THAT LASTS. 

'Tis not a flower of instant growth, 
Bat from an unsuspected germ 

T&at lay within the hearts of both, 
Assumes its everlasting form. 

As daisy-buds among the grass 

With the same green do silent grow, 

Nor maids nor boys that laughing pass 
Can tell if they be flowers or no — 

Till on some genial morn in May 
Their timid, modest leaflets rise, 

Disclosing beauties to the day 

That strike the gazer with surprise : 

So soft, so sweet, so mild, so holy, 
So cheerful in obscurest shade, 

So unpretending, meek, and lowly, 
And yet the pride of each green glade 

So love doth spring, so love doth grow, 

If it be such as never dies : 
The bud just opens here below — 

The flower blooms on in paradise. 



DAVID BATES.f 



SPEAK GENTLY. 

Speak gently : it is better far 

To rule by love than fear — 
Speak gently : let not harsh words. mar 

The good we might do here. 

Speak gently : Love doth whisper low 
The vows that true hearts bind ; 

And gently Friendship's accents flow ; 
Affection's voice is kind. 

Speak gently to the little child : 

Its love be sure to gain ; 
Teach it in accents soft and mild — 

It may not long remain. 

Speak gently to the young : for they 
- Will have enough to bear ; 
Pass through life as best they may, 
'Tis full of anxious care. 

Speak gently to the aged one : 
Grieve not the careworn heart ; 

The sands of life are nearly run — 
Let such in peace depart. 

Speak gently, kindly, to the poor : 

Let no harsh tone be heard ; 
They have enough they must endure, 

Without an unkind word. 

* See " Prose Writers of America" for a reviewal of Dr. 
Cheever's prose writing's. His poems are, for the most 
part, graceful expressions of elevated religious and social 
feeling. 

t Mr. Bates passed his earlier life at Indianapolis, in In- 
diana, but he has resided several years in Philadelphia, in 
the occupation of a broker. He published in that city, in 
1849, a volume of poems entitled " The ^Eolian." 



Speak gently to the erring : know, 
They may have toil'd in vain ; 

Perchance unkindness made them so ; 
Oh, win them back again ! 

Speak gently : He who gave his life 
To bend man's stubborn will, 

When elements were fierce with strife, 
Said to them, " Peace ! be still !" 

Gentleness is a little thing 

Dropp'd in the heart's deep well : 

The good, the joy which it may bring, 
Eternity shall tell. 



SAMUEL GILMAN, D. D.* 

THE SILENT GIRL. 

She seldom spake ; yet she imparted 

Far more than language could — 
So birdlike, bright, and tender hearted, 

So natural and good ! 
Her air, her look, her rest, her actions, 

Were voice enough for her : 
Why need a tongue, when those attractions 

Our inmost hearts could stir 1 

She seldom talked ; but, uninvited, 

Would cheer us with a song ; 
And oft her hands our ears delighted, 

Sweeping the keys along. 
And oft, when converse round would languish, 

Ask'd or unask'd, she read 
Some tale of gladness or of anguish, 

And so our evenings sped. 

She seldom spake ; but she would listen 

With all the signs of soul ; 
Her cheek would change, her eye would glisten; 

The sigh — the smile — upstole. 
Who did not understand and love her, 

With meaning thus o'erfraugbt 1 
Though silent as the sky above her, 

Like that, she kindled thought. 

Little she spake ; but dear attentions 

From her would ceaseless rise ; 
She check'd our wants by kind preventions, 

She hush'd the children's cries ; 
And, twining, she would give her mother 

A long and loving kiss — 
The same to father, sister, brother, 

All round — nor would one miss. 

She seldom spake — she speaks no longer ; 

She sleeps beneath yon rose ; 
'Tis well for us that ties no stronger 

Awaken memory's woes : 
For oh, our hearts would sure be broken. 

Already drain'd of tears, 
If frequent tones, by her outspoken, 

Still linger'd in our ears ! 

* The Rev. Samuel Gilman, D. D., a writer for the earlier 
volumes of the " North American Review," and the author 
of "Memoirs of a New England Village Choir," lias resided 
many years in Charleston. His " History of a Ray of Light," 
"The Silent Girl," and a few other pieces, show that he 
might have been distinguished as a poet. 



548 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



THEODORE S. FAY.* 



MY NATIVE LAND. 

Columbia, was thy continent stretch'd wild, 
In later ages, the huge seas above 1 
And art thou Nature's youngest, fairest child, 
Most favour'd by thy gentle mother's love ] 
"Where now we stand, did ocean monsters rove, 
Tumbling uncouth, in those dim, vanish'd years, 
When through the Red Sea Pharaoh's thousands 

drove, 
When struggling Joseph dropp'd fraternal tears, 
When God came down from heaven, and mortal 
men were seers 1 

Or, have thy forests waved, thy rivers run, 
Elysian solitudes, untrod by man, 
Silent and lonely, since, around the sun, 
Her ever-wheeling circle earth began 1 
Thy unseen flowers did here the breezes fan. 
With wasted perfume ever on them flung 1 
And o'er thy showers neglected rainbows span, 
When Alexander fought, when Homer sung, 
And the old populous world with thundering battle 
rung] 

Yet, what to me, or when, or how thy birth, — 
No musty tomes are here to tell of thee ; 
None know, if cast when nature first the earth 
Shaped round, and clothed with grass, and flower, 

and tree, 
Or whether since, by changes, silently, 
Of sand, and shell, and wave, thy wonders grew; 
Or if, before man's little memory, 
Some shock stupendous rent the globe in two, 
And thee, a fragment, far in western oceans threw. 

I know but that I love thee. On my heart, 
Like a dear friend's, are stamp'd thy features now ; 
Though there the Roman or the Grecian art 
Hath lent, to deck thy plain and mountain brow, 
No broken temples, fain at length to bow, [time. 
Moss-grown and crumbling with the weight of 
Not these o'er thee their mystic splendours throw, 
Themes eloquent for pencil or for rhyme, 
As many a soul can tell that pours its thoughts 
sublime. 

But thou art sternly artless, wildly free: 
We worship thee for beauties all thine own : 
Like damsel, young and sweet, and sure to be 
Admired, but only for herself alone. 
With richer foliage ne'er was land o'ergrown, 
No mightier rivers run, nor mountains rise, 
Nor ever lakes with lovelier graces shone, 
Nor wealthier harvests waved in human eyes, 
Nor lay more liquid stars along more heavenly skies. 

I dream of thee, fairest of fairy streams, 
Sweet Hudson ! Float we on thy summer breast, 
Who views thy enchanted windings ever deems 
Thy banks, of mortal shores, the loveliest ! 
Hail to thy shelving slopes, with verdure dress'd, 

* Author of " Norman Leslie," "The Countess Ida," 
etc., and now Secretary of Legation at Berlin. He is a 
native of New York. 



Bright break thy waves the varied beach upon; 
Soft rise thy hills, by amorous clouds caress'd ; 
Clear flow thy waters, laughing in the sun — 
Would through such peaceful scenes my life might 
gently run! 

And, lo ! the Catskills print the distant sky, 
i\.nd o'er their airy tops the faint clouds driven, 
So softly blending, that the cheated eye 
Forgets or which is earth or which is heaven, — 
Sometimes, like thunder-clouds, they shade the 

even, 
Till, as you nearer draw, each wooded height 
Puts off the azure hues by distance given; 
And slowly break upon the enamour'd sight 
Ravine, crag, field, and wood, in colours true and 

bright. 

Mount to the cloud-kiss'd summit. Far below 
Spreads the vast champaign like a shoreless sea. 
Mark yonder narrow streamlet feebly flow, 
Like idle brook that creeps ingloriously ; 
Can that the lovely, lordly Hudson be, 
Stealing by town and mountain 1 Who beholds, 
At break of day this scene, when, silently, 
Its map of field, wood, hamlet, is unroll'd, 
While, in the east, the sunuprears his locks of gold, 

Till earth receive him never can forget? 
Even when return'd amid the city's roar, 
The fairy vision haunts his memory yet, 
As in the sailor's fancy shines the shore. 
Imagination cons the moment o'er, 
When first-discover'd, awe-struck and amazed, 
Scarce loftier Jove — whom men and gods adore — 
On the extended earth beneath him gazed, 
Temple, and tower, and town, by human insect 
raised. 

Blow, scented gale, the snowy canvass swell, 
And flow, thou silver, eddying current on. 
Grieve we to bid each lovely point farewell, 
That, ere its graces half are seen, is gone. 
By woody bluff we steal, by leaning lawn, 
By palace, village, cot, a sweet surprise, 
At every turn the vision breaks upon ; 
Till to our wondering and uplifted eyes [rise. 
The Highland rocks and hills in solemn grandeur 

Nor clouds in heaven, nor billows in the deep, 
More graceful shapes did ever heave or roll, 
Nor came such pictures to a painter's sleep, 
Nor beam'd such visions on a poet's soul ! 
The pent-up flood, impatient of control, 
In ages past here broke its granite bound, 
Then to the sea in broad meanders stole, 
While ponderous ruins strew'd the broken ground, 
And these gigantic hills forever closed around. 

And ever-wakeful echo here doth dwell, 
The nymph of sportive mockery, that still 
Hides behind every rock, in every dell, 
And softly glides, unseen, from hill to hill, 
No sound doth rise but mimic it she will, — 
The sturgeon's splash repeating from the shore, 
Aping the boy's voice with a voice as shrill, 
The bird's low warble, and the thunder's roar, 
Always she watches there, each murmur telling o'er. 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



549 



Awake, my lyre, with other themes inspired. 
"Where yon bold point repels the crystal tide, 
The Briton youth, lamented and admired, 
His country's hope, her ornament and pride, 
A traitor's death ingloriously died, 
On freedom's altar offer'd ; in the sight 
Of Gob, by men who will their act abide, 
On me great day, and hold their deed aright, 

To stop the breath would quench young freedom's 
holy light. 
But see ! the broadening river deeper flows, 
Its tribute floods intent to reach the sea, 
While, from the west, the fading sunlight throws 
Its softening hues on stream, and field, and tree; 
All silent nature bathing, wondrously, 
In charms that soothe the heart with sweet desires, 
And thoughts of friends we ne'er again may see, 
Till, lo ! ahead Manhatta's bristling spires, 

Above her thousand roofs red with day's dying fires. 

May greet the wanderer of Columbia's shore, 
Proud Venice of the west ! no lovelier scene. 
Of thy vast throngs now faintly comes the roar, 
Though late like beating ocean surf I ween, — 
And everywhere thy various barks are seen, 
Cleaving the limpid floods that round thee flow, 
Encircled by thy banks of sunny green, — 
The panting steamer plying to and fro, 
Or the tall sea-bound ship abroad on wings of snow. 

And radiantly upon the glittering mass 
The god of day his parting glances sends, 
As some warm soul, from earth about to pass, 
Back on its fading scenes and mourning friends 
Deep words of love and looks of rapture bends, 
More bright and bright, as near their end they be. 
On, on, great orb ! to earth's remotest ends, 
Each land irradiate, and every sea — 
But 0, my native land, not one, not one like thee ! 



C. C. MOORE.* 



FROM A FATHER TO HIS CHILDREN, 

AFTER HAVING HA.D HIS PORTRAIT TAKEN FOR THEM. 

This semblance of your parent's time-worn face 
Is but a sad bequest, my children dear: 

Its youth and freshness gone, and in their place 
The lines of care, the tracks of many a tear ! 

Amid life's wreck, we struggle to secure 

Some floating fragment from oblivion's wave: 

We pant for something that may still endure, 
And snatch at least a shadow from the grave. 

Poor, weak, and transient mortals ! why so vain 
Of manly vigour, or of beauty's bloom] 

An empty shade for ages may remain 

When we have moulder'd in the silent tomb. 

But no ! it is not we who moulder there, 
We, of essential light that ever burns ; 

We take our way through untried fields of air, 
When to the earth this earth-born frame returns. 



j And 'tis the glory of the master's art 

Some radiance of this inward light to find, 
Some touch that to his canvass may impart 
A breath, a sparkle of the immortal mind. 

Alas ! the pencil's noblest power can show 
But some faint shadow of a transient thought, 

Some waken'd feeling's momentary glow, 
Some swift impression in its passage caught. 

that the artist's pencil could portray 
A father's inward bosom to your eyes, 

What hopes, and fears, and doubts perplex his way, 
What aspirations for your welfare rise. 

Then might this unsubstantial image prove, 
When I am gone, a guardian of your youth, 

A friend for ever urging you to move 
In paths of honour, holiness, and truth. 

Let fond imagination's power supply 

The void that baffles all the painter's art ; 

And when those mimic features meet your eye, 
Then fancy that they speak a parent's heart. 

Think that you still can trace within those eyes 
The kindling of affection's fervid beam, 

The searching glance that every fault espies, 
The fond anticipation's pleasing dream. 

Fancy those lips still utter sounds of praise, 
Or kind reproof that checks each wayward will, 

The warning voice, or precepts that may raise 
Your thoughts above this treacherous world of ill. 

And thus shall Art attain her loftiest power; 

To noblest purpose shall her efforts tend : 
Not the companion of an idle hour, 

But Virtue's handmaid and Religion's friend 



* Clement C. Moore, formerly one of the professors 
in Columbia College, resides in New York. A collection 
of his " Poems," in one volume, was published in 1845. 



F. S. KEY.* 



THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. 

! sat, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last 

gleaming ; 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the 

perilous fight, 
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, w r ere so gallantly 

streaming 1 
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still 

there ; 
! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave 1 

On the shore,dimly seen through the mists of the deep 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence 
reposes, 

What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep 
As it fitfully blows, half-conceals, half-discloses ] 

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam; 

Its full glory reflected now shines on the stream ; 

'T is the star-spangled banner, O ! long may it wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

*The late Mr. Key was anative of Baltimore. This song is 
supposed to have been written by a prisoner on board the 
British fleet, on the morning after the unsuccessful bom- 
bardment of Fort McHenry. 






550 



VARIOUS AUTHORS. 



And where is the band who so vauntingly swore, 
Mid the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, 
A home and a country they 'd leave us no more 1 
. Their blood hath wash'd out their foul footsteps' 

pollution ; 
No refuge could save the hireling and slave 
From the terror of flight, or the. gloom of the grave, 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

O ! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 
Between their loved home and the war's deso- 
lation ; 
Bless'd with victory and peace, may the heaven- 
rescued land 
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 
us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, 
And this be our motto, " In God is our trust," 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 



JOSEPH HOPKINSON.* 



HAIL, COLUMBIA. 

Hail, Columbia ! happy land ! 
Hail, ye heroes ! heaven-born band ! 

Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, 
Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, 
And when the storm of war was gone, 
Enjoy 'd the peace your valour won. 
Let independence be our boast, 
Ever mindful what it cost ; 
Ever grateful for the prize, 
Let its altar reach the skies. 
Firm — united — let us be, 
Rallying round our Liberty ; 
As a band of brothers join'd, 
Peace and safety we shall find. 

* With the popular national songs, " The Star-spangled 
Banner" and "Hail, Columbia," I bring to a close this 
volume of specimens of American poetry. These lyrics 
have not much poetic merit, but they are as well known 
throughout the United States as the Rhine Song- is in Ger- 
many, or the Marseilles Hymn in France. The late excel- 
lent Judge HoPKiNsoN,f a few months before his death, 
addressed to me a letter from which I quote the following 
account of the circumstances attending the composition 
of "Hail, Columbia:" 

" It was written in the summer of 1798, when war with 
France was thought to be inevitable. Congress was then 
in session in Philadelphia, deliberating upon that important 
subject, and acts of hostility had actually taken place. 
The contest between England and France was raging, and 
the people of the United States were divided into parties 
for the one side or the other, some thinking that policy 
and duty required us to espouse the cause of republican 
France, as she was called; while others were for con- 
necting ourselves with England, under the belief that she 
was the great preservative power of good principles and 
safe government. The violation of our rights by both 
belligerents was forcing us from the just and wise policy 
of President Washington, which was to do equal justice 



tThe Honoorable Joseph Hopkinson, LL. D. Vice-President of the Ame- 
rican Philosophical Society, and President of the Pennsylvania Academy of 
Fine Arts, etc., died in Philadelphia on the fifteenth of January, 1842, in the 
seventy second year of his a»e. He was a son of Francis Hopkinson, one of 
the most distinguished patriots of the Revolution. 

S'M-cntvped by L. Johnson, Philadelphia. 



Immortal patriots ! rise once more ; 

Defend your rights, defend your shore ; 
Let no rude foe, with impious hand, 
Let no rude foe, with impious hand, 

Invade the shrine where sacred lies 

Of toil and blood the well-earn'd prize. 
While offering peace sincere and just, „ 
In Heaven we place a manly trust, 
That truth and justice will prevail, 
And every scheme of bondage fail. 
Firm — united, &c. 

Sound, sound the trump of Fame ! 

Let Washington's great name 

Ring through the world with loud applause, 
Ring through the world with loud applause: 

Let every clime to Freedom dear 

Listen with a joyful ear. 

With equal skill, and godlike power, 
He governs in the fearful hour 
Of horrid war; or guides, with ease, 
The happier times of honest peace. 
Firm — united, &c. 

Behold the chief who now commands, 
Once more to serve his country, stands — 
The rock on which the storm will beat, 
The rock on which the storm will beat : 
But, arm'd in virtue firm and true, 
His hopes are fix'd on Heaven and you. 
When Hope was sinking in dismay, 
And glooms obscured Columbia's day, 
His steady mind, from changes free, 
Resolved on death or liberty. 
Firm — united, &c. 

to both, to take part with neither, but to preserve a strict 
and honest neutrality between them. The prospect of a 
rupture with France was exceedingly offensive to the por- 
tion of the people who espoused Iter cause, and the vio- 
lence of the spirit of party has never risen higher, I think 
not so high, in our country, as it did at that time, upon that 
question. The theatre was then open in our city. A young 
man belonging to it, whose talent was as a singer, was 
about to take his benefit. I had known him when he 
was at school. On this acquaintance, he called on me 
one Saturday afternoon, his benefit being announced for 
the following Monday. His prospects were very disheart- 
ening ; but he said that if he could get a patriotic song 
adapted to the tune of the "President's March," he did 
not doubt of a full house; that the poets of the theatrical 
corps had been trying to accomplish it, but had not suc- 
ceeded. I told him I would try what I could do for him. 
He came the next afternoon; and the song, such as it is, 
was ready for him. The object of the author was to get 
up an American spirit, which should be independent of, 
and above the interests, passions, and policy of both 
belligerents: and look and feel exclusively for our own 
honour and rights. No allusion is made to France or 
England, or the quarrel between them : or to the ques- 
tion, which was most in fault in their treatment of us : 
of course the song found favour with both parties, for 
both were Americans : at least neither could disavow the 
sentiments and feelings it inculcated. Such is the history 
of this song, which has endured infinitely beyond the ex- 
pectation of the author, as it is beyond any merit it can 
boast of, except that of being truly and exclusivejy patri- 
otic in its sentiments and spirit. 

"Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 
"Jos. Hopkinson. 
"Rev. Rufus W. Griswold." 






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